Waldo the Woodchuck passes

Feb 2, 2017 | News, Uncategorized

January 12, 2017 It is with heavy hearts we want to share that last night we had to say goodbye to Waldo, our beloved educational Woodchuck. Waldo joined the Wildlife In Need Center staff back in the summer of 2008 as a young Woodchuck that had been raised by a couple who had found him orphaned. Unfortunately, having been raised alone by people, he became imprinted or too tame to be released into the wild so he found his forever home with us here at WINC. In his over 8 years with our center Waldo has reached over 200,000 people in the community. Throughout those years, Waldo has helped people gain an appreciation for their local herbivore wildlife neighbors, who have a positive impact on their environment and ecosystems. Waldo has also been the star of many Groundhog Day events, stealing the hearts of people of all ages! Back in September we found Waldo had a severe tooth infection, which is not uncommon with rodents of his age. He has been on medication to help fight the infection. Over the last couple of months Waldo began to show more signs of his old age including arthritis, so he was given more medication to keep him comfortable. Early yesterday Waldo had a trip to our vet scheduled (for a checkup) and we discovered that Waldo had developed pneumonia. We did not want Waldo to suffer with any respiratory distress, along with everything else that has been going on at his old age. As a staff we were all able to say good bye to Waldo last night, while he was...

Eagle Finds Home

Aug 25, 2016 | News

August 7, 2016 We are beyond happy to share that our adult female Bald Eagle that was brought to us back in late February with an eye injury and lead poisoning has safely made the trip to her new forever home in Oregon! She came to us with a very infected left eye and lead poisoning (most likely from eating lead while scavenging on a carcass). We were able to treat her very high levels of lead poisoning and our vet Dr. Nicole Mueller performed an eye evisceration to remove the infected eye. Unfortunately, with that eye gone she had a very hard timing flying as well as she needed, to be able to hunt and survive. We began looking for permanent placement into a forever home for this beautiful girl. When we are looking to place an animal we need to take a lot of things into consideration; age, sex, injury, temperament, quality of life and more. We knew she would need a lot of space and would not be a bird that would probably do well as a gloved program bird…she would be too stressed. Luckily after months of searching, we found an amazing place for her at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon. She will be joining their male they already have in their North American Eagle Canyon exhibit. Yesterday she was flown via air cargo on an airplane out to Oregon. She left Milwaukee early morning and arrived late afternoon. Anytime we fly an animal on an airplane it can be very scary since wildlife can be stressed easily. The wonderful staff at Oregon Zoo...

Wildlife In Need Hosting IWRC Courses

Sep 30, 2015 | News

These courses are designed for beginning wildlife or novice rehabilitators seeking formal education. Updates coming soon! To learn more you can visit IWRC’s website at: International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council...

Release-A-Palooza!

Jul 23, 2015 | News

We have dubbed July 21st, 2015, Release-a-Palooza! On that day we released 51 animals…51 animals are wild and free once again! Wow! 12 Northern Flickers 10 Eastern Cottontails 5 Wood Ducks 4 American Robins 3 Hooded Mergansers 3 House Sparrows 3 Brown-headed Cowbirds 2 House Finches 2 Common Grackles 2 European Starlings 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle Please enjoy this picture of the release of the Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle! ...

All About Albinism

Jul 2, 2015 | News

Here at WINC, each and every day brings a new set of phone calls and admitted animals that make each day completely unique.  There are certain days, however, in which truly unusual patients, injuries, or rescue situations do occur.  One group of these “unusual patients” include ALBINO animals.  Albinism is a condition which is caused by the organism’s body not being able to produce a pigment known as MELANIN.  Melanin creates the normal pigmentation in an animal’s fur, skin, or scales; a lack of melanin generally results in the animal looking bleached all over, appearing white or pink. Are all white animals albino?  NO.  The key is in their eye color.  All albino animals have red/pink eyes.  Some white animals are LEUCISTIC, meaning that they have a reduced amount of pigmentation in relation to a normal specimen of their species but it is not as severe as albinism (thus, their eyes have more normal coloring). Albinism is an inherited trait, passed from adult animals to their young. Why would WINC admit an albino animal?  We admit them for many of the same reasons that we admit animals with normal pigmentation.  However, albino animals are much more at risk in the wild.  An animal’s coloring often is key in helping it hide, either from predators or prey.  Without it, an albino animal is often a sitting duck!  Pigmentation also helps an animal deal with sunlight, both on their skin and in their eyes.  Thus, albinos often have skin issues and cannot see very well.  Finally, if a species is sight-oriented, an albino may be shunned or even killed by members of its...

“A Place Where Birds Don’t Have Broken Wings” : WINC Mourns the Loss of Leslie Kiehl

Apr 30, 2015 | News

As some of you may already know, the Wildlife In Need Center is grieving a tremendous loss today. Leslie Kiehl, our education coordinator of over 12 years lost her battle with cancer early this morning. Leslie Kiehl joined Wildlife In Need Center in 2001 as an animal care volunteer. In October 2003 Leslie was hired as our Education Coordinator. Leslie’s background in corporate training in the financial industry was a strong asset to her and her communication skills a good match for the task of developing education programs and growing our education program. When Leslie became staff we had Dakota, the Great Horned Owl, and Slither, the Western Fox Snake, as our only Education Ambassadors. WINC added 21 other Educational Ambassadors over the years and Leslie trained and worked with all of them to develop the relationship of trust needed to work with the animals on programs. She could adapt any programs to any age group, tailoring the education experience individually. Staff all loved when Leslie shared the thank you cards she got from kids with their drawings of Leslie and the education animals. And Leslie enjoyed encountering new questions she could research and share with staff. In addition to her main job of Education, Leslie helped staff in the office answering phone questions and admitting patients. She also assisted animal care staff handling patients and our educational ambassadors for their quarterly in-house health exams. Problems with Leslie’s sight and a pain in her leg led her through a series of doctor visits, tests, and finally the diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer back in October of 2014. October consisted...