Wildlife Clinic

Animals Explore Your field guide Search

Found an animal?

Step 2 of 2

What is in the building?

The species decides the procedure. Bats are handled differently from everything else.

A batIn a room, or found on the floor.
A birdFlying against windows or perched high.
A mammal — raccoon, squirrel, opossumIn a room, attic, or garage.

Back Start over

True in every situation

01Do not give food or water.Most wildlife arriving at a clinic is dehydrated, and liquid in the wrong place kills faster than hunger.
02Warmth, dark, and quiet, in that order.A ventilated box with a towel beats any enclosure you can improvise.
03Never handle a bat, a raccoon, a fox, a skunk, or a coyote with bare hands.Rabies-vector species are a different procedure.
04A cat's mouth is the emergency, not the puncture.Any cat-caught animal needs antibiotics within hours.
05Keep the finding place.Where you found it decides where it can go back.

If you found an animal

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Wildlife Clinic is an educational project of the Animal Institute. We do not accept animals. If an animal needs care, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.