Arkansas Wildlife Orphanage. Rescue - Rehab - Release

09/05/2026

Wildlife Education 🐣🦌

🚨 You Found a Baby Wild Animal. What Should You Do?

This is one of the most important wildlife questions I get.

And the answer may surprise you:

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is… nothing.

I know that's hard.

Baby animals are adorable. They're often alone. They may look helpless.

But alone doesn't necessarily mean orphaned.

Many wild parents intentionally leave their young alone while they search for food. Baby birds learning to fly may spend time on the ground while their parents remain nearby.

So what should you do?

1️⃣ Stop and observe.
Look at the situation from a safe distance.

2️⃣ Keep people and pets away.
Your presence can stress wildlife and may prevent parents from returning.

3️⃣ Don't automatically take the animal home.
Wild animals have very specific nutritional, medical, and behavioral needs.

4️⃣ Don't give food or water unless directed by a qualified professional. Improper feeding can seriously harm young wildlife.

5️⃣ If the animal is clearly injured or truly orphaned, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Signs of a genuine emergency can include obvious wounds, bleeding, broken limbs, severe weakness, or other clear evidence of injury.

And here's the most important part:

❤️ The goal isn't to "save" every baby animal.

The goal is to give wildlife the best chance of remaining wild and returning to its natural environment.

Sometimes that means intervening.

Sometimes it means calling a professional.

And sometimes it means quietly walking away and letting Mom do her job.

Wildlife usually needs less human intervention than we think. 🦉🌿

If you're ever unsure, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or your state wildlife agency before attempting to capture or care for the animal.

09/04/2026

🚨‼️🚨

Wildlife Education 🐣🦌

🚨 You Found a Baby Wild Animal. What Should You Do?

This is one of the most important wildlife questions I get.

And the answer may surprise you:

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is… nothing.

I know that's hard.

Baby animals are adorable. They're often alone. They may look helpless.

But alone doesn't necessarily mean orphaned.

Many wild parents intentionally leave their young alone while they search for food. Baby birds learning to fly may spend time on the ground while their parents remain nearby.

So what should you do?

1️⃣ Stop and observe.
Look at the situation from a safe distance.

2️⃣ Keep people and pets away.
Your presence can stress wildlife and may prevent parents from returning.

3️⃣ Don't automatically take the animal home.
Wild animals have very specific nutritional, medical, and behavioral needs.

4️⃣ Don't give food or water unless directed by a qualified professional. Improper feeding can seriously harm young wildlife.

5️⃣ If the animal is clearly injured or truly orphaned, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Signs of a genuine emergency can include obvious wounds, bleeding, broken limbs, severe weakness, or other clear evidence of injury.

And here's the most important part:

❤️ The goal isn't to "save" every baby animal.

The goal is to give wildlife the best chance of remaining wild and returning to its natural environment.

Sometimes that means intervening.

Sometimes it means calling a professional.

And sometimes it means quietly walking away and letting Mom do her job.

Wildlife usually needs less human intervention than we think. 🦉🌿

If you're ever unsure, contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or your state wildlife agency before attempting to capture or care for the animal.

08/28/2026

06/14/2026

06/13/2026

If you are tempted to care for a wild animal on your own, please ask yourself these questions first:

1. What is the best thing I can do for this animal?
If I’m having a hard time letting go of the animal now, how will I feel after I’ve really grown attached?

2. Am I prepared to deal with the legal and financial consequences of keeping a wild animal illegally? How will I feel if the animal is discovered, confiscated, and possibly euthanized?

3. Am I prepared to deal with the health consequences of someone being bitten or scratched, my pets or house becoming infested with parasites, a person or pet catching a disease, or just simple allergic reactions?

4. Can I be certain that, once I’ve released the animal back to the wild, it is capable of surviving on its own? Am I providing the best possible chance for survival?

5. How will my family and I feel if the animal dies in our care or is permanently impaired by my improper care?

Turning the animal over to a licensed/permitted wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible is the best way to safeguard human and pet safety while providing the wild animal with the best chance of survival. Call a wildlife rehabilitator right away for advice and answers to your questions.

06/13/2026

Please leave WILDLIFE in the WILD! :)

DEER FAWN IN COVER:
A deer fawn’s instinct to stay perfectly still and quiet is how it avoids predators; the mother is likely nearby waiting for you to leave. *The AGFC prohibits the rehabilitation of deer because of the possibility of unknowingly transporting chronic wasting disease to a previously unexposed area of the state*

OWLET ON BRANCH:
Even if a baby owl or bird falls from the nest, the parents often tend to it on the ground if it is healthy until it is ready to fly.

BEAR CUBS:
Black bear cubs may look cute and cuddly, but their mom rarely leaves them for more than a short foraging run, and they can be unpredictable when the situation involves their young. The best course of action is to back away and leave the area, leaving the cubs where you found them.

Get caught up on Leave ‘abandoned’ wildlife where you find it from the AGFC.

05/25/2026

08/12/2025

This is the face of a very 𝘀𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗻 who was unfairly and unexpectedly taken from her home. This isn't uncommon, it happens all day every day around the country because so many have been raised to see these beautiful creatures as 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔. 🥹😡🪰

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗱.

Repeat after me:
"𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑵𝑺 𝑨𝑹𝑬 𝑽𝑨𝑳𝑼𝑨𝑩𝑳𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑩𝑼𝑻𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑻𝑶 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑨𝑳 𝑬𝑵𝑽𝑰𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑺."

When we visited the homeowners who trapped the albino raccoon this past weekend, I feel like there was a lot of information we were able to give them, up to and including visiting ourselves to help, to show them that they could coexist well on their beautiful property with the amazing wildlife. They really are lucky to call that land home (both the humans and the animals).

Now I want to share some of that information with you.

🦝 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙨. They generally can occupy the same space without consequence, especially if everyone is healthy and fed.

🦝 If you have a large piece of land, you can 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 to encourage raccoons to eat farther away. One of our sub volunteers, Denise, is a master at creating safe spaces for wildlife on her property. Dog food is healthier for raccoons than cat food as a general rule of that's all you have.

🦝 You may have heard that Raccoons are normally only outside in the daytime for two reasons. 1. They have babies or 2. They have rabies. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 1979, 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 in this instance. This is a great reason to leave them be because they are grieving mothers who will go crazy missing their babies if they are separated. There are other reasons they might be out in the daytime, so it's not really cause for alarm.

🦝 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡, 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚 smells like 𝙇𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 and 𝙥𝙚𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙩 in natural form or essential oils (or even coyote urine if you are desperate- 𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖/𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙧), and lights and sounds such as a 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙘, or even periodic 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨. If they experience these things they will grab their babies and high tail it out of there. You have to give them time to find a new den if they don't already have one.

🦝 If you do feed your own animals outside such as cats and dogs, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 to discourage raccoons from looking for leftovers.

🦝 𝙄𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 because you don't want them to become dependent on you as a source for food. This will kill them when they no longer have your handouts available to them and they don't know how to hunt for themselves any longer. Keep this in mind, nobody is invincible or can guarantee forever.

🦝 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙖 𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 yourself, you have 24 hours to release it on a piece of land in the same county where you have been given permission. The problem with this is 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 because they don't know the new area at all for food, shelter, or how to avoid predators.

🦝 𝑾𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑵𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑹𝑬𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑰𝒁𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑭 𝑨 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑭𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑳𝒀 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑯𝒀 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑰𝑴𝑨𝑳 𝑾𝑯𝑶 𝑰𝑺 𝑺𝑰𝑴𝑷𝑳𝒀 𝑻𝑹𝒀𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑶 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑶𝑵 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑳𝑰𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑾𝑬'𝑽𝑬 𝑳𝑬𝑭𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑴.