Tinybits Wildlife Rescue

06/13/2026

The animal most people swerve to avoid is the one quietly keeping their yard clean — and she's gone before her second summer ends.

A mother opossum is born after just thirteen days, the size of a honeybee, and crawls on her own into the pouch. From there it's a sprint: pouch, then a ride on her mother's back, then the night shift alone. Barely two years, and most of them spent eating the beetles, slugs and fallen fruit nobody wanted, and clearing carrion off the road before it spreads anything.

She almost never carries rabies — her body runs too cool for the virus to survive. Her blood neutralizes rattlesnake and copperhead venom so well that scientists are studying it for a universal antivenom. And when she goes stiff in your headlights, she isn't bluffing — her body faints from fear, something she can't switch off.

The ugliest face on the block belongs to its gentlest worker. 🍃

06/11/2026

THE TURTLE YOU CARRIED BACK TO THE POND JUST CROSSED THE ROAD AGAIN

You saw her in the middle of the road — a painted turtle, moving slowly, one deliberate step at a time. You pulled over, scooped her up, and carried her back to the pond she obviously came from. You drove away feeling good. She turned around and walked right back into traffic.

She was not lost. She was not confused. She was heading to her nesting site — a sunny patch of soft soil she may have used for years, possibly decades. Turtles know exactly where they are going. When you moved her backwards, you did not save her. You doubled the number of times she has to cross.

In May and June, the majority of turtles on roads are females looking for a place to lay eggs. They may be heading away from water — this is intentional. Nesting sites are on land, sometimes hundreds of yards from the nearest pond. A turtle heading away from a creek is not a turtle in trouble. It is a turtle on a mission.

The rule is simple and it comes from every wildlife agency in the country: always move a turtle in the direction it was already heading. Even if that direction seems wrong to you. Even if it leads away from every body of water in sight. The turtle knows. You do not.

Pick her up gently with both hands on either side of the shell, behind the front legs. Keep her low to the ground. Move her to the far side of the road in the direction she was traveling. Set her down and walk away. For snapping turtles, grip the rear of the shell only or slide a car mat underneath — their necks are long enough to reach your hands at the sides.

She has been making this crossing since before the road was built. Move her forward, not back.

06/03/2026

I WASN’T SWIMMING IN YOUR POOL.
I WAS CIRCLING A WALL I COULD NOT CLIMB.

You saw me near the blue water.

Small.
Dark.
Moving slowly along the edge.

Maybe you thought I liked it there.

Maybe you thought I had chosen your pool like it was a pond.
Maybe you waited for me to “find my way out.”

But I was not swimming.

I was trapped.

I am a toad.

My body is made for damp grass, garden soil, leaves, night air, and insects under porch lights.

Not smooth tile.
Not chlorine.
Not a deep blue wall with no root, rock, mud, or branch to hold.

I kept circling because every wild body searches for an edge that makes sense.

But your pool had no shore.

The water touched my skin.
The chemicals touched my skin.
My strength ran out one circle at a time.

Please do not leave me for morning.

Use a pool net, bucket, or container to lift me out gently.
Place me in a shaded, damp spot away from the pool.
Check the skimmer basket before turning the pump on.

And please give the next small life a way out.

A floating escape ramp.
A rough board.
A rope along the edge.
A pool cover when the pool is not in use.

Because I was not enjoying your backyard.

I was drowning quietly
beside a wall that looked like water
but had no way back to land.

Backyard pools can be deadly for wildlife because animals may fall in or mistake them for natural water, then be unable to climb out over steep, smooth sides. Humane World recommends escape devices such as FrogLog or Skamper-Ramp, and PETA also suggests ramps, ropes near the waterline, pool covers, and fencing to reduce drownings.

06/03/2026

Right now, most animal rehabilitation centers are nearly at capacity with baby bunnies.

With the best intentions, people are finding nests in their yards and accidentally separating healthy babies from their mothers. We need your help to stop this.

Many people don’t realize that mother rabbits do not stay with their nests during the day. They stay away on purpose to keep predators from spotting her babies, the mother only visits the nest twice a day (at dawn and dusk) to feed them. The rest of the day, they may look abandoned, but they aren’t. Mom is nearby, waiting for a safe time to feed them.

If you find a nest of baby bunnies in your yard, please leave them alone. Do not move the nest, and do not relocate the babies. Mom chose that exact spot for a reason, and moving them means she won’t be able to find them.

Please only intervene and call us if:

1. The babies are visibly injured or cold.
2. You know for a fact that the mother is deceased.
3. A domestic pet (cat or dog) dug up the nest.

If you aren’t sure, do not touch them. Call a rehabilitation center We will gladly walk you through the situation to figure out if they actually need rescue!

The best thing you can do to protect baby bunnies today is to share this post. Help us get the word out so we can keep wild families together and save hospital space for the animals who truly need medical care. Thank you for your help!

06/03/2026

I WASN’T THE SMELL UNDER YOUR DECK.
I WAS THE MOTHER YOU TOOK AWAY.

You noticed the smell first.

Near the steps.
Under the deck.
Close to the place where the grass was pushed aside and the dirt looked freshly opened.

Maybe you thought:

“Skunk.”

“Problem.”

“Get it out.”

So someone set a trap.

And when I was caught, maybe everyone felt relieved.

The yard was quiet again.
The smell was gone.
The hole under the deck looked empty.

But it was not empty.

I am a mother skunk.

Under that deck, in the dark, there were babies.

Not pests.

Not a smell.

Babies.

Tiny bodies with closed eyes.
Little paws.
Soft striped backs pressed together for warmth.
Mouths that still needed milk.

They did not know I had been taken.

They only knew I stopped coming back.

They waited where I left them, because that is what babies do.

They cried under your floorboards.
They crawled through the dust.
They searched for a mother who was no longer allowed to find them.

Please, if you see a skunk going under a deck, shed, porch, or crawlspace in spring or summer, do not rush to trap her.

Do not relocate her.
Do not seal the hole immediately.
Do not block the entrance without checking for babies.

Assume there may be young inside.

Keep pets and children away.
Watch from a distance.
Call a humane wildlife professional, animal control, your state wildlife agency, or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for guidance.

Sometimes the safest answer is patience.

Sometimes a mother only needs a few weeks before her babies are old enough to follow her out.

Then you can seal the space properly so it does not happen again.

Because I was not just “the smell under your deck.”

I was the only road
between those babies
and the rest of their lives.

05/17/2026

I'm not sure if I am missing messages from anyone. You can also send to my phone (316) 217-1418

05/17/2026

Coyote pups are born between March and May across the eastern US. By now they're emerging from the den for the first time — wobbly, curious, and completely dependent on their parents for food.

The adults are hunting more frequently and covering wider territory because they're feeding a family. That's not aggression. That's provisioning.

Both parents forage. The male hunts and brings food back. As pups start eating solid food, both adults expand their range. They show up in places you haven't seen them before. Rabbits, rodents, insects, fruit — they're shopping, not stalking.

🌿 If you see one watching you or your dog:

- You may be near a den — walk calmly in the other direction
- The stare isn't a threat, it's monitoring because pups are nearby
- By fall, the young disperse and leave the area. The parents stay.

The coyote in the neighborhood isn't moving in. She's been here. She's just feeding a bigger family right now 🐾

05/17/2026

Thank you for doing a great job.
If anyone would like to send a letter to help me get my permit approved so I can take some of these babies this is the address.
To help me get my wildlife permit back. Contact Jake George at
[email protected]
Or call 620-672-0760
Thank you.
Dawn Unruh
TinyBits Rescue
Walton KS

The Hutchinson Zoo’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Program at the Cargill WildCare Center has reached maximum capacity in enclosures and neonatal care space and is temporarily closed to intakes. We will alert the community when patient intake resumes.

The Center usually has the highest number of wildlife admitted in the summer due to the influx of migratory birds and young orphaned animals. Already this spring, facility staff and volunteers have taken in more than 600 patients, which is nearly 60% of last year’s total number of patients. Over 100 of our current patients are baby opossums.

As a state and federally licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility, the hard-working staff and volunteers involved in this program are legally and ethically responsible for maintaining a humane standard of care, and aren't able to do that if intakes continue beyond capacity.

Unfortunately, the limiting resources for the Wildlife Rehabilitation program are facility space and personnel. Once the program can release current patients, intakes will resume. Until then, we recommend finders reach out to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Office for a list of licensed rehabbers in the state.

We appreciate your patience during this critical time for these young wildlife patients.

05/17/2026

You were taught that opossums play dead as a clever survival strategy. She's not acting. She has no control over it.

When overwhelmed by fear, her nervous system triggers an involuntary catatonic response. Her body goes limp. Breathing slows to nearly undetectable levels. Eyes glaze. Mouth opens, tongue lolls out. She may release foul-smelling fluid to mimic a decaying co**se. The entire response is involuntary — a physiological shutdown triggered by extreme stress.

She cannot decide when to start it. She cannot decide when to stop it. The state can last minutes to hours. She is conscious but unable to move.

The myth frames her as a clever trickster, when the reality is closer to a panic attack so severe her body locks down. The animal you thought was performing is the animal most paralyzed by fear of any mammal in North America.

She didn't play dead. She was so frightened her body shut itself off. The word "playing" does her no justice at all.

05/14/2026

Rescuing wildlife is not always fun, but it's who I am, so I have scars. Every scar you see on my arms is from a rescued wildlife baby of some kind. Some of the scars represent a life I worked hard to save and some a life I held until they died. This says it perfectly, so I'm sharing it with you.

Shared from another rehabber...

I hear so often “I love baby raccoons, I want one so bad...”How can I rehab wildlife?” Or have one as a pet ?
The reality is I love baby Raccoons too, and I wish everyone had it in them to commit to rehabilitate orphaned, injured and sick wildlife. It’s not about kisses and snuggles when raising these kids...Its messes...24/7 it’s p**p..lots of p**p, they finger paint, p**p in food and water dishes play in it, spill it splash in it ...you get my point right? Its money, no one gets paid to do this and we count on donations 100 percent or it comes out of pocket. It’s about being scratched, your legs arms and heads become trees to them and sometimes it’s 5 or 6 at a time climbing at an unbelievable rate of speed straight to the top ! It’s about bites, every day, all day...getting bitten is just simply something that happens, they bite when they want something, they bite when they play, they bite when they’re happy, scared, hurt, hormonal, angry...they just bite. Bandaids, gauze, vet wrap triple antibiotics, oral antibiotics all become the “norm” and most days I look like a cutter.
The last bite I had came from a tiny one that I’ve had in rehab since just after his little eyes opened, I was his surrogate Mommy, he still thinks I am and I still adore him, he just simply got scared when I was moving him into a new enclosure and his only defense was to bite. We made up, I was never mad because well...he’s a Raccoon! And they bite 😊 So next time you say “Awwww I wanna raise baby raccoons” Think about it long and hard and if your heart still tells you yes, the feel free to contact a wildlife rescue and obtain experience and licensing. 🦝❤️🦝