If you have ever asked us our rates of “success”— the number of animals we actually release to the wild— you probably recall getting a polite non-answer. It may look like a red flag for a rehabilitator to not publicize their numbers, but the reason we don’t share them isn’t because our numbers are low.Continue reading “About “Success” Rates”
Tag Archives: ethics
When opossum joeys are too small to save
Are you one of the heroes who, despite feeling squeamish, checks for babies when you see a dead opossum? Awesome! But you may not be sure what to do you find little pink jellybeans in the pouch. In the earliest weeks of development, opossums are hairless, translucent, and fused to the mother’s nipple. At thatContinue reading “When opossum joeys are too small to save”
About Mink Eyelash Extensions
We were trying to take a very serious picture of Calliope to illustrate a very serious conversation. But it’s hard to get a very serious picture of an animal whose sole mission in life is to steal phones. 🤦 Anyway, let’s talk about the fact that people keep putting parts of dead animals on theirContinue reading “About Mink Eyelash Extensions”
Glitter Animals: Managing Contagious Disease in Wildlife Rehabilitation
One of the hardest parts of what we do is caring for the Glitter Animals. “Glitter Animals” is a game, of sorts, that I started playing by myself when caring for animals who have any of the closely related and highly lethal carnivore parvoviruses: canine distemper, canine parvovirus, feline panleukopenia, and raccoon parvovirus, all ofContinue reading “Glitter Animals: Managing Contagious Disease in Wildlife Rehabilitation”
On the Release of Fur Farmed Mink
We heard some disturbing news last night about yet another fur farm that was sabotaged by animal rights activists, releasing thousands of mink into the wild. 😞 One might expect us to be supportive of these kinds of actions, but releasing animals from fur farms isn’t good for the individual animals or for the speciesContinue reading “On the Release of Fur Farmed Mink”
How to Tell Good Sanctuaries from Bad
It’s a horrible reality that many of us don’t like to talk about with the general public: Some facilities that call themselves “sanctuaries” are not sanctuaries. Just recently, many of our friends have had to that take a massive influx of non-releasable wildlife from a “sanctuary” where conditions were even worse than the worst puppyContinue reading “How to Tell Good Sanctuaries from Bad”
Don’t Feed Corn to Wild Animals
Please be careful about where your good intentions lead! Especially around this time of year, a lot of people will feed wildlife to try to help them prepare for winter. Because corn is cheap and is readily eaten by most mammals, it’s a common choice for supplemental food. Native wild animals don’t need our helpContinue reading “Don’t Feed Corn to Wild Animals”
Rethinking Tennessee’s Prairie Wolf
We think it’s way past time to rethink how people view coyotes in the Southeast. Often maligned and viewed as an invasive nuisance, they’re actually a critical part of our ecosystem just like their closely related predecessors, the red wolves. It’s nothing new for a closely related animal to fill in the gaps left whenContinue reading “Rethinking Tennessee’s Prairie Wolf”
Smiling Opossums: Scared, Not Happy
You know all those adorable memes, showing opossums “smiling” while being handled? It’s common for people who find orphaned or injured opossums to project that the animal knows it’s being helped or is happy to be cuddled and pet. Some unethical exhibitors will even distribute photos of smiling opossums as evidence that they love toContinue reading “Smiling Opossums: Scared, Not Happy”
Don’t Rescue Native Prey from Native Predators
We were on the fence about sharing this story, because we know there are people who will be offended and upset by our advice to sometimes let nature be nature. But we feel we have an obligation to advocate for wildlife even when our advice is upsetting or unpopular. So here’s a true story thatContinue reading “Don’t Rescue Native Prey from Native Predators”
For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue 