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WILDLIFE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION

Advice if you find a bird or injured animal:

For your safety and the animal’s comfort, handle it carefully and as little as possible.

Do not give food or water to the animal.

Isolate the animal by placing it in a covered cardboard box with eight to ten pencil-sized holes punched in it for circulation.

Do not use a cage; the wire sides damage feathers and offer no sense of shelter to the animal, thus continuing its stress. Close the cardboard box and place it in a warm, dark, dry room away from pets and people.

Call the nearest rescue center for further instructions. The greatest cause of death in injured or orphaned wildlife is the delay of proper treatment.

What to do if you found a baby bird:

See if you can find the nest. If you can see it but can’t reach it and the parents are nearby, try to make a nest out of a plastic cup and fasten it to a tree (out of reach of cats). See if the parent will feed it from there.

If you can’t do the above and the baby needs care, gently pick it up and put it in a cup with tissue, or use a tee shirt to make a little nest. Put this in a box and cover it with a lid of some kind. Put the bird in a safe, quiet place.

Keep it warm. You can put a zip-lock bag with warm water in it next to the bird.

Don’t give food or water.

Get it to the nearest Wildlife Rehabilitator as soon as possible.
Don’t try to keep it and raise it yourself – the bird may not make it, and it is illegal!

The closest Centers:

Fresno Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Service (Clovis)
(559) 298-3276
Website: https://www.fresnowildlife.org

San Joaquin Raptor/Wildlife Rescue Center

(209) 723-9283

Merced, CA

Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center
1220 Geer Rd Hughson, California 95326
(209) 883-9414
Website: http://www.stanislauswildlife.org
email: SWCCenter@stanislauswildlife.org

California Critters
12243 Orange Blossom Rd
Oakdale, CA 95361
(209) 847-2603

Rose Wolf Wildlife Rescue – Tuolumne County
22455 Villas Ln
Sonora, CA 95370
209-588-1335
Website: http://www.rosewolfwildlife.org

Motherlode Wildlife Care – Tuolumne County (birds and squirrels)
209-677-7249
Website: http://www.mlwild.org

Critter Creek Wildlife Station – Tulare, Kings, Fresno and parts of Madera and Kern counties
36710 Sand Creek Rd
Squaw Valley, CA 93675
559-338-2415
Website: http://www.crittercreek.org

Other Resources:

California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Website: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Investigations/Rehab/Facilities

California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators
Website:https://www.ccwr.org