A Sad (set of) Tail(s)

Today we received a phone call from a very nice girl. Her roommate however, was a little bit misguided leading to a very sad situation.

The story is one we hear at least several times each year. This individual was having a “problem” with a raccoon. Unfortunately, before seeking advice that would have possibly mitigated the situation peacefully, or at least humanely, he took matters into his own hands and decided the best solution was to end the life of this animal. Unfortunately, there are plenty of officials and companies out there that may tell individuals in these situations that the only solution is to remove the “offending” animal one way or another. Anyone who’s worked with the Wildlife In Need Center hopefully knows different – that there are many other ways to solve conflicts between humans and our wild neighbors.



Too little too late, this caring girl turned to WINC for advice only after it was discovered that the raccoon whose life had been lost had been a mother to several small, helpless, now orphaned, baby raccoons.



Baby raccoons are orphaned everyday for various reasons, when they are orphaned needlessly by uncaring individuals it takes up space and resources for those who legitimately need the care of rehabilitators



This is the time of year where many females of many species have given birth or will become mothers soon. These animals, contrary to popular belief, aren’t extra aggressive or any more likely to cause “trouble.” What these dedicated parents are looking for is a safe place to raise their young and enough food to keep themselves and their young alive and strong. If the way that we live our lives wasn’t removing more and more of the natural areas and sources for these needs and replacing them with our own versions, there would be far fewer “conflicts.”

Cute and cuddly, these little guys require many months of intense care to reach maturity and should never be raised by inexperienced individuals.

Before you, a friend, or a neighbor do something that is going to impact the lives of helpless babies consider the following and then contact the Wildlife In Need Center or your nearest wildlife rehabilitator for further suggestions.

• If you can pinpoint a food source that might be attracting animals, eliminate it, or at least move it or limit their access to it. The further away a parent has to go for food the more likely they are to move their nest closer to that food source.
• If a mother has taken up residence in your attic, garage, or any other place where it is absolutely not possible to allow them to stay use some standard humane hazing techniques from our website and look at ways to exclude them (and anyone else) from returning once they move on to a safer home.
• Especially during this time of year, always assume that an animal could be a female and that she could have young somewhere. If you have problems with animals getting unwanted access never just seal off the entry point and assume that there won’t be babies left behind. If so, the mother might just break right through your fix making things worse than they were to begin with. Look at humane hazing techniques to convince mom to move elsewhere, or just let her finish rearing her young and then repair the area. 
• Never purposely get in between a mother and her young, and certainly never corner an adult animal during any time of the year.

After months (yes months!) of care these "little bandits" become bigger, stronger and much more difficult to handle. This is the time they are ready to be released into new territories to survive the way they were born to survive - free.

Conflicts can be resolved peacefully, always contact a rehabilitator before taking drastic measures. Thank you for caring.

The Fox and the Hare

While we still stand the risk of freezing rain and snow, it is indeed spring. As a result our patient numbers are slowly climbing from the 20 or less a month we admit in the winter, now to one or even several a day! The phones too, are getting busier and, as usual this time of year, a number of the calls we get are regarding the same animals, questions and/or situations. Last week we got a number of calls about raccoons getting into mischief. We attributed that to increased numbers of them looking for nesting sites for the season. This week it seems that all of the phone calls are about cottontail rabbit nests or red fox dens.
Cottontail rabbits have a relatively short gestation period and they also reproduce several times from spring through fall. Thankfully for the parents, they also have a very short rearing period as well; most infant cottontails are old enough to be weaned, eating solid food, and on their own by about 4 to 6 weeks of age.

If you find a nest of baby cottontails in your yard, the best thing to do is to leave them be and enjoy their brief time of growth for the next couple of weeks because they will soon be old enough to venture out of the nest and will be gone. If the nest has already been or is in danger of being disturbed this is not a hopeless situation. Is your dog trying to get into the nest when you let her out during the day? Then try putting a milk crate, laundry basket or “breathable” container over the area during the day. Mom only comes by the nest to feed the babies at dusk and again at dawn so you can take the cover in with you at night and bring it back out first thing in the morning. Some people have also had good luck putting up a little garden fence or other type of barricade that the mother rabbit can fit through or under to get to the nest, but that their pets cannot get into. In any situation where a baby cottontail is injured always contact a rehabilitator to get them the care they need as soon as possible.



This basket-full of baby bunnies may be cute, but it is neither humane nor legal to try to keep them as pets. They need very specialized care if they are to stand a chance of surviving until they are big enough to be on their own.



Red foxes, are natural, native animals in this part of Wisconsin. They are also far enough along in their breeding season where many have young big enough to start venturing out of the den for the first time. Because they have such a persona about them, what most of the people we speak to don’t know is that they are very common animals in urban and suburban neighborhoods. These habitats have taken the place of many of the marshes, woods, and native grasslands that used to be home to these animals. As a result they have had to adapt in order to survive. In the case of the fox (among other animals including white tailed deer, raccoons, and squirrels) the less rural environments also provide a lot more resources which has made the transition much easier. Other than the rodents who are feasting underneath your bird feeder at night, the pears and apples falling from your neighbors tree, and the occasional sip out of someone’s fresh pond or nice clean pool, these animals would really rather not be in such close proximity to humans. This means that even if they are living underneath your neighbor’s shed, as long as they are given their space and you (as well as your pets) remain in yours any conflicts are unlikely.

If a fox is in your neighborhood and you are still concerned these are some of the things to keep in mind: If you have bird feeders, fallen fruit, pet food, food storage or any other potential food source in or around your yard, consider cleaning it up, changing it’s location away from the immediate area, or removing it altogether for a period of time. Less food means less reason for the foxes to venture into your yard. For those of us with pets, it is our responsibility to look out for them. Knowing that there is a fox in the neighborhood (because in many cases we don’t know) doesn’t increase their risk of being attacked. This is because statistics show that most attacks or injuries to domestic animals are more likely to occur through interaction with other domesticated animals versus a wild animal. Also, making noise whenever you go out, using a squirt gun filled with water, or putting flags or streamers in the yard periodically can all help to make your territory seem odd and scary therefore a place that no mother would want her young to visit.



Foxes, Coyotes and other predators often get a bad rap. These innocent little pups want nothing more than a nice mouse maybe with a fruit or vegetable on the side, a safe place to sleep and some occasional sunshine to bask in just like your family cat.

  If you have further questions always contact your nearest rehabilitator first. Even if someone from a local pet supply store is willing to sell you something to feed that cute baby bunny, it doesn't mean that you should. And even though your neighbor's father who grew up on a farm in Illinois tells you that every fox he saw growing up was rabid, it doesn't mean that these ones are.

Hope that helps, until next time...

A Wintery Conclusion to One Outrageous Day

Winter at the Wildlife In Need Center

As we watch some of the first significant snowflakes fall to the ground I’m remembering the busy days behind us and thought I would finish telling you the tale I began a few weeks ago of just one day this past summer at the Wildlife In Need Center.

When I left you last the office was humid and a balmy 85 degrees and a number of meetings had been interrupted for a variety of reasons and I had just walked outside, heading towards the other building which houses our animal care clinic with two squirrels and a bird I had just admitted… While I was gone Rose came into the office to ask Lisa a question. In the midst of answering her question she had to take a phone call. This phone call was from a woman who had an Owl in her pear tree.

Since Lisa had just spent about 10 minutes on the phone I answered it the next time it rang. This time the caller had problems with woodchucks in her yard that she wanted advice about. She believed that they were a breeding pair and that if she didn’t do something about them soon she would end up with an entire colony of them. This, of course wasn’t the case and she was relieved to hear so, but she did likely have a mother and a daughter attempting to burrow near her foundation. We went through the humane options she had available to her and left her with a plan for the next week to mitigate the situation.

Trying to accomplish what needs to get done is difficult enough when the phones and admissions come at such a steady pace, but the computers also lend to the problem. Playing “computer musical chairs” is a game played often around here. While waiting for my computer to respond I answered another phone call, this one from a local media outlet. They had heard about one of the patients we had recently admitted from a volunteer and wanted to do a story on them and their progress. I had to take a message so that I could find out the information they needed. When I wanted to call the reporter back however, I had to wait as we only have one phone line set-up to make outgoing long-distance phone calls (because of the rural area WINC is located in most of our phone calls are long-distance) and someone else was using it to return another phone call.

While I was waiting I decided to make some copies of a document I was going to need the following day. Using the copy machine on a hot, humid day proved to be a mistake as I was only able to do about half the job before it stopped working. Because we have a service agreement on the machine for situations just like this we contacted the company and placed a request.

It was just as well that I was done with that project for the time because it was just then that 2 new volunteers came over with their training checklists asking if I could go through the office portion for them. Mid-way through the training the phone rang and it was another caller dealing with some mischievous young woodchucks so I provided them with the information they needed to make an educated plan to humanely discourage them from continuing their antics and returned to my training.

Just when the new volunteers left and I thought I might be able to get back to what I had started earlier in the day the phone rang again and this time it was regarding a goose. The goose’s mate had apparently been hit by a vehicle a day or two prior and it had so far refused to leave its side. There was much concern regarding the dangerous area the goose was in, but as there was nothing physically wrong with it the bigger concern would be that attempting to capture it would surely drive it into traffic and certain injury or death itself. Geese are surprisingly social animals, but more on that another time. After a call tugging on your emotions like that one I often wish I could take a 15 minute break to clear my head, but when it’s summer that’s just not always a possibility.

As I hung up the phone someone was walking in with a box-full of orphaned cottontails that needed our experienced care if they were to survive. I admitted them, brought them to the clinic for some pedialyte and a soft-warm bed to rest in and returned to the office.

Speaking of a warm, cozy place, as you curl up at home tonight just remember to think of how amazing our wild neighbors are, surviving Wisconsin winters without the luxuries we have. And when the day comes that one of them needs the Wildlife In Need Center, we hope you’ll join us to make sure we’re here.

Thanks for Caring!



Save the Date! We'll be celebrating Groundhog's Day at the Waukesha Elks Lodge on Wednesday, February 2nd!



Caller Says: #1, All A-Flutter

A small bird was in the backyard, not flying.

First question is always is this a small adult bird or baby bird?

Second question is what was the bird doing before you discovered it and what has it been doing since?

In the spring, summer and early fall you can occasionally find nestling babies that should be in the nest but that have fallen out due to the weather or other forces. These babies will have some naked pink spots yet. Those can be replaced in their nest should be, but only when warmed under a lamp or in your hand before doing so. In cases where the nest has been destroyed or is too high to reach the baby can be replaced in a substitute nest. A substitute nest can be made of a wicker basket, hanging plant basket or any plastic container with drainage holes in it. If using plastic be sure to line it with dried grasses, sticks or leaves so that it isn’t slippery. Hang a substitute nest at least 5-6 feet off the ground so it is out of easy reach of neighborhood pets and kids and within hearing distance of the original nest. Don’t feed the baby; it should be hungry and peep because of it – that noise alerts the parents to where it is and they will feed it as well as the siblings back in the original nest.

Fledglings are babies that are old enough to leave the nest. They spend a couple of days hopping around the ground and making buzz flights an inch or two above the ground a foot or two at a time. That is how they learn to fly and build up their strength; activities they can’t do in a nest. Their parents continue to feed them on the ground but don’t stay with the baby at all times. Fledglings are mostly feathered, with wing feathers and a start of tail feathers, but may still have a bit of baby fluff. Babies at this stage should be left alone and monitored from a distance.

In this case, the bird in question was an adult who had flown into the window. Most of the time window strikes cause a bird to be temporarily stunned. We suggest putting them in a covered box, or in a pinch a paper bag with a couple of air holes, and letting them rest someplace quiet for an hour. This protects them from predators and the quiet darkness also helps to reduce their shock. After an hour, take the box outside and open it. If the bird can fly out, fine. If not, it is more seriously injured and should come to a rehabilitator for evaluation. This bird was destined to have a better day and flew away after a short rest.

Thanks for caring!

PS. Don't forget that Tazino's Pizza and Salad Bistro in Menomonee Falls is hosting a 10% event for the Wildlife In Need Center this evening! Download a flyer [here] and 10% of your order will be donated to help us care for our wild neighbors! Tell all your friends and we'll see you there!

Have you ever heard a six foot scream?

Or tried to describe any other sound you heard using words? It’s not always easy but yet we still try. One of the best descriptions we’ve ever received to date came across our answering machine this week. The caller wanted help in identifying a noise he’d been hearing that he suspected to be an owl. Let me share his description:

“For a month now, just when night comes on we’ve been hearing a screeching noise that sounds like a cross between a bottle rocket going off without the explosion and a little girl stuck in a tree.”

He went on to say that he suspected it was a screech owl but was wondering if there was a chance something had been illegally trapped or whether it was likely that screech owls would sit in their nest screaming all through the night.

Talking amongst other staff in the office (and a visit to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/) we agreed that it was likely a screech owl family because we knew the young would be going through the weaning process this time of year. When young raptors go through this process they can become quite raucous in their protests.

Another one of my favorite sound descriptions comes from a gentleman who wants to relive the experience of hearing the noise and subsequently having us help him to identify it each time he calls with another question or animal in need. The noise in question was described as such:

“First the hair on the cat’s back stood straight up. The noise started out like a high-pitched bark but I knew it wasn’t coyotes. The best description I can give it is that it genuinely sounded like a pack of wild apes or rabid monkeys.”

This cat reportedly wasn’t scared of foxes and coyotes, but that noise caused it to have a “look of terror” in its eyes. And the caller goes on to describe how many other people, organizations, friends and game wardens he spoke with before reaching someone at the Wildlife In Need Center who “described to a T” the noise in question when describing a noise that is commonly heard from the likes of a Barred owl.

The more common sound descriptions we get are from individuals who have rodents in their attic or possibly a raccoon or feral cat arguing over food scraps in the night. While writing this fun story about some of the non-emergency calls we get here at WINC, I’ve decided that in a future blog post I will expound on this topic to include some of the other “descriptors” we are often asked to identify. Be forewarned that some of these descriptions are not for the weak-stomached.

To find out more about animal sounds you can visit http://www.macaulaylibrary.org/ which postures itself to be the “world’s largest archive of animal sounds and video.”

Memorial Day Weekend Marks the Beginning of Summer

Memorial Day Weekend marks the beginning of summer. People are picnicking in parks, grilling out with friends and family in their backyard, boating on the local lakes. What goes on at Wildlife In Need on Memorial Day weekend? I had so many phone calls Saturday that when I was talking to one person, the machine took 2-3 more calls.

Saturday we admitted:
1 infant Raccoon
2 infant Mink
4 infant Eastern Cottontail
1 infant bird
1 infant bird
1 Goldfinch
1 infant Raccoon
2 infant Mallard
2 infant Mallard
1 infant Raccoon
1 infant Raccoon
1 juvenile starling
1 infant bird
1 infant bird
1 infant Common Grackle

Sunday we admitted:
1 infant Raccoon
1 infant bird
4 infant Raccoon
1 adult Baltimore oriole
2 infant Woodchuck
1 infant Eastern Cottontail
1 infant American Robin
1 adult Eastern Chipmunk
2 infant Woodchuck
1 juvenile Mourning Dove
1 juvenile European Starling
1 infant bird
12 infant Virginia Opossum
2 infant Virginia Opossum
1 infant Raccoon
1 adult Eastern Cottontail
1 infant Blue Jay

Monday we admitted:
1 adult Common Grackle
1 infant bird
1 infant Blue Jay
1 infant Woodchuck
2 infant Woodchuck
2 infant Woodchuck
4 infant Mallard

* Infant birds are songbird babies I can’t identify in the office. Don’t be alarmed, Animal Care staff can identify these UFOs (unidentified flying objects) but I haven’t gotten those updates yet.

And a special thank you to Officer Pavlovich from the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department for rescuing the 4 Mallard ducklings from the median of I-94 near Grandview Boulevard in Waukesha. He even transported them in the back of his squad car to the Center. They were so cute sitting on his back seat I wish I had brought my camera! Law enforcement officials usually deal with human emergencies and the ducklings were a traffic hazard. But we often get calls from law enforcement agencies on wildlife issues as they too care about wildlife. It’s June, here’s to a Wild Summer!

Guest Blogger L.R.

Do you know anything about elephants?

“Do you know anything about elephants? No, I don’t want you to think that I have seen an elephant in my yard, but I’ve called you guys on so many other things and you seem to be very knowledgeable.”

The caller went on to describe the situation which she needed clarified and ultimately said that since she wasn’t currently in a position to look the information up herself, she knew exactly who to call.


Her question was regarding a conversation she had with a friend claiming that a baby elephant weighed in at an extremely high amount and was walking after only a few days. Although I don’t know a lot about elephants I could relate to her that a number of large mammals are able to stand and walk very shortly after birth like deer, horses and cattle and that an elephant would likely fall into that same category of animals. In nature, every species fills its own niche and every animal is an individual, but they also have a lot in common –both with each other and with ourselves- if you take the time to think about them. We don’t often get calls out of our realm like these, but we are always happy to help when it comes to people who care about our fellow creatures as we do.