This weekend is Earth Day, but we celebrate that everyday here at Noah’s Ark, taking care of earth’s fauna. We actually took in some baby opossums to celebrate this year. We have been busy, with baby season in full swing. It had an early start and its not slowing down anytime soon. Luckily, our clinic is fully operational again and we had it expanded. The new addition is already filling up with supplies and critters! We are still in need of donations, both for our day-to-day operations, but also for continuing repairs and upkeep around the facility. We have 3 outdoor cages which need roof replacements, in order for them to be safe spaces for our animals to spend their time transitioning from indoors to their release sites. Every little bit helps!

Spring has arrived in full force here at Noah’s Ark! We had a very mild winter so the calls for baby animals started earlier than normal this year. We already have been tending to baby squirrels and bunnies galore, with no doubt more to come. We need your support to keep these babies fed and healthy before they get released later this season. Here are some of the critters we have had in our care recently .

Our clinic is mostly back up and running, just in time for baby season. We have some squirrels in the newly added addition right now! It is already making things much easier to operate and we are better able to keep animals separated if needed. We are still working to wrap a few things up on it for it to be 100%. We still have our GoFundMe going (https://gofund.me/07f2ad5f) for our daily operations. Every little bit helps! It all goes to the care of the animals and the upkeep of our facility. Have a great and wild summer, and we will update again soon!

 FINALLY some good news! Our clinic repair and addition projects are both moving along nicely and we hope to be ready to resume normal operations in time for the rapidly approaching spring baby season. Even though this work is almost done, we still need to continue our gofundme (https://gofund.me/07f2ad5f) and other fundraising efforts to cover the high cost of finishing work and the care of all the patients we receive year round. Also, our large outdoor caging areas need major roof maintenance and repairs, and we have 2 more large outdoor units that need be set up as well. We need your support to make these things happen. 

These repairs and upgrades are still ongoing. We are still in need of donations to finish the addition to the clinic and to fund the care of the animals we have, and will be able to take in the future!

 We did get a great surprise in December. A $10,000.00 donation was made in memory of Ted’s dad, Teddey W Kitzmiller, by The Roto Rooter Group in Cincinnati, Ohio. Teddey was a dedicated 50 year + employee there (basically his entire working career). This wonderful gift has allowed us to replace and upgrade our HVAC system and make more clinic improvements than originally planned. Our deepest gratitude goes out to The Roto Rooter Group, especially CEO Mr. Spencer Lee for making this happen.

Over the winter, we have had a steady flow of patients including squirrels, owls, opossums, a chipmunk, and 2 cleft palate English Bulldog puppies. The puppy care is very intense and expensive. Also, we just released a mourning dove back to its home after being treated for head trauma.

The cleft palate puppies came to us just a few days before Christmas. We have named them Luna and Mona and they are growing, growing, growing! We are fostering them through the Save the Clefts Rescue. Please contact them if you are interested in adopting one or both of these sweet pups!

Please keep us in mind when considering making donations. Our year round work never stops, and funding for day to day expenses is always a challenge to acquire.

We thank you for your continued support, and HAVE A WILD DAY!

And we need your help! Donations are key right now, as work has begun on the clinic repairs and we have some animals that will need to be overwintered! We still have our GoFundMe active (https://gofund.me/07f2ad5f) and you can also donate via our PayPal. Also, consider selecting us as your Amazon Smile charity or donate on Giving Tuesday, which is coming up on November 29th! Any little bit helps.

With the repairs beginning on the clinic, we are hopeful to have space to keep new patients soon! And we are still taking things in on a limited basis. Here is a taste of what we have gotten in lately.

We also need to provide some updates! Cleo, the sweet cleft lip puppy we fostered has found a new home! She was adopted by a family in Maryland and is already settling in well with her new family. While it can be sad, it is so nice to see a foster pup move on to their forever home.

The kinkajou was quite an adventure but we didn’t have the resources to care for it long term and it seemed to have some health issues. Fortunately, Carolina Tiger Rescue was able to have it seen by their vet, who treats all of their exotic rescues (they have 3 kinkajous in their care). Unfortunately, its health condition was too severe and it was unable to be saved. But we are very thankful for Carolina Tiger Rescue and their guidance. It was such a unique experience and we are thankful we were able to provide the kinkajou a warm, safe place to land.

We hope you have a nice holiday season and continue to support us through the winter! Your donations make it possible for us to care for the wildlife of North Carolina each and every day. Even if you can’t donate, if you can share our GoFundMe or our cause with others, it is greatly appreciated! Stay tuned for more updates!

We’ve had a few more patients come into our care in the last week. Some normal, and one not so normal! Over the weekend, we got a call from someone who had a strange creature hanging out in their yard. It had been spotted several times over the last 6 months but it wasn’t native. It was a kinkajou! They are an animal native to South America. Unfortunately, they have become a part of the exotic pet trade in the US and it is legal to have one in North Carolina. Likely this one escaped or was let go by its owner. It was very sick and not able to get around well. Clearly having a hard time with the cooler weather starting and a severe upper respiratory infection. We began calls quickly to try to figure out what to do for it. We were able to get advice and guidance from Carolina Tiger Rescue and got it captured and brought to our center. It is such an interesting creature, but one we know nothing about! Through the advice we have been given, we have been able to feed it and start to give it care to help its infection. We are still on the hunt for a vet who will see, treat and evaluate it. Currently, the NCSU Vet School will examine it, but it will cost several hundred dollars to do so – maybe as much as $600. It also needs a lot of fresh tropical produce and high quality dog food. Your donations will help us give this kinkajou the care it needs until we find permanent placement for it.

It looks and acts like a primate with its prehensile tail and the way it climbs in its cage. But its related to raccoons! It also has a long tongue to eat pollen/honey and insects. We are doing our best for the little guy and he is starting to improve.

In addition and on a more native wildlife note, we have a baby chipmunk and baby flying squirrel. They ended up becoming fast friends, as they were housed together to give each other company. Flying squirrels, while not seen often and therefore thought to be rare, are quite active in North Carolina. Being nocturnal and very quiet when they soar from tree to tree makes them tough to spot. If you put some food out at night, you may just see some coming in for a snack! Your donations help make it possible for us to continue to care for wildlife while are clinic is still in need of repair!

As said, our clinic still needs repairs. Work should be starting in the next week or so but we still need more funds to complete the project – which requires refinishing the interior. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to help us! Finishing the clinic repairs will allow us to take in more wildlife. Your donations will also go towards care for the kinkajou while we have it. Thank you so much for your support!

Despite our clinic being damaged, we have brought in a few new critters into our care. Many other rehabbers are closed or full but the animals still need help. So we are providing! It is baby season again so calls for baby squirrels are constant. We have 5 currently in our care. In addition, we have a box turtle, a cardinal, baby pigeon, and a puppy with a cleft palate. We still are taking donations via our PayPal, but we have also set up a GoFundMe (https://gofund.me/fb30c12b) to help fund our clinic repair. We desperately need to get that fixed so we can take more animals in. We are very limited in what we can care for until we get that back up and running. Please consider donating to help us stay afloat and help more of North Carolina’s wildlife!

Over the holiday weekend, we took in a newborn puppy with a cleft palate. While we have fostered puppies in the past, this case is even more special. Because of its cleft palate and very young age, it needs to have close care given to it. This means tube feedings every 2 hours around the clock and constant monitoring for its health. We will be tending to this little one for around 4 weeks. Our expert care was requested by several puppy rescues, as we often tube feed smaller wildlife babies like bunnies and opossums. This is definitely a unique case but we are glad to be able to help this little one grow!

As said, we are still operating despite our clinic being damaged and unusable still. Our intake is very limited. We need your help through donations to help get the clinic fixed and to help provide care for our wildlife. Hurricane season is here so we are always on alert, as a major storm hitting our coast, or even venturing inland, can cause an influx of calls and need. We want to be able to provide that but we need our clinic fixed to do that! Please consider donating via our PayPal from this site, or the GoFundMe (https://gofund.me/fb30c12b). If you can’t donate, please consider sharing the GoFundMe with others to get the word out. Thanks so much for your support!

A couple of weeks ago, a tree fell and damaged our clinic. It fell down the center of the roof and caused significant damage. The entire roof needs to be replaced and the framing of the walls will need to be addressed. The wall was buckled out at the top near the roof-line through the entire structure. As this space is critical for us – we use it as a final stop for our critters before they move to outside cages, and our large ICU cage is there as well – we cannot take any more animals into our care until this is fixed! We greatly need help to get this fixed, and your donations can help us get this fixed quicker as they will help us pay for what insurance won’t cover. Its hard to know just how extensive the damage is until work begins to fix it. It also caused damaged to the shed behind the clinic, which we use to store cages, etc. though it wasn’t nearly as extensive. Please consider donating to help us get back on our feet for the wildlife of North Carolina!

Its hard to really convey the damage in pictures. It is not at risk of falling, but its not safe to continue using as it is. This space also houses our dog Oliver, as it meets his needs with his health conditions. It is an important part of our operations and getting it repaired quickly is critical. Your donations will help us with that, as insurance may not cover everything. Our wildlife needs us and we look forward to getting this fixed and getting back to work!

Spring is here, which means its time for babies of all shapes and sizes! In addition to our regular cases, baby squirrels, birds, bunnies, and more are coming into our care for a variety of reasons. Donations from you help us keep these babies healthy and growing so they can be released into the wild!

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!

Many rehabbers are still closed, so we are continuing to have more animals brought into our care every single day! As the summer weather heats up, our needs increase as well. We are going to the grocery store more often for fresh produce. The AC units are running in our clinic areas to keep our critters comfy. Our foster dog Oliver is still in our care and we needed to build him a roof for shade. We now also have some patients who require more specialized foods. We need your donations to help continue to care for our furred and feathered friends! The summer months can be some of our busiest, and as a result, the most expensive! Check out a sample of what has come through our doors recently!

This opossum was attacked by a coyote and needed our help!

This beautiful bluebird hit a window and needed to get some TLC before he could go back into the wild.

This red-bellied woodpecker was hit by a car

The baby opossums are growing fast! Their dietary needs are changing as they grow, which means more trips to the store. Your donations will help us feed them the foods they need to get bigger, stronger, and ready to get back into the wild!

We are continuing to use social distancing practices with contact-less animal pick-ups. We want everyone to stay safe while caring for our local wildlife!

These baby robins were orphaned, and one had an injured leg. Here, they are getting some food soon after their arrival to our center!

This box turtle was injured by a large bird

This toad was attacked by an unknown predator. Our patients come in all shapes and sizes!

Its baby bird season, so we are seeing more cases like this. This baby cowbird was found in the road and needed our help, as its too young to be on its own!

These little baby bunnies came to us after a dog attacked their nest. They are getting warm in some fleece blankets. Your donations will allow us to get more blankets to help keep babies warm and cozy!

This special resident came to use after being found in a pool. This little wood duck has a very special diet of mealworms and fruit (pictured). When it gets older, it will also need to be fed fresh fish so it can learn to catch food in the wild. We need your donations so we can provide this diet to this little one as it grows. We also need to purchase mulch for a larger cage so we can house a pool for it to swim and get waterproof prior to release! It currently can swim in a small plastic tub, but that won’t last long!