Salem Wildlife Rescue

01/19/2025

It really does take a village to save animals! I’m so grateful for Newhouse Wildlife Rescue jumping in to help with this little guy today as I’m not properly equipped to take in owls, and for Cape Ann Wildlife, Inc for taking him after. So grateful for these amazing ladies 💕

Rat poison is such an issue here in Salem (where this little guy was found downtown by the post office area), so hopefully positive changes can come about soon!

I wasn’t planning on posting about him because, well quite frankly, I didn’t expect him to make it. This screech owl was brought to us early this morning by Jesse at Salem Wildlife Rescue. She had tried to find a federally permitted rehabber when she first picked him up, but wasn’t able to reach anyone so early on a Saturday morning and she was very concerned about him so she brought him here.

He was in really rough shape when he arrived. Thankfully Dr. Vasilakis from Linwood Animal Hospital was able to come to the rescue and triage him for us. We suspect secondary rodenticide poisoning and he was treated with fluids, vitamin K and oxygen. We weren’t overly hopeful that he would make it because he wasn’t very responsive - but we had to try.

To our surprise, he bounced back and started to stand on his own. What this tiny owl lacked in size he makes up for with tenacity. Picture on the left is before. Picture on the right is after! Our office manager is on her way to Cape Ann Wildlife, Inc right now with him. He will remain on oxygen for the ride, to be safe. He has been through quite a lot today.

It takes a village and I am so so so grateful for mine. ❤️🥰🙏

01/13/2025

A video will be coming tomorrow once I piece together all of the video clips I took to see what is actually usable, but today, our favorite cottontail Odin was released back to the wild for his second chance at life!

Today I consulted with multiple rehabilitators and his wildlife vet regarding what the next best steps for him would be as he was getting very stressed being indoors and destructive. My fear was that he would hurt himself or die from the stress. We weighed hard release versus time in an outdoor cage, and many people said how an outdoor cage for an adult rabbit is like dangling a carrot in front of their face in regards to freedom; they can see the freedom of the wild but they can’t get to it, which can lead to them getting injured trying to escape the cage or even dying from the stress and anxiety. I definitely did not want that to happen to him after spending over a month in care getting him back to full health!!!

Ideally I would have loved to wait for a stretch of decent weather, but this is what was best for him. It was definitely hard having to say goodbye to him today and watching him hop away out of my sight through the snow and into the thick brush. But I knew that this is what he needed and wanted, and that it is what he deserved as a wild rabbit. Every wild animal needs and deserves their freedom.

Odin was the first adult cottontail I have had in my time as a rehabilitator who survived the extent of injuries he came in with. A lot of head trauma cottontails don’t make a full recovery. Most places would have just euthanized him without giving him a chance, but I had the gut feeling to give this bunny a chance. For almost the first week of his arrival, I held him in my arms no less than four times a day syringe feeding him critical care formula, cleaning his wounds, and giving him various medications. With him I shed tears of worry and tears of joy, many laughs, and many many many amazing milestones. He captured the hearts of thousands of people, people who still like and comment EVERY DAY on his reels from over a month ago. I loved greeting him each morning with a blueberry as a treat and watching him scarf it down instantly!

I am so proud of you buddy, welcome back to the wild and to your second chance at life. You will be missed around here at Salem Wildlife, and we all love you more than words can describe 💕 Go Odin!!!

01/11/2025

One of the hardest things about keeping an animal during wintertime is mitigating boredom and stress. Odin is ready for release and showing signs of not wanting to be cooped up in the playpen anymore, but I can’t just dump him outside after being in care so long, at least not with the weather we are currently having! I have reached out to other rehabilitators with outdoor cages in a plea for help to take him as a transition and have yet to hear back from anyone. So in the interim while I wait for someone to hopefully have the capability to take him in a prerelease cage (or the weather to magically have a few decent days in a row), I’m trying to come up with things to keep him distracted/entertained.

This one he is skeptical of, but at least investigating: an Amazon box with two big entrance holes filled with hay and fun snacks for him to dig and find. Will he like it for much longer? Will he just p*e in it and soak the box in his p*e? Will he eat the box like my pet bunny does? Or will he just absolutely love it? The world may never know 😂😂 as of now, I am doing all I can with what I have to keep Odin enriched and happy, and that is all I can do!

Edit: hopefully everyone’s Odin stickers have arrived!! They were dropped off at the post office last Monday! ❤️

01/04/2025

ODIN STICKERS HAVE ARRIVED!!!! 😍 To those who’ve already ordered, I will have them out in the mail on Monday! If you would still like stickers, there are some left so please send me a message! They are $3 and all proceeds go to the rescue of course!
The stickers are made from vinyl and resist scratches, heat, water, and sunlight! So put Odin on your laptop, water bottle, car, wallpaper your walls with hundreds of little Odins (kinda weird but no judgement if you choose to do that with them), on your mirror, the choice is yours!
They will be shipped in a regular stamped envelope and put in the mail, so if you order yours now through Monday morning, I’ll have them dropped to the post office Monday! Send this page a message to secure yours! Thank you for all of your love and support for Odin’s recovery and Salem Wildlife Rescue! ❤️

01/03/2025

Nothing piques Odin’s interest in the mornings quite like the crinkling of the bags that contain his breakfast 🤣❤️

01/02/2025

Odin woke up today on the first day of 2025 ready to take on the world! He is pretty much ready for release in both temperament and his healing, but with the polar vortex coming with a lot of really cold days ahead of us, I can’t just dump him out there in that without established shelter and food! Hopefully in the coming weeks we get at least a few days of decent not-freezing weather in a row so that Odin has a chance to re-acclimate in a new habitat and have a chance of survival! The main thing for now is keeping him content and not stressed. Adult cottontails are very susceptible to capture myopathy and can literally die from the stress, so the important thing for rehabbers is finding the perfect balance of everything when it comes to release time! He definitely has his moments where I can tell that captivity isn’t his favorite and he’s been refusing his favorite lettuce, so I’m trying to keep him busy with toys, different foods and treats, anything to pass the time until we get decent enough weather to release him to his new environment!

I’m just grateful that he has made such an incredible and amazing recovery. From when he came in almost a month ago until now, he is a totally different rabbit! I’ve never had an adult cottontail make such a phenomenal recovery and survive the injuries and ailments that he presented with. His resilience is truly inspiring ❤️

Don’t forget, Odin stickers are coming soon!! Please see my last post for details as fb hides posts for things like that 🙄😂

01/01/2025

If you’re able to help this wonderful organization, please consider doing so ❤️

Virox Animal Health takes a Deliberately Different approach to infection prevention. Legacy disinfectants have more trade-offs than Rescue such as human and environmental safety, disinfection efficacy, cleaning efficacy, and compatibility. Our technology platforms provide a responsible, sustainab...

12/31/2024

It’s a bit of a chilly morning here in Salem, so Odin is tucked in his little hideaway and waiting to come out! He does seem to be LOVING his bigger playpen space, including making a giant mess for me to attend to each morning 🤣

Hoping that this post doesn’t get hidden and not shown to people for using certain words here, but last night on an excited whim, I decided to make a few ODIN STICKERS!!! There are only 50 available, and they are estimated to arrive to me on January 8 or slightly sooner. If you’d happen to like an Odin sticker to rep your favorite cottontail for your laptop, water bottle, car window, wherever, please let me know! They are $3 each and that covers the postage and cost with any extra going towards the rescue…… well right now mostly going towards Odin’s large amount of greens but hey same thing 😂❤️ Leave me a comment or a message so we can start coordinating so that I can get them out in the mail to you as soon as they arrive here!

Thank you in advance for your support!!

12/28/2024

In today’s installment of “why Odin is extra spoiled”: he has been hopping more and falling less, meaning he needed even more space in my very tiny rehab room! Today’s project was moving everything in the rehab room and smushing it all in a pile on the other side of the room, breaking out Benny’s old playpen, putting down a tarp, and giving this healing bun more space! I can barely walk in the rehab room now and almost all of the cages are almost-inaccessible, so hopefully Odin stays an only child until his release 😂😂
This whole ordeal involved him having to stay in the carrier for an hour while I fought to do this, so to win back the good graces of the now-sassy bun, he got a mountain of greens with a pan full of various hays and dried herbs as a little dig box. Tomorrow’s project will be going to get more enrichment items to put in the extra space for him to play with. Until he’s fully ready for release and then we have weather that cooperates to facilitate a good release for him, he’s living large here at Salem Wildlife 🤣

12/24/2024

Odin Claus wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, God Jul, and happy holidays to everyone who celebrates! We wish nothing but the brightest of blessings to each and every one of you! 💕 thank you for all of your support!

Don’t forget to leave out carrots for Odin Claus so he can fill your stockings with hay…. I mean presents!

12/21/2024

Photo shoot this morning of handsome Odin while I was cleaning his cage and putting in his food! 😍 every day he is doing a little better. He still falls over when he hops, but each day is becoming less. He is 5 days into a 28 day course of medicine for E. Cuniculi, JUST in case that could be playing any small part, but regardless he is being treated for it just in case. I have a pet rabbit, so that on top of my enhanced biosecurity measures helps to keep my bunny safe.

He’s started to become more apprehensive of me again and not approaching me which is a great sign. For their safety and wellbeing, we don’t want wildlife to love humans! Having him bunnysat for two days while I was away really helped on that part 😂 All in all, Mr. Odin is doing great! Slow recovery process, but I’m so happy to see such huge improvements!

12/16/2024

It is with the heaviest hearts today that I have to announce the crossing of the rainbow bridge by the hit by car bunny. A few days ago I posted that he seemed to be doing better, and well… ever since he has declined significantly. He had struggled through the weekend and refused to eat. This morning his head was floppy while attempting to feed him, he would swallow half of the minimal food he would take and spit out the rest, and he spent the night in the same position as the night before and urinating and defecating all over himself. It was clear that the rabbit was suffering. The team at All Creatures spoke with me on the phone and we made the tough decision to bring him in this morning for the humane euthanasia.

I have been battling with this decision all morning, and even last night I knew that it would probably happen. This is the hardest part of the job and this part never gets easier, even after all of these years. I still mourn every single patient I bring to vets to help them with their crossing, I still deal with the tears and heartache hours after the visit and wonder if I did the right thing, I still think about them randomly days, weeks, and even months (sometimes even years if they were a patient who made a huge impact on me) after they’ve left me.

I feel so bad having to share this news, I know that’s so many of you were really rooting for him and loved him. At least this beautiful big guy is at peace, I am definitely going to miss wrapping him in the bunny burrito every day and feeding him, looking into his big beautiful eyes and being so grateful to have the chance to care for him. With every single animal, I always feel so grateful and lucky to be able to do the work that I do. And at the end of the day, all that this pain means is that my heart knew love, and for that I am fortunate ❤️

12/15/2024

From earlier today, Odin enjoying a big green bunny breakfast! Just a little heads up, it will be quiet on here for a couple of days. Tomorrow I will be dropping off Odin and the other bunny to another rehabber to be bunnysat until Wednesday. I will be making an early (and quick!) holiday visit to visit family out of state in that time, so of course I also won’t be around for any new intakes until after I return. But after Wednesday, your regularly scheduled bunny content will be back!

12/14/2024

The other bunny must have telepathically heard my post from yesterday of “if he doesn’t get better, we may have to say goodbye” and said in return “I think not!!!” This morning I came in to check on him and he was laying on the other side of the cage, totally opposite from the corner he’s been laying in for 2-3 straight days. I took him out for his morning critical care formula and put him on his feet to see if he could stand yet. Every time I’ve tried, he would just fall over. This morning… he stood for a little bit without falling 😭❤️ As you can see in this photo, he is holding himself up! He still flops over if he tries to move, can’t seem to stand up on his own from the laying position yet, still won’t eat on his own, and still lays in one spot for the most part, but this is such a big move in the right direction! You go, little guy!

12/13/2024

In all of Odin’s successes, I don’t want to leave out the other bunny who’s still here! He has been here for a few days now following a probable hit by car accident, and hasn’t been making as great or as fast of improvements as I would have hoped. He doesn’t seem to move too much and just lays in a corner of the cage. Day of intake, he was wanting to move around more, but he could have just been running off of adrenaline following the accident. For the last couple of days, he’s just been laying on his side which was concerning to me.

I never want to just jump to euthanasia if there’s a chance for an animal to recover. I was desperate to make sure that he was alright and was calling around to local vets to see if anyone was willing to X-ray a wild rabbit! Yesterday afternoon the amazing exotics team at All Creatures Veterinary Hospital in Salem agreed to check him over and do an X-ray since my regular vet is away, just to make sure there was no breaks or fractures or anything that would not be recoverable. The vet said she saw nothing but still sent the X-rays out to their outside reviewer for a second in depth look, just to make sure. I just got the call this morning that this big bunny has a clear set of X-rays (and is definitely a male 🤣), but definitely is a little neurological/head trauma.

He was found flailing in the road so being hit by a car was the main suspect. The vet recommended we give him a course of medicine for E. Cuniculi just in case that could be playing any part in his neurological affect, even though he isn’t acting/presenting like any rabbits I’ve seen who had this. But better safe than sorry and I want to rule out anything to make sure he has the best chance of survival, so he has begun on a 28 day course of medicine for that. We will re-evaluate in a couple of weeks to see if he’s made any improvements. If he’s not recovering at all or truly appears to be suffering, we may have to say goodbye. As of now, I am giving him a chance. If we were in his place, wouldn’t we all wish for someone to give us a chance and have mercy if we couldn’t speak for ourselves and our life was in the hands of someone who couldn’t understand us? For someone to just believe in us and allow us time to heal if we had a chance to? That’s my belief anyway. If he had zero chance, then I wouldn’t put him through that. But I will try, even though that means changing my routine to feed him by syringe 4 times a day until he’s ready to eat on his own again ❤️

But this vet visit yesterday, X-rays, outside consult, and meds still ran the rescue $395.19 after the very kind and generous discount the hospital decided on their own to give me. Unexpected large expenses like that can be difficult on small organizations, so I’m adding a button onto this post if you’d like to help out, no pressure at all! I am glad to pay what I need to to make sure my patients have the best chance of life and survival, as opposed to just jumping to euthanasia. Everyone deserves a chance, no matter the species they are 💕

Update: the amount was already met, wow! Thank you so very much 🥹❤️ my heart is warm at this amazing community of people who want to help me help animals in need! I cannot thank you enough! As always, anything additional past that amount goes right towards the rescue and future expenses like this, supplies, food for these guys, etc. I just went shopping yesterday for greens for Odin who eats like a piggy and that was hefty 😂😂

12/11/2024

To everyone who donated all of the towels yesterday, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Both bunnies are enjoying them and I’m sure they are greatly thankful for the soft place to sleep while they recover!

Odin (the cat attack bunny, first photo) is doing a little better every day! As of this morning, he has been doing better sitting up on his own and starting to hop a little without falling over right away. He still falls, but after a few hops! He has been starting to fight back when it comes to giving him meds, which is a great sign! I was in tears last night as he was kicking me for trying to give him his oral medicine; not from pain of course, happy tears from being so proud that he is improving! It’s still unclear if he’s eating any of the greens on his own as everything was scattered about overnight, but they are in there if he chooses to eat them and he is getting critical care formula via syringe still.

The other bunny (hit by car, second photo) isn’t ambulating quite as good as he did when he first came in, but he was also in shock then and probably running off of some adrenaline. He does have head trauma too and isn’t wanting to eat, so along with Odin, he is getting liquid nutrition by mouth multiple times a day along with his meds. He is a big bunny, weighing over a kilogram more than his roommate!

I am staying hopeful for both of these bunnies to make a full recovery. Head trauma cases can either recover or they won’t, so it’s just a matter of time, love, and patience for both of these lovely bunnies! Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to sip (chug) my coffee and get ready to start work, as Wednesdays are my in-office day at my full time job and these photos were taken during the care I provided for these bunnies at 4am, before I had to leave at 4:30am for the drive to work💀😴 so sleepy, but so happy seeing improvements every day for these beautiful buns!

12/10/2024

Update: marking the request for towels all set for now since I’ve gotten a bunch of messages, but if anything changes and I still need them, I’ll remove this blurb. Thank you so much for your support in helping these guys feel comfortable! ❤️❤️

This time of year, rehabbers get a lot of animals who are hit by cars. It’s very common with younger animals who are still learning to navigate the ways of the world changed by humans. Going from grassy patch to grassy patch to find food or shelter means crossing a dangerous stretch of asphalt with giant metal death machines going way too fast and usually not paying attention. Unfortunately, the animal pays the price as they are no match for a vehicle.

This big bunny is no exception, though he may be one of the luckier ones! Last night after feeding my cat-attack bunny (my wonderful significant other suggested I name him Odin due to his cloudy cataract eye, so thank you Tim, my other bunny is now named Odin!), I received a call about a rabbit found flailing on the side of a road in Peabody. He came in cold, wet, covered in leaves and debris, and definitely in shock. As soon as he got here, he was started on pain medicines and I began treating the shock. I don’t believe he has any broken bones or a broken back due to how he’s moving, just seems like some head trauma, but as he continues to settle down and decompress, time will tell what’s going on with him. He’s still extremely stressed out so I’m staying totally hands off apart from the quick pop-ins!

But now a CALL FOR HELP! Does anyone in the Salem area or anywhere close by have some clean large old used bath towels that they no longer need? I will have to go out and get some cheap ones after work otherwise, but figured I would check here! I am using towels to line the cages of both Odin and this new guy to keep them comfortable and safe on a soft surface as they both have head trauma. Due to bunnies being constant p*e/p**p machines, the towels need to get changed at least two times a day and I’m running low until the used ones can get washed! I do wildlife laundry at a laundromat and I don’t have the ability to get there as often as I need to right now to clean the towels (and mountain of other laundry) I have! If you have some bath towels, please reach out! ❤️ Thank you in advance!!

Edit: I can’t post my address for safety/privacy reasons as I do this out of my private residence, but I can meet up around work or possibly pick up if you are close by. I am trying to call some local places to see if they could put out a box for people to drop off in one central location but striking out as of now. I will update if someone says yes! 🙂 Thank you again!

12/09/2024

A much-awaited update on our cottontail friend! He went to the vet today and is cleared for rehab care! Thankfully the wounds from his cat attack are mostly superficial and healing up nicely. He does have some head trauma which may just take some time to see how he does, and his eye does have a cataract. Sometimes this can be congenital, but his eye does react to light and he can see out of his other one.

Yesterday I was worried about him as he did not p*e or p**p at all since intake, which is abnormal for a rabbit! If you have a pet bunny, you know what I mean! But as of this morning (which you can see on the picture 🤣), he did surprise me with a little bit! Also this morning, as shown in this photo, I did notice him sitting up more on his own, where yesterday he was laying on his side most of the time. So for now, he just needs some time to see how/if he recovers from what’s going on with him.

He will be getting both critical care formula fed to him by syringe and receiving subcutaneous fluids multiple times a day every day until he begins eating on his own again. So as of now he just needs some time, patience, and TLC, and that’s just what he’s going to get ❤️