Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic

If there is anything we can claim deep expertise and extensive experience in at the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic, it's treatment and recovery from neurological conditions (e.g. Canine Distemper Virus). In the wild, male raccoons who did not grow up together are in competition for food, shelter, and mates - and thus do not typically get along. In fact, they may fight to fatal effect. These two adult male raccoons - Sandy and Bethel - are both neurological patients learning to overcome their current disabilities, and originally regarded each other in adjacent enclosures as mortal enemies. Over time that antipathy thawed, and they eventually became tolerant, and are now good friends - so good that we moved them in together. They both appreciate having a buddy to hang with - even when Bethel annoys Sandy by preventing him from climbing. 😂 The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

Late night bottle feeding at the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic with our newest raccoon orphan Mathew. This is a brief snuggle break during our feeding session, and my chin and whiskers offer comfort after losing mom. Soon Mathew will be placed with other orphaned foster siblings, and these special daddy moments will be no more, as we raise Mathew to be wild and free. The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

After their mother was slaughtered by an angry homeowner because she raided a chicken coop to feed her babies, these newly orphaned raccoon babies found their way to the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic with the help of a Good Samaritan. They are now safe and loved, and will be raised to survive and thrive in the wild when they are older. The angry homeowner contributed nothing towards the expense of raising them, so we are asking for your help - for these and other babies we are raising this season. The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

When one of our own dogs grabbed a chipmunk on our back deck - right in front of me - I was able to rescue it from her mouth before she crushed it. After consulting with fellow rehabber extraordinaire and chipmunk expert Christy Reeves, the chipmunk was provided with a bit of R&R here at the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic, an all-you-can-eat-buffet, and a couple of weeks on the appropriate meds. Today it was ship shape again, and just released into our front yard - its own home territory - with an admonishment not to return to the backyard again. The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

We’re filling up the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic swimming hole for the upcoming nightly pool party, but Riley can’t wait for the splashtastic fun to begin. If she didn’t already come equipped with her own mask, I swear she’d show up with a swim mask, snorkel, and fins. 🤿😂 The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

Update: Necropsy confirmed positive for rabies. 😢 __________ Rabies is quite rare in the wild. Wildlife with Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), which is much more common and is not tranmissible to humans, is often mistaken for rabies. The Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic receives and treats many dozens of CDV patients each year, which people usually misdiagnose as rabies. 99% of the time it's CDV, and 1% of the time it's rabies. Once in a while however, we do receive a rabies patient. This juvenile female raccoon is rabid, and in excruciating pain. She snarls in agony from the torture her nervous system is enduring. Her legs tremble from the seizures racking her body. Her eyes are filled with puss from infection, and insanity has taken her brain. The demon that has done this to her creeps along her nerves, rather than through her bloodstream as most other viruses do. Her saliva carries the most lethal mammalian virus on the planet. She is experiencing Hell on Earth, so I will euthanize her to end her unspeakable suffering. That means I will open her cage, and attempt to immobilize her with a towel without getting bitten, while simultaneously injecting a sedative into her thigh muscle - the first step in a gentle and merciful euthanasia process. I must be extra careful, because receiving a bite can be fatal, since the rabies vaccine is not a guarantee of survival. Without the vaccine however, a rabid bite is 100% fatal. Please keep this suffering little girl in your heart. It is not her fault that she herself was bitten, and inflicted with this terrible doom. The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. h

At the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic, we are in the process of releasing 14 orphaned raccoons, and this evening the first 6 boys enjoyed complete freedom at 9 months old! We received each of these kids when they were only a few days old, bottle-fed them, and raised them to be wild creatures (not pets) with survival skills. All have been fully vaccinated against Rabies, Distemper, Parvo, and other diseases, so they are as safe as your own pets. While climbing was a constant activity in their enclosures, this is the first time these two boys have ever climbed a real tree. I hope you enjoy their inaugural ‘freedom climb’ as much as we did! ❤️🦝 The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

Kit & Sassy

Now that the sub-freezing temperatures have passed, our babies are back outside, minus the two females. The time came to separate the girls from the boys from the older 'nursery', as things were getting a little heated 😳 'The boys' were thrilled to be back in their old hangout, and had fun exploring their new outdoor play set. 🦝 🛝

This falls into the “educational”, but “don’t do this at home” categories. This is a Big Brown Bat that I have been rehabilitating for awhile at the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic, to be released back into the wild when warmer weather arrives. The bat knows me quite well, since I feed it every day. It theoretically could have rabies, but I am positive it does not. And because I am a ‘rabies vector species’ specialist, my body is flooded with rabies vaccine. I get a rabies booster every year. Unless you can say the same, don’t do this at home. Why am I holding this Big Brown Bat barehanded to feed it tonight? To show you that even while it’s eating, it’s quite gentle (to me, not the mealworm). If it wanted to bite me, it could. But it has no interest in that since I’m not frightening it. It even nuzzles my hand at the end, while it’s searching my hand for more mealworms to eat. It knows the difference between my hand and a mealworm. As you see, even hungry bats are quite sweet. There is no reason to fear them. They are like every other animal. If you count yourself an ‘animal advocate’, advocate for bats too. Learn, love, protect, share. ❤️🦇 P.S. Please ignore my terribly chapped hand. It is crying out for moisturizer. 😂 The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

Time for Christmas Dinner for our younger group of orphaned raccoons at the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic. They usually scatter away from people, but they know I'm their caregiver, and that I bring yummy morsels. The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate

On this Christmas Eve, this is the Animal Institute's Wildlife Clinic’s own Tiny Tim. His real name is Sandy, and he is trying to learn how to walk again - without the benefit of crutches. He came to us with unspecified neurological damage, and we are so proud to see his tiny but extraordinary feats of progress. Every morning and every night, when we clean his cage, he stumbles out of the way, but eagerly anticipates his return to his little hideaway. Every step is magical to us, and we cherish our own Tiny Tim. This video was just taken moments ago of tonight’s little miracle. ❤️🦝 The Animal Institute is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit animal protection organization. If you would like to support our charitable lifesaving work in this community, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, which will be used to buy the necessary medications, patient cages, veterinary supplies, animal care supplies, etc., that we need to save these precious lives. https://animalinstitute.org/donate