Grand Rapids Wildlife Rehabilitation

27/11/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for all of you! Every patient that comes through our doors was found by someone who cared, took time out of their schedule to help that animal and then bring them to us. Each one of those patients benefits from the generous donations you send them- food, enclosures, exercise wheels, medicine, warm beds and so much more. Your kind hearts make our work possible and we are grateful for each and every one of our supporters! Be safe this season and call us if you find an animal in need. We will be here!

Our flying squirrel is enjoying a pecan for his Thanksgiving treat!

18/11/2025

We also admitted an adult eagle just like this one this weekend. I’ll put a photo of him in the comments. We transferred him in hopes the lead levels could be treatable, but he unfortunately passed away as well. Please choose lead free options for hunting and fishing 🙏🏻

12/11/2025

We had another Barred Owl come in after being struck by a vehicle. She has a lot of minor wounds and internal damage. We were able to stabilize her and get her down to The Raptor Center where she will hopefully overcome her injuries and then come back for release.

Most of the animals we admit in the cooler months have been hit by vehicles. Please be extra careful when driving and if you do hit an animal please pull over and check on it if it is safe for you to do so. Give us a call and we can walk you through what to do.

31/10/2025

Happy Howloween!🦉🎃
See what I did there? 😄

This Barred Owl came in after he had been hit by a truck and was found trapped in the grill. We gave him fluids, meds and have him on supplemental oxygen.

Please be extra mindful while driving tonight. The animals are out and so are the little humans! Have a safe and fun Halloween!

30/10/2025

Do you want a behind the scenes look at what it’s like being a wildlife rehabber? Then come to the open house at Wildwoods this Saturday! I will be there giving tours and answering questions (I’m the Clinic Manager there). There will be s’mores stations, popcorn, educational booths, a table for the kids to bring a stuffed animal to “fix”, raffles and more!

Hope to see you there! 😁🦉 🦊 🐰 🐸

19/10/2025

We had this gorgeous pileated woodpecker come in after he was found in an intersection. He was moved off the road, but didn’t fly away so the finder brought him to us. We had him for a few days on meds, cage rest and oxygen support. We weren’t able to palpate any fractures so we sent him down to WRC for radiographs to see if there were any minor ones or damage in the shoulder girdle that we weren’t able to feel. He had a very minor clavicle and keel fracture so they kept him for a couple weeks. He was sent back up to Grand Rapids and released near his home where he is living life out in the wild where he belongs.

Thank you to everyone who played a part in getting this guy the medical care he needed. We are happy to be here to help and excited to expand our space so we can do even more in the future! Our building fundraiser is linked in the comments if you want to help us get our new rehab areas up! ❤️

09/10/2025

Fall is definitely here. I have my clinic prepped for winter and all of my baby supplies put away since surely there shouldn’t be anymore babies coming in this late in the year, right? Well, surprise! We admitted this juvenile Southern Flying Squirrel late last night after an unfortunate encounter with a cat. If he survives from the cat attack he will be in care for a while. I’m not sure yet if I’ll be able to release him before winter or if he’ll be staying with us until spring. Send healing vibes his way!

02/10/2025

October is Bat Appreciation Month! 🦇 Ironically, our very first patient of the month just so happened to be a Little Brown Myotis bat. He was found crawling on hot cement and unable to fly. Thankfully, he doesn’t have any notable injuries and just seems to be dehydrated. He is very feisty now that he has been rehydrated and fed some tasty mealworms. We will test fly him tomorrow and if he does well he will get to be released. Sometimes animals just need a little help from us to get them back out in the wild.

Big thanks to Jordan for rescuing this little guy! We appreciate all of our caring finders who bring injured and ill animals to us. You’re all heroes for our wildlife! 🫶🏻

We are still trying to raise funds for our new rehab building. One of the additions we want to include are larger flight enclosures for test flying bats and birds. I will link the GoFundMe in the comments if you’d like to help us and the animals out! We also have Venmo if you’d rather go that route. Thank you all for your support! 🖤

09/09/2025

30/08/2025

We got a call about a baby squirrel that wasn’t doing very well. Unfortunately, he ended up passing away before he got to us. A couple of days later the finder found another one. This little girl was so emaciated and dehydrated. I didn’t honestly think she was going to make it. A couple days after that the finder found ANOTHER baby squirrel that wasn’t doing very well. She rushed her over right away.

Normally when we put two new babies together they are a little nervous about each other at first. But when I put the new baby in (purple ear) she immediately found her sister and snuggled up next to her. Just look at how happy they are to be together again. 🥹

I’m happy to report that both babies are doing very well and have made it through the tough part of their rehabilitation journey and are set to be released in just over a month 🩶

28/08/2025

I have another Nighthawk that needs a ride to Garrison. If you are able to get him there before 5pm please call me 🙏🏻
218-360-9954

27/08/2025

We had this very spicy Common Nighthawk come in after being found in an alley and unable to fly. We didn’t find any substantial injuries on her so she got transferred for radiographs.

If you look at her beak you will see how tiny the exterior potion is. When she opens her mouth you can appreciate how large it really is! This allows her to capture large moths and swarms of little insects.

Unlike their name suggests, they aren’t actually hawks and don’t eat at night. Nighthawks are crepuscular aerial insectivores, which means that they eat insects exclusively on the fly during dawn and dusk.

Like many bird species, Common Nighthawk populations are in steep decline. Pesticides are causing major insect declines, which negatively affects our insectivorous birds (and amphibians and mammals). Natural bug control (like bats and Nighthawks) are great alternatives to pesticides! If you spray your yard and are interested in going a more natural route next year look into what species would be best in your habitat. 💚