This community has me looking at wild animals like plushies. You’ve broken me, ickplant. You’ve broken me in a way that will eventually require a rabies vaccine and 40 stitches.
Just a thought… you could see about volunteering at your local wildlife rescue. It’s quite involved, but clearly very rewarding. It’s my goal for 2027.
Just your typical “Lemmy enthusiast to wildlife rehabilitator” pipeline.
I’m already chucking myself at two other volunteer programs every few weeks. Though I have been looking for renewed novelty as the glitter wears off of one of them, so I might swap it for a wildlife rescue. A timely recommendation
I am always more than happy to answer any questions on getting involved with wildlife rehab. I started off here 3 years ago posting daily animals like ickplant, and I eventually required more than photos, so now I'm on my 2nd year of being a rehab volunteer.
A lot of places ask you to do a 4 hour shift, once a week, from about April-September. Rabies shots will be optional for most places, you just won't be able to work with those animals until you get a pre-exposure vaccination. Those will be bats, foxes, coyotes, groundhogs, skunks, and raccoons. Anything else, you will be good to work with without it.
We wear nitrile and leather gloves for both the animals' safety and our own, so stitches should not be required either. 😜
If you ever want to ask anything, feel free. I post on !superbowl@lemmy.world, !animals@lemmy.world, or just DM me. Serious stuff, stupid stuff, general questions, it doesn't matter. I'm not an expert on everything, but I try to answer everything the best I can. I would love to see more people get into rehab.
I mean, I guess the broadest and most useful question that I could hit you with would probably be the best way to choose a rescue. In my area, I imagine there would be a few. Are there different kinds? Anything in particular to watch out for, insofar as safety, whether in relation to the location’s ability to supply materials or instruction?
There are different types, you could say. (You seem to be in the US since you seem to interact with some US political news, so I'm going to go with that, but if I'm wrong, I'll see if I can help with where you are more specifically.)
Rehabbers (the people who run the clinics, this will not be you, at least not at the start) have to become certified by the state to treat different types of animals. If a clinic has a rehabber certified in songbirds, squirrels, and opossums, but not bats and raptors, they can just treat what they are licensed in. Some people will only be certified with one or two, and others might be able to handle nearly anything. It's up to the rehabbers/centers what they want to treat.
My clinic does things up to foxes/wolves, no deer, and we don't do waterfowl due to avian flu. So we have all small and medium mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, bats, raccoons, raptors, just tons of stuff, but we are a very large center. Some are literally just one or two people working out of their personal residence, so they might only do bunnies, for example.
So if you have a preference on what animals you want to work with, that will make a big difference. If you Google "my_state licensed wildlife rehabbers" it should take you to a state government page with a list of everyone licensed in your state. I searched Louisiana for an example to see how easy it was to find results for a state I'm not familiar with and it was the first result. Here's something like what you want to find:
You get everyone's names, where they are, and what they are licensed to treat. Find out who is near you doing what you'd like to help with. Check out their socials and get an idea of what they do. You can reach out whenever, but most places will start interviewing new volunteers around Jan-March, as March/April is the kickoff of baby season when we are at our busiest. Things will die off for winter, so many places will let most volunteers off for the winter since not much is going on in comparison to spring and summer.
Since everyone is heavily licensed and regulated, you should be pretty well off, and you will get to talk to people when you have your volunteer interview and orientation. We had phone interviews and online orientation. The interview is just basically making sure you are aware this isn't a weekly cuddle session, it is a real hospital, and you need to be committed because we count on knowing how much staff we have each week.
I will say, I've debated trying out the next closest clinic to me because they are more rural and have more of the owls I like to work with, but they get a little too... passionate... sometimes on their socials and they end up bickering with some people and getting in situations that indicate a bit more drama than i would prefer. They seem like a great center and do a lot of great work and people love them and their workers seem happy, but it makes me think I'm better off where I'm at. They should probably get someone else to do social media for them is all. 😁
You won't be thrown to the wolves, literally or figuratively! Volunteers will not be handling adult animals, in the beginning you will be feeding and cleaning babies for the most part. You will have to worry more about them running than biting, and when they bite, you will have leather gloves and they aren't that strong anyway. I had a fairly large squirrel bypass my glove and bite down good on my wrist the other week. Wasn't pleasant, like a pointy little toddler pinch, and I just let him stay clamped on because it sucked, but if it was firmly attached to me, I didn't have to chase it around the room with the net!
You should get plenty of instruction, supervision, and everyone I've met has been super sweet and amazing. Rehabs will not take on more animals than they can handle because it leads to problems. People will get pissed when we tell them we're full, and it usually doesn't last long, but becoming too busy leads to mistakes, so centers generally know when to stop intakes.
Well, that's a big info dump for now, so I'll let you absorb all that. I honestly don't mean to talk forever, but I really enjoy this stuff. Keep asking me as much as you want!
I mean, you offered me everything I might need. In this case, saying less wouldn’t have been anywhere near as helpful. I was curious about one thing, invertebrates in the rehab you visit. Are we talking bugs, shellfish, cnidarians, etc. whom are on the mend, or are we talking feed worms?
And given the yearly ebb and flow you described, I might already be out of the running?
Yeah, I don't think anyone will be taking volunteers now. Round 2 of squirrels is coming in now, but there won't be many more birds or most other animals, mainly random incident injuries and caring for long term patients. But winter will be here soon, and then so will new recruiting opportunities.
You can always check out videos on how to feed squirrel/birds/bunnies, follow some rescues to see what they do if you have mainstream social media, or just keep following the things I post and asking questions.
As for invertebrates, I can't think of many we've had a long time. They do repair butterfly wings, that's what comes to mind first. We also have roaches in the education center, and we breed mealworms to feed the songbirds and probably some other guys. Some more coastal or river areas may have mollusks or larger snail they may work on, but they'd have to be things that had at least a somewhat longer lifespan I'd guess. I did have a post about a dragonfly getting anesthesia so it could have adhesive removed from its wings the other day though, so that could be another example.
18 Comments
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 19d
This community has me looking at wild animals like plushies. You’ve broken me, ickplant. You’ve broken me in a way that will eventually require a rabies vaccine and 40 stitches.
ickplant@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 19d
Just a thought… you could see about volunteering at your local wildlife rescue. It’s quite involved, but clearly very rewarding. It’s my goal for 2027.
Just your typical “Lemmy enthusiast to wildlife rehabilitator” pipeline.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 19d
I’m already chucking myself at two other volunteer programs every few weeks. Though I have been looking for renewed novelty as the glitter wears off of one of them, so I might swap it for a wildlife rescue. A timely recommendation
anon6789@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 19d
I am always more than happy to answer any questions on getting involved with wildlife rehab. I started off here 3 years ago posting daily animals like ickplant, and I eventually required more than photos, so now I'm on my 2nd year of being a rehab volunteer.
A lot of places ask you to do a 4 hour shift, once a week, from about April-September. Rabies shots will be optional for most places, you just won't be able to work with those animals until you get a pre-exposure vaccination. Those will be bats, foxes, coyotes, groundhogs, skunks, and raccoons. Anything else, you will be good to work with without it.
We wear nitrile and leather gloves for both the animals' safety and our own, so stitches should not be required either. 😜
If you ever want to ask anything, feel free. I post on !superbowl@lemmy.world, !animals@lemmy.world, or just DM me. Serious stuff, stupid stuff, general questions, it doesn't matter. I'm not an expert on everything, but I try to answer everything the best I can. I would love to see more people get into rehab.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 19d
I mean, I guess the broadest and most useful question that I could hit you with would probably be the best way to choose a rescue. In my area, I imagine there would be a few. Are there different kinds? Anything in particular to watch out for, insofar as safety, whether in relation to the location’s ability to supply materials or instruction?
anon6789@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 18d
Good questions!
There are different types, you could say. (You seem to be in the US since you seem to interact with some US political news, so I'm going to go with that, but if I'm wrong, I'll see if I can help with where you are more specifically.)
Rehabbers (the people who run the clinics, this will not be you, at least not at the start) have to become certified by the state to treat different types of animals. If a clinic has a rehabber certified in songbirds, squirrels, and opossums, but not bats and raptors, they can just treat what they are licensed in. Some people will only be certified with one or two, and others might be able to handle nearly anything. It's up to the rehabbers/centers what they want to treat.
My clinic does things up to foxes/wolves, no deer, and we don't do waterfowl due to avian flu. So we have all small and medium mammals, reptiles, invertebrates, bats, raccoons, raptors, just tons of stuff, but we are a very large center. Some are literally just one or two people working out of their personal residence, so they might only do bunnies, for example.
So if you have a preference on what animals you want to work with, that will make a big difference. If you Google "my_state licensed wildlife rehabbers" it should take you to a state government page with a list of everyone licensed in your state. I searched Louisiana for an example to see how easy it was to find results for a state I'm not familiar with and it was the first result. Here's something like what you want to find:
You get everyone's names, where they are, and what they are licensed to treat. Find out who is near you doing what you'd like to help with. Check out their socials and get an idea of what they do. You can reach out whenever, but most places will start interviewing new volunteers around Jan-March, as March/April is the kickoff of baby season when we are at our busiest. Things will die off for winter, so many places will let most volunteers off for the winter since not much is going on in comparison to spring and summer.
Since everyone is heavily licensed and regulated, you should be pretty well off, and you will get to talk to people when you have your volunteer interview and orientation. We had phone interviews and online orientation. The interview is just basically making sure you are aware this isn't a weekly cuddle session, it is a real hospital, and you need to be committed because we count on knowing how much staff we have each week.
I will say, I've debated trying out the next closest clinic to me because they are more rural and have more of the owls I like to work with, but they get a little too... passionate... sometimes on their socials and they end up bickering with some people and getting in situations that indicate a bit more drama than i would prefer. They seem like a great center and do a lot of great work and people love them and their workers seem happy, but it makes me think I'm better off where I'm at. They should probably get someone else to do social media for them is all. 😁
You won't be thrown to the wolves, literally or figuratively! Volunteers will not be handling adult animals, in the beginning you will be feeding and cleaning babies for the most part. You will have to worry more about them running than biting, and when they bite, you will have leather gloves and they aren't that strong anyway. I had a fairly large squirrel bypass my glove and bite down good on my wrist the other week. Wasn't pleasant, like a pointy little toddler pinch, and I just let him stay clamped on because it sucked, but if it was firmly attached to me, I didn't have to chase it around the room with the net!
You should get plenty of instruction, supervision, and everyone I've met has been super sweet and amazing. Rehabs will not take on more animals than they can handle because it leads to problems. People will get pissed when we tell them we're full, and it usually doesn't last long, but becoming too busy leads to mistakes, so centers generally know when to stop intakes.
Well, that's a big info dump for now, so I'll let you absorb all that. I honestly don't mean to talk forever, but I really enjoy this stuff. Keep asking me as much as you want!
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 18d
I mean, you offered me everything I might need. In this case, saying less wouldn’t have been anywhere near as helpful. I was curious about one thing, invertebrates in the rehab you visit. Are we talking bugs, shellfish, cnidarians, etc. whom are on the mend, or are we talking feed worms?
And given the yearly ebb and flow you described, I might already be out of the running?
anon6789@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 18d
Yeah, I don't think anyone will be taking volunteers now. Round 2 of squirrels is coming in now, but there won't be many more birds or most other animals, mainly random incident injuries and caring for long term patients. But winter will be here soon, and then so will new recruiting opportunities.
You can always check out videos on how to feed squirrel/birds/bunnies, follow some rescues to see what they do if you have mainstream social media, or just keep following the things I post and asking questions.
As for invertebrates, I can't think of many we've had a long time. They do repair butterfly wings, that's what comes to mind first. We also have roaches in the education center, and we breed mealworms to feed the songbirds and probably some other guys. Some more coastal or river areas may have mollusks or larger snail they may work on, but they'd have to be things that had at least a somewhat longer lifespan I'd guess. I did have a post about a dragonfly getting anesthesia so it could have adhesive removed from its wings the other day though, so that could be another example.
ickplant@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 19d
May I recommend chatting with @anon6789@lemmy.world who is an amazing wildlife rehab volunteer and always helpful with advice?
anon6789@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 19d
I try my best!
I should be releasing 3 animals after work today, so hopefully I get some fun photos.