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Volunteer Kristine Beebe has dedicated
over 30 years to rehabilitating baby rabbits.
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Wild Care Volunteers Gave over 8,900
Hours in 2024!
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Wild Care volunteers are the best around, and always willing to step up for all of the many needs we have throughout the year! And there is always a need, in fact in 2024 our volunteers put in an amazing 8,900 hours! We could not do what we do without them. They help with animal care, clean-up, enrichment, events, maintenance, computer work, animal transport, and so much more.
We would like to recognize two of our valued volunteers that gave more than 200 hours of their time going above and beyond with their dedication to Wild Care in 2024. Kristine Beebe and Roz Goldstein each volunteered more than 200 hours! Kristine is our go-to for baby bunnies, specializing in orphaned Eastern Cottontails, and Roz is a clinic volunteer who also works events, feeds baby squirrels and birds. We are so incredibly grateful for ALL of our volunteers, and everything they do!
Stephanie Ellis,
Executive Director
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CAN YOU HELP? Wild Care Volunteers Needed | | |
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Volunteers are so important to everything we do to help wildlife. It gets busy here, and we couldn’t do it all without our volunteers! In the Summer months we can have up to 200 patients being cared for in our clinic at once, and as you can imagine its a huge need to keep things clean and running smoothly. A clean place for animals to recover is an important part of helping them return to wild. If you are interested in volunteering in our clinic we’d love to hear from you!
Email Amy for more information
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Some talks require pre-registration. Space is limited. | |
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Upcoming Wildlife Spring Talk Series
Join Wild Care this spring for some interesting and informative talks all about wildlife. Get some “coyote smart” tips, find out what to do if you find a baby animal, or animal in distress, and learn how to coexist with wildlife in your backyard. Follow the story of Osprey chicks from eggs to wild fostering while learning about the history of Osprey on Cape Cod.
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Advice on Keeping Pets, Backyard Birds
and Poultry Safe From Avian Flu
As we're sure you have heard on the news, Avian Flu is prevalent in Massachusetts at this time. We've been receiving many questions regarding backyard bird feeders. There is not currently a state moratorium on feeding backyard birds. However, you should still take necessary precautions.
-Do not feed wild birds if you have poultry sharing the area.
OR - Keep your bird feeding stations completely separate from poultry.
-Keep dogs away from bird feeding areas or walk them leashed in the backyard avoiding the bird feeding area.
-Disinfect bird feeding stations/birdbaths once per week utilizing PPE (outdoors) 1/10 bleach to water solution. Rinse well.
Protect your pets by keeping cats indoors, and dogs on-leash and away from areas with migratory birds, and avoid feeding them raw milk and raw meat pet food diets.
Wild Care's Director Stephanie Ellis spoke with the
Provincetown Independent about this important topic.
Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment is an important resource for questions and precautions to take as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or H5N1, continues to impact bird populations nationwide. While there have been no known human cases in Massachusetts, recent developments underscore the importance of public awareness and prevention.
Get the latest information here
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And the Winners
of the Lovebirds Valentine’s Day
Winter Drawing are...
Wild Care's Lovebirds Valentine's Day Drawing helped raise donations totaling over $8,000 to help us prepare for the upcoming busy "Baby Season". Thank you to everyone that donated!
Congratulations Dina Howell, winner of the My Heart's in Harwich package, Gretchen Dietrich, winner of the Provincetown Art and Adventure package, and Mary Lynn Farrenkopf, winner of the Culinary and Lighthouse Tour prize.
Special thanks to the following local businesses for the generous donations: Winstead Inn, Buca’s Tuscan Roadhouse, Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises, The Seal Pub & Cafe, Cape Roots, Gabriel’s Hotel, Dolphin Fleet, Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Pilgrim Monument, Fanizzi’s Provincetown, Far Land Provisions, Truro Vineyards, Oyster Company, West End Restaurant, Scargo Cafe, Rock Harbor Grill, The Seal Pub & Cafe, Bay Spirit Tours
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Stage Stop Candy Holiday Fundraiser
is a Sweet Success
for Wild Care
Thank you to everyone that purchased chocolate during our Eat Chocolate, Save Wildlife holiday fundraiser! Thanks to you we sold more than 213 boxes of chocolate, and raised $1,200 for Wild Care! We are so grateful to Josh and Mandi, owners of Stage Stop Candy for making this possible! Stage Stop is family-owned, and all of their delicious treats are made right here on Cape Cod. Your purchases help wildlife, and local owned business. Two great reasons to eat more chocolate!!!
| Josh and Mandi, owners of Stage Stop Candy | | |
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We are just daffy with ducks lately! Here are a few photos
from Wild Care's Kerry Reid of some of our sea duck patients.
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Long tailed Duck
Non-breeding male.
Had two leg injuries.
Large wound on one leg, sutured by Dr. Venezia. Duck is doing well!
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White-winged Scoter
Found stranded with head trauma and facial wounds this sassy bird is eating well, and getting stronger everyday!
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Surf Scoter
just out of a bath.
Sub-adult male, molting. Looks like a hot mess
and could not be more fabulous. Arrived with
head trauma and an eye injury. We are woking on his waterproofing.
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New State Legislation Filed to
Restrict the Use of Rodenticides
The sad truth about using rodenticides or rat bait to control rodent populations is that it creates a much further reaching danger than intended. Highly toxic rat poisons called anti-coagulant rodenticides are poisoning wildlife and pets at an alarming rate across Massachusetts.
New state legislation, “An Act Restricting the use of Rodenticides in the Environment” was filed in Massachusetts in January 2025. If passed, HD.1721 and SD.1447 will place badly needed restrictions on anti-coagulant rodenticides at the state level that will help keep people, pets, and wildlife safe. Please contact your state rep and senator and ask them to support this legislation."
Please take a few moments (5 minutes) to watch this poignant video by Samara Ebinger of the Friends of Worcester Wildlife and her call to action. (*NOTE - The video contains graphic images of sick or deceased animals.)
WATCH video here
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Poison is never the answer. Get humane rodent control solutions
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Baby's are coming! Help Reduce the Number of Orphaned Squirrels this Season
Even though it's cold outside, squirrels are breeding, and some squirrels are pregnant. (Yes, you have read this correctly.) We have received neonatal Eastern Gray Squirrels at Wild Care as early as February 10th one year, though most of our squirrel babies arrive in March. Please help us reduce the number of orphaned squirrels this season by following these simple steps, and call us for advice: 508-240-2255.
If you have a car or a piece of machinery that has not been moved for a while - open the hood, or move the vehicle frequently, to discourage squirrels and other rodents from nesting. Rodents do not want to move into a home that is unpredictable and "unsafe". (This goes for lawnmowers and grills too!) If there is already a nest under the hood, call us for tips to encourage momma squirrel to move her young.
Dead trees and snags. Eastern Gray Squirrels will nest in tree cavities, but also build large round nests of dead leaves. If you must trim or remove trees this winter, please check carefully to ensure that they are not inhabited by squirrels, owls, or other roosting birds. No dead tree is ever really dead. Save a tree, save a life!
If you find a squirrel nest on the ground with babies in it, place them into a shoebox with gloved hands, and provide a heating aid. Do not give them food or water. Note where the nest fell, and watch for activity from momma squirrel. Please call us. Eastern Gray Squirrels build SEVERAL nests, and we can often reunite them with their young. Squirrels are very attentive mothers.
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Why Wildlife Matters: Exploring the
Eastern Cottontail
Get a sneak peek at the WRAM - Wildlife Rehabilitators’ Association of Massachusetts e-newsletter. Wild Care Executive Director Stephanie Ellis is a WRAM Board Member and writes a quarterly column focusing on “Why Wildlife Matters.” In this newsletter, Stephanie writes about the world of the Eastern Cottontail.
READ the article here
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Are you a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or want to learn more about the work that we do, or just love wildlife? This conference is for you! Registration is now open for the Wildlife Rehabilitators' Association of Massachusetts - WRAM virtual 2-day conference to be held on March 15 and 16th. Be part of a weekend full of educational lectures, social opportunities, round table discussions, workshops, live Q&A's, and other fun, networking events. You do not need to be a WRAM member to attend.
Wild Care’s Director Stephanie Ellis is giving several talks this year, “Naked, Alone and Afraid - The Little Bald Ones, 101 and 102”, Life in the Egg”, and Osprey Re-nesting with Kevin Friel and Barbara Schneider of the Osprey Project. Wild Care’s Animal Care Coordinator Jennifer Taylor will be a panelist for the round table discussion ” First Year Fumbles. Navigating wildlife rehab with curiosity and courage.”
Register here
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Thank You Wild Care's 2025 Animal Ambassador Sponsors
Wild Care's Educational Ambassadors play an important role in educational outreach in our community. They are all non-releasable animals that live year-round with us at the Wild Care clinic. Sponsors provide for the care, food, habitat, and enrichment of their sponsored animal. We are incredibly thankful for the following 2025 sponsors:
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GARV
an Eastern Box Turtle
Sponsored by
Garvey Communication Associates Inc.
in loving memory of
James Garvey
The Garvey family is very near and dear to our hearts here at Wild Care for their ongoing love and support of our work. Our beloved Educational Eastern Box Turtle "Garv" was named after John Garvey who has sponsored his annual care since 2017. Sponsorship this year is in loving memory of James Garvey. James loved the Cape, and the work of Wild Care was very important to him.
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GARV
Sponsored by
Tom O'Connell
in loving memory of
Laura Runkel
Thank you to Tom O’Connell for his 2025 sponsorship for the care of Garv, our Eastern Box Turtle Animal Ambassador. This sponsorship is made in loving memory of Tom’s wife Laura Runkel who loved Garv. Laura was a beloved Wild Care Volunteer. She is missed by all of us here at Wild Care. We are honored and grateful for this sponsorship in her name.
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NICKERSON
an Eastern Screech Owl
Sponsored by
Jill & Alan Macdonald
Thank you to Jill and Alan MacDonald for their kind and generous sponsorship of Nickerson an Eastern Screech Owl for 2025! Jill is a member of the Nickerson family and Wild Care is very dear to her.
Nickerson was brought to Wild Care as an owlet in 2017 after the nesting tree she and her siblings were in was cut down. Her siblings were rehabilitated and released, but she suffered an eye injury when the tree fell causing blindness in one eye. Nickerson has been a charming Animal Ambassador teaching young and old about the importance of owls in our environment.
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MALLORY
a Mallard Duck
Sponsored by
Jody Rice-Hines
We would like to thank our wonderful Board Member and long-time Clinic Volunteer, Jody Rice-Hines for generously sponsoring the care of Mallory in 2025! She and Mallory have a very special bond. Jody feels that Mallory is a special little duck who knows her name, enjoys watermelon and meal worms. Mallory has a few favorite people in her life of which Jody is one of them!
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TERRY
an Eastern Painted Turtle
Sponsored by
Monica Smith
Thank you to Monica Smith for sponsoring Terry, an Eastern Painted Turtle in 2025! Terry is a beautiful turtle with the cutest face, and we are so fortunate to have him as an educational ambassador at Wild Care. Terry came to us in 2022, and could not be released into the wild because he had become habituated to people. He loves to swim, and can often be found perching on-top of his favorite rock.
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UP UP
an Eastern Screech Owl
Sponsored by
Jennifer Budryk
Thank you to Beach Road Muscular Therapy for the generous 2025 sponsorship of Nickerson! Nationally certified and licensed massage therapist Jennifer Budryk has been mountain biking in Nickerson State Park for 40 years, and hopes to bring awareness of the importance of having tree work done before nesting and baby season.
Up Up came to us in 2017 as an owlet. He was displaced from his nest when his nesting tree was cut down. He was found on the ground and brought to Wild Care. No other owlets were found. Sadly, he had a wing droop and a fractured wing. A wildlife veterinarian deemed him non-releasable due to the fracture. He is a wonderful educational animal, helping to teach people about how they can minimize impacts on wildlife (don’t trim trees until winter), and why owls are an important part of our ecosystem.
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TORTILLA
an Eastern Musk Turtle
Sponsored by
Chris McLaughlin
Thank you to Chris McLaughlin for her sponsorship of Tortilla! Chris sent us this sweet and thoughtful message to share… “If we all took a moment to think of our time here and what we’d like our legacy to be, what matters most is that I left here better than I found it. I cared for the lives around us that so many don’t see. Tortilla is a life interrupted and healing that one wound, one life at a time, makes such a difference in the scheme of all living things. Be kind. Especially to those who can’t ask us for help.”
LEARN MORE about Musk Turtles
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Check out our Amazon and Chewy WISH LISTS and donate much
needed supplies to help the animals being cared for at Wild Care.
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