Cape Wildlife Center

Cape Wildlife Center Wildlife hospital, education center and community hub! Program of We operate two non-profit wildlife hospitals and education Centers.

The Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center is the Cape Cod branch of the New England Wildlife Centers. Each year we provide free veterinary care to over 5000 sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals. In the process of caring for these patients we work to educate members of the public and spread the message of environmental conservation . Each day we work to preserve the rich natural history of Cape Cod a

nd Southeastern Massachusetts m, one animal – and one person at a time. If you have found a wild animal in need of help, or have questions about wildlife, natural history, or habitat please call our wildlife Hotline at (508) 362 0111

11/28/2025

Big news coming on Tuesday! 👀

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from our wildlife family to yours! Each year we treat many sick injured and orphaned turkeys. These are some of our resident turkeys that frequent our Cape hospital property throughout the year. 🦃❤️

What are you flocking to next weekend? We hope it’s our Holiday Open House! 🪶The Winter Wildlife Open House at the Birds...
11/26/2025

What are you flocking to next weekend? We hope it’s our Holiday Open House! 🪶

The Winter Wildlife Open House at the Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center is coming up on Saturday, Dec 6th! This year we’ll have even more vendors, new auction items, hands-on kids crafts, story time, pictures with Santa, special animal programs that highlight the work we do every day for wildlife on Cape Cod, and more. It’s a great way to get to know the people caring for our local wildlife, and meet some really special animals too.

We’ve worked hard to keep admission affordable! Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online or at the door, and all proceeds go directly toward helping the patients in our hospital and supporting our education work. Get your tickets now to join us at one of our favorite community events of the year!

Ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winter-wildlife-open-house-tickets-1963476855129

Charles the Alligator came back for his two-week checkup and he brought his new caretaker Joe Kenney of Joe's Crazzy Cri...
11/25/2025

Charles the Alligator came back for his two-week checkup and he brought his new caretaker Joe Kenney of Joe's Crazzy Critters along. After being on antibiotics for two weeks, his appetite has increased and his diet of tilapia, silver sides, mice, snails and chicken is back to normal! His breathing has improved and he’s gained a healthy 34 grams!

He will continue to come to New England Wildlife Centers’ Odd Pet Vet for rechecks while he’s being treated by us medically. Now that the alligator is in more stable condition, we were able to perform more diagnostics like x-rays. The images showed Charles still has some minor congestion in his lungs, but is trending in the right direction. Dr. Mertz expects this will continue to resolve with a continued course of antibiotics.

We are so happy to see the improvement and he will come in for routine checkups going forward. Joe will continue to care for him for the foreseeable future under his special permit. A reminder that alligators do not make good pets and if you see one in the wild, please report it to Fish and Wildlife.

When unique situations come up, New England Wildlife Centers is always there. We need your help to support these special patients when they come through our doors. In this season of giving, please consider donating to New England Wildlife Centers and give creatures of all species second chances.

Donation link: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/gZ6XZPXM1sT3-WJX8ik8hg

This Red-tailed Hawk was found in a Plymouth backyard unable to fly and was brought to us by Kingston Animal Control. (C...
11/22/2025

This Red-tailed Hawk was found in a Plymouth backyard unable to fly and was brought to us by Kingston Animal Control. (Content warning: medical images)

X-rays revealed a left ulnar fracture caused by a bullet lodged near the elbow joint. Our veterinary team stabilized him, provided fluids, pain relief, and anti-inflammatories, and removed the bullet under sedation.

The good news is he is being a star patient and eating well in the hospital. His wing is wrapped and now we have to wait to see how the bone heals. The bullet fragmented the ulna into several pieces near the elbow so this could affect its range of motion. The good news is that because he was brought to us so quickly we were able to splint the wing appropriately for the best chances of healing normally. We’ll continue to monitor him closely over the next few weeks.

We’re so grateful to Allison who found him and made sure he got the care he needed! What happened to this hawk is a crime. Hunting birds of prey is illegal so this case has been reported to the proper authorities.

It’s not every day you find an owl hanging out on your curtain rod! 🦉🛁This Eastern Screech Owl was found inside someone’...
11/20/2025

It’s not every day you find an owl hanging out on your curtain rod! 🦉🛁

This Eastern Screech Owl was found inside someone’s bathroom, and no one’s quite sure how he got there. Owls fly silently to help them sneak up on prey, which also means they can sneak in through chimneys, open doors, or even hitch a ride on a Christmas tree brought in from outside! Swipe to see the video from the kind person who found him and made sure he got to safety.

He came to our Cape Wildlife Center a bit underweight, likely after being stuck indoors for a few days. The good news: he’s eating well on his own! Once he’s back to a healthy weight, we’ll release him back near where he was found so he can return to his home territory.

Want to help prevent unexpected owl or other wildlife guests this season? One thing you should do is make sure you have a secure chimney cap installed. It keeps both your home and wildlife safe!

11/19/2025

This Cooper’s hawk has been “knuckling” his toes, so our team made him some tiny booties to help train them back outward.

He’ll wear them for a few days while we monitor progress, along with meds for inflammation and some extra nutritional support!

11/19/2025

Mark your calendars now and join us for an exciting and informative evening, as we host New England Wildlife Center's CEO, Zak Mertz, for a WILD wildlife educational forum -- including human-wildlife cohabitation and conflict, local/backyard wildlife, habitat and property management, population trends, wildlife-public health, and much more!

Zak, is an amazing individual and presenter, he's a true expert in his field, and he is thrilled to visit Dedham to share his knowledge with us! We promise a memorable evening of presentation and Q & A, along with the introduction of a very special WILD friend from the New England Wildlife Center!

PLEASE RSVP TO LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING!
781.751.9106 or [email protected]
(not required but helpful for planning)

One awesome opossum ❤️She came in with her face covered in blood. One look at her and we knew she was dealing with multi...
11/08/2025

One awesome opossum ❤️

She came in with her face covered in blood. One look at her and we knew she was dealing with multiple serious injuries to her face. One eye was practically gone, her tongue was hanging to the side and almost cut in half, and she had at least one fracture to her face. Despite all this she was able to stand and walk and was alert and aware of her surroundings. This quick assessment let us know she had a chance.
Our veterinary team quickly anesthetized her so we could fully assess her trauma without causing her additional stress. We intubated her to control her breathing and to give us more access to her mouth. After a full exam and series of radiographs we confirmed she had both a skull and jaw fracture in addition to her other injuries, but becuase there were no overt signs of brain damage we decided to keep going. A feeding tube was placed so we could provide nutrition while she couldn’t eat, we removed the damaged eye, and repaired her tongue. The jaw fracture fortunately didn’t need much stabilization and the skull fracture would heal with time. After giving fluids, multiple pain meds and antibiotics, now all we had to do was wait…
That was three days ago. We wanted to wait to see how she responded to treatment and ensure her neuro status didn’t decline. She is hanging in there like a champ, but not out of the woods yet. She’s got a long road ahead of her but we’ll be there every step of the way. Please send this mighty marsupial some well wishes!

Calling all Vets and Vet Techs! Our next wildlife triage course for small animal practitioners will be held virtually S...
11/04/2025

Calling all Vets and Vet Techs! Our next wildlife triage course for small animal practitioners will be held virtually Sunday December 7th 2025. If you are interested in working with wildlife or just want to spend a day on the wild side and learn about the basics of wildlife medicine while earning CE credit then sign up today! See flyer below for details. To register click this link: https://forms.gle/om7LTBdw1ZcgMrW59

Address

4011 Main Street
Barnstable, MA
02630

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

(508) 362-0111

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Cape Wildlife Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Cape Wildlife Center:

Shortcuts

Share

Category

The Cape Wildlife Center Mission

The Cape Wildlife Center is a non-profit wildlife hospital and education center located in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Each year we provide veterinary care and rehabilitation to 2,000 sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals. In the process of caring for these patients we work to educate members of the public and spread the message of environmental conservation . Each day we work to preserve the rich natural history of Cape Cod and the islands, one animal – and one person at a time. If you have found a wild animal in need of help, or have questions about wildlife, natural history, or habitat please call our wildlife Hotline at (508) 362 0111