2021 Update

2021 has proven to be just as busy, if not more so, than 2020!  Despite the ongoing pandemic, we are still taking in animals nearly every day. Many others are closed or taking in limited numbers of animals, so we are often the go-to for taking in those that need help. We have taken in babies of all kinds this year, from the usual squirrels, opossums, and bunnies, to more unusual ones like a groundhog and mice. We’ve had some different species come in, such as a killdeer and some chimney swifts. The numbers of animals coming in are higher than in usual years, and donations are down. We need your donations to help care for all the North Carolina fauna coming through our doors! Here are some of the animals and stories we want to share from the past few months!

This little squirrel came to us with a broken tail. We were able to make a splint and allow it to heal so they could grow and be released.

Just one of our many groups of baby bunnies that we had in our care this summer.

This bird is a killdeer. They live in open fields and are a rare visitor to our center. This one was not feeling well, either from being malnourished or from potential poisoning. Your donations help us care for unique animals like this!

We got to experience some wildlife in our own yard this spring. We had several mama deer give birth in our front yard and we were lucky enough to watch them feed and raise their babies! Your donations allow us to also purchase food to give our local wildlife, such as this deer family!

This spring and summer, there was a mysterious illness affecting birds on the East Coast. Most were in the Mid-Atlantic states, but we had a bird come in from Mt. Airy, NC that we believe was affected. We took it to the State Animal Disease Lab 2 hours away to be tested. There were no tests for the illness itself, but they were able to test for other diseases that came back negative. It was a new experience to be a part of something like this. Your donations help us pay for gas money to be able to make trips like this to help wildlife in our state!

On a Saturday night in September, we got a call around 8pm that there were birds hitting a building in Winston-Salem in large numbers and falling onto the ground. The person who called in was unsure of what to do. We were equally as perplexed! We quickly got organized with boxes and containers and drove to Winston-Salem to help these birds, unsure of what we would find. These birds were chimney swifts. They migrate during the late summer/early fall and were seemingly confused by the lights being on in a glass-faced building. In the dark, they didn’t see the reflections to know they couldn’t fly through and unfortunately kept hitting the building.  When we arrived, there were tens of birds on the ground. Many others had been there before, but luckily were able to fly off. Many more did as well. Of the over 100 estimated birds that hit the building, 4 didn’t survive. We brought 4 home with us, as they were alive but not responding quickly. After a night of care, they were able to fly off the next morning!

This is a photo of some of the birds that had recently hit the building. We were able to keep them safe in boxes while they rested until they could fly away and continue migrating.

This is our van in front of the building the swifts hit. This has happened with chimney swifts before in similar situations (lights on in a building at night), but we had never heard about it before this. It’s a reminder just how much humans can influence wildlife! Your donations allow us to respond to calls like this!

This poor squirrel was attacked by a hawk and  had several bot fly infections. We were able to get it back to health and back into the wild!

This barred owl came into our care after being hit by a car.

A few weeks ago, we went on a literal wild goose chase! We were contacted by someone from the Grandover Resort in Greensboro about an inured goose. Based on the description, it was suffering from a condition called Angel Wing. As it affects their wings and makes them unable to fly, it was possible to capture it, but we knew it wouldn’t be easy, as it still had access to water. We planned a rescue effort and made the trip to capture this goose, in addition to another that was displaying signs as well, but not as severe. The first goose we got away from the water quickly and captured it. The second was less inured and more alert so it kept going into the water. But with some time and patience, we were able to capture it as well and get them back to our center safely.

We got to take our van on the golf course so we could be close to the geese for capture!

We captured the first one!

And number 2! Your donations allow us to conduct rescues like this and help animals in the community!

One of our most recent intakes is this hawk that got hit by a car.

Baby squirrels are still coming into our center fall comes in. Winter is coming up and some animals will need to be overwintered, which means higher food bills to keep them fed through the season, until they can be released in the spring. We need your help to continue caring for all the various animals that come through our doors! Please consider donating to help us in our mission!