Bidwell Wildlife Rehabilitation

27/11/2025

A Thanksgiving Rescue Story

See the sad photo in the comments to see how this red-shouldered hawk was found last Saturday morning—lying on the roadside, stunned and unable to fly.

A kind finder picked her up and rushed her to our vet. Sadly, most raptors hit by cars have broken wings and can’t be rehabilitated… so we were preparing for the worst.

But then came the surprise: no broken bones. Just a concussion from being hit by a vehicle. She had a chance.

Back in our care, she perked up quickly. She ate well, grew steadier each day, and within four days she was flying and behaving normally.

Yesterday, we released her back home—strong, alert, and soaring exactly where she belongs.

On this Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for compassionate finders, skilled vets, and every wild creature that gets a second chance. 💛🦅

And, a huge thank you to BWR raptor volunteer Chrystal, shown here in this video. She dedicates hours and hours towards helping birds. Words to live by – “you fly when you’re ready.” ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

25/11/2025

21/11/2025

Happy Friday, everyone!

If you brought a baby squirrel to us over the past year, this may be it! This cute little gray is living the good life after a soft release in volunteer Shelly’s backyard.



16/11/2025

What a great day for BWR! We had our annual volunteer appreciation lunch, one of the few times when we home rehabbers can get together to talk about the exciting, exhausting, hilarious, heartbreaking, amazing world of wildlife rehabbing!

Pictured is approximately half of our current volunteers. These people are some of the most selfless and giving people around. They donate their time and energy to help orphaned and injured wildlife to be released and live a wild life. We are so honored to have this many amazing volunteers!

A huge THANK YOU to Paradise Brew Werks for donating their south bar to us at no cost for this event! 🍻  The beverages were the best! And thank you OM Foods TM for the amazing lunch! 👩‍🍳

We are so lucky to have support from these volunteers and from these amazing local businesses. Thank you to everyone who came today! ❤️🦝🦉❤️t

14/11/2025

🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘

Hello everyone - we have some very important, and honestly terrible, news to pass on.

Avian flu has made its way to the northstate. We’ve started to get intake forms from people who have found birds (mostly waterfowl - geese, some ducks and other types of birds) in their yards or other public areas, unable to fly.

We've been in constant contact with our vets and with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and after testing done on birds in the area, it looks like these birds have been afflicted with HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, aka the avian flu), which is a terrible, virulent, and untreatable disease affecting birds in our area.

Sadly, and we hate to say this, there is very little that can be done to help birds with this virus. In our experience, about 10% of the birds recover and fly away. The other 90% don't make it. There is no treatment, no medication that has shown to be effective, and birds taken to a vet suffering from this malady are euthanized.

What can be done if you are one of the folks who walks out your door one day and finds a beautiful snow goose on the ground, unable to fly? LEAVE IT ALONE. Please. DON'T TOUCH IT. Don't pick it up. Don't bring it inside your house, barn, or any other building. Don't put food out for it. The best that you can do is to make sure that household pets like dogs or cats are kept inside, leave it alone, and truly pray for the best. You can also contact your local animal control to see if they can help.

"What? I shouldn't even put food out for the poor thing?" CDFW has asked that folks NOT put food out for these birds, in the fear that the food will attract more birds to the area that will then be exposed to this virus. It's also a good idea to take down any bird feeders that might be in your area to avoid attracting birds to any one concentrated area.

We here at BWR are not taking in birds that are suspected of having the avian flu. This is because we can't risk exposing our facilities and our volunteers to this virus.

In short, there is very little that can be done for birds that are suffering from this terrible disease. Wildlife biologists and veterinarians have their best minds at work to figure out why this is happening in such high concentration in our area, but at the moment, there is no answer, no treatment, and only sadness.

If you do find dead birds in your neighborhood, they can be reported to CDFW here: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Monitoring/Mortality-Report. Also from CDFW, "If there is a need to dispose of a dead bird, wear impermeable gloves or a plastic bag turned inside-out to collect the remains into a plastic garbage bag, which may then be placed in the regular trash collection. Afterwards, wash hands with soap and water and change clothing before having contact with domestic poultry or pet birds."

Here is a page from CDFW with more avian flu information: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Health/Monitoring/HPAI

We know that this will make some folks unhappy, and that there is an expectation that BWR and other wildlife rehabilitation facilities should have some type of answer for this awful situation. Please believe us when we say that we feel incredibly helpless at being unable to help these birds in any way. Stay healthy, everyone, and please send out prayers and good thoughts that this avian flu goes away quickly. 💔💔💔💔

14/11/2025

Don’t sleep on this – get on down to the Parkside Tap House in downtown Chico tonight for the BWR fundraiser!

Order some yummy food, let the wait staff know that you’re there for the BWR fundraiser, and we will get a percentage of your purchase price! The fundraiser goes until 9 PM tonight, we hope to see so many of you there! THANK YOU Parkside Tap House for helping out the animals! ❤️🦝❤️

07/11/2025

Sandy’s last mammal guest of the year. He has moved to the next stage of his life

03/11/2025

Picture at top - a small possum we took in on September 24. He came in covered in fleas (over 200!), and was so anemic that his gums were white. His prognosis wasn't good.

Today - the same possum! His fur has grown in, he has tripled in size, and he'll be released as soon as he's 7" long, not including his tail. ❤️

We can't do this without your support! One of the best ways to show up for BWR? Come to the Tap House fundraiser on November 13! Details are here: https://facebook.com/events/s/bidwell-wildlife-rehab-fundrai/1021219173462833/

07/10/2025

Squirrel zen - here are two sweet squirrel brothers, eating one of their favorite snacks, a grape!

These teenage squirrels are just about weaned, and will be moved to an outdoor cage very soon! They’ll spend a few weeks in the outdoor cage, then the door will be open, and they can come and go to live a wild life. We love these babies, and we are also so glad that fall is here, as things will finally start to slow down for us! ❤️🐿️😴