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

Cape Wildlife Center

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United States
Barnstable, MA
Cape Wildlife Center

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

06/29/2025

🐾🥜 Little Peanut Butter Bandit Alert! 🥜🐾

This morning’s adventure involved one very determined (and now very embarrassed) raccoon who got his entire headstuck in a peanut butter jar. 😅

Apparently, the lure of those last few delicious spoonfuls was just too much to resist… but once his snack turned into a helmet, he needed a helping hand.

Barnstable Animal Control brought him over and our veterinary team was able to safely remove the jar and free our furry friend—jar intact, pride slightly bruised, and peanut butter cravings definitely satisfied.

After a quick exam we did not find any sustained injuries so after some rehydrating fluids he was released! He waddled off safe and sound, probably thinking twice about his next snack mission. To help critters avoid getting caught is situations like this always be sure to secure all trash and recycling. Fortunately his little guy was found before any permanent damage was done but the next animal might not be so lucky. Thank you to all parties that made sure this raccoon got the helped he needed! 🦝❤️

06/20/2025

A Big Thank You to Barnstable Fire Department for helping us get a raccoon that was stuck under the dashboard of a finders car out safely!

A finder bringing us a young raccoon got the surprise of his life when he arrived at our cape hospital and went to get the carrier that was holding this orphaned raccoon out of his car. The raccoon had escaped the carrier during the drive and wedged himself up under the dashboard of the car. Our staff tried to see if they could extricate the youngster, however he had crawled so far in we could not get to him.
We knew the car would have to be partially disassembled so we called Barnstable FD to see if they would be able to lend a hand.
They came right over and were able to get us enough access so our staff could pull him out.
The little guy was scared, and a little hot, but thankfully unharmed. After all that excitement he was happy to enjoy a meal and a cold drink of water!

We are grateful to everyone who responded to see if they could help us out Barnstable Animal Control ! It definitely takes a village sometimes!

06/17/2025

Friends we are full and then some! We could really use your help!

We have over 100 wild patients currently in care at our Cape hospital, and our Weymouth hospital is even busier. From orphaned raccoons to songbirds, to fox, bunnies, and turtles we are in the midst of our busiest season ever! We are scrambling to expanded cages, retrofit rooms, and purchase supplies, but we cant do it withouthout you.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your donation makes a difference, this is your sign!

Please consider donating through to help us get through this unprecidented season and make sure all of the animals get the help they need this year. It truly makes all the difference!

Follow the link below to help, Thank you! 🐢🦊🦉

https://capewildlifecenter.com/925-2/

06/15/2025

We’re thrilled to share an exciting, and slightly unusual new project we’ve been working on with our amazing partners at the City of Quincy’s Department of Natural Resources! 🐢

Together, we’re working to save an entire pond’s worth of turtles while their habitat is cleaned up!

Sailor’s Home Pond is a well-loved body of water with deep roots in Quincy. The Sailors Home once served as a home for retired sailors and the adjacent pond has served many purposes through the centuries, from ice harvesting to residential fishing hotspot. Over the years the water quality and ecological health of the pond has been degraded and is currently undergoing a major habitat restoration! These kinds of projects are critical for improving water quality and biodiversity and we are excited to see the outcome. However, sometimes in process of removing the contaminated sediments, wildlife that live there, particularly turtles, can be harmed or killed in the process. That is where this project gets exciting!

Before the heavy equipment rolled in, we launched a nearly month-long effort to safely relocate every turtle living in the pond! Using traps baited with sardines (a big hit, by the way), Quincy Natural Resources employees checked traps daily with the help of local experts and caring neighbors we were able to rescue 31 turtles in total! Including one massive 32-pound snapping turtle, affectionately named whopper, who is estimated to be over 30 years old!

The turtles are now living the good life in our hospital while they wait for their home to be cleaned up. We have converted an entire room to their care and where each turtle receives a full health check-up, including blood work, X-rays, and is tested for the presence of heavy metals. They are enjoying frequent meals, to the tune of 35 lbs of fish at each feeding!

As if that was not enough excitement, we also received an uneggspected surprise when our vet team discovered that three turtles were gravid (that's turtle-speak for pregnant!). Since their usual nesting sites weren’t safe during construction, we created a mini maternity ward at the hospital. We are happy to report all three moms successfully laid their eggs, which are now safely incubating in our hospital.

Once the restoration is complete, all 31 turtles, plus the next generation, will return to their newly revitalized pond, ready to thrive for decades to come. We’re proud to be part of this innovative, compassionate approach to restoration and hope it inspires similar efforts in other communities. Big thanks to our partners at Quincy DNR for helping make this possible!

Stay tuned for more updates and turtle stories!

05/28/2025

Aw Shucks

This gull was not having a good week when his clam breakfast decided to fight back and clamp down on his beak. Natural resource officers at Sandy Neck Beach have been trying to catch him for a few days but despite being weighed down he still managed to evade them. Today they succeeded in capturing him to bring him over for assessment.

Our veterinary team was able to determine he was other wise healthy and fortunately we had a shucker on hand and were able to get the clam off without causing any damage to his beak! He was returned back to the beach slightly shell-shocked but otherwise relieved.
His counterpart- the clam was also happy to be released!

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

http://capewildlifecenter.com/

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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