Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation

09/11/2026

The babies are getting big fast! About 16 days from hatching to fledging.

09/10/2026

🍂 Our September Needs Wishlist is here! 🐿️🦌🐦

As summer begins winding down, we still have plenty of hungry mouths here at Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation! This time of year, we especially appreciate the wonderful home-grown and foraged foods that many of you have right in your gardens and yards — fruits and veggies, acorns, apples, elderberries, chokeberries, pumpkin seeds and more. 🌻🍎🎃

The image below shows some of the foods and supplies we could really use this month. Even a small donation makes a difference when you’re feeding and caring for wildlife every single day.

💚 Prefer to make a monetary donation? You can find Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation on PayPal and Venmo, and you can also choose us as your nonprofit and Round Up at Walmart when you shop.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and 100% donation funded, so everything you give goes toward helping us care for Minnesota’s orphaned and injured wildlife.

Thank you for keeping us going — whether you bring us a bag of acorns, a garden full of extra veggies, a can of Esbilac, or a few dollars. It truly takes a community. ❤️

Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation
Wildlife. Community. A Wilder Tomorrow.

09/09/2026

09/05/2026

Looking forward to the change in season! Anyone else seeing signs of an early freeze?

08/24/2026

Just a fun infograph

08/21/2026

Thank You, Anne!! For doing transport from my house in St. Cloud to the Raptor Center.

08/20/2026

A BABY SQUIRREL IS NOT A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY.

At Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation, we see this far too often.

Someone finds a baby squirrel and turns to Facebook asking what to feed it. Within minutes, the comments fill with well-intentioned advice: cow's milk, goat's milk, kitten formula, human formula, homemade mixtures—usually followed by, "I raised one this way and it was fine." Or "I'll take it, PM me"

Meanwhile, a wildlife rehabilitator is saying:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED IT.

We've seen the results of improper feeding: aspiration, severe bloat, gastrointestinal problems, metabolic disease—and death.

And sometimes the consequences don't appear until much later.

A squirrel can survive long enough for someone to believe they successfully raised it while developing serious nutritional deficiencies. An improper diet can cause calcium and mineral imbalances leading to metabolic bone disease. Bones become weak and fragile and can fracture under normal activity.

When we receive a squirrel with advanced metabolic bone disease and severe fractures, sometimes the only humane option is euthanasia.

But if that squirrel has already been released, there may be nobody there to help. A squirrel that appeared "fine" when released can later suffer fractures, lose its ability to climb or escape predators, and die a slow, painful death.

Surviving your care does not necessarily mean the animal was raised successfully.

A baby squirrel can safely go without food for several hours while it is kept warm, quiet, and transported to a qualified rehabilitator. Feeding the wrong thing can cause harm that lasts far beyond that first bottle.

Please stop giving strangers the confidence to experiment with wildlife because you once raised a squirrel—or knew someone who did.

And if a wildlife rehabilitator tells you DO NOT FEED IT, please listen.

Being willing to help is not the same as being qualified to help. Wildlife rehabilitation requires training, permits, species-specific knowledge, appropriate facilities, veterinary support, and experience.

We love that people want to help wildlife. But a living baby animal should never be the place to teach yourself how to rehabilitate wildlife.

Good intentions cannot undo a preventable death.

Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation

08/20/2026

The red squirrels are growing fast! Thank you for your continued support. ❤️

08/12/2026

Professor Pip Whiskerton's big day!! This is called a soft release. The first step is to move the animals to a pre-release cage so they get used to the sights and sounds (and animals) around them. Next, when they seem ready to go, we open their door and let them explore their new environment. If they keep coming back to their beds, we shut the door at night to keep them safe but continue to allow them the freedom to come and go until they stop sleeping in their cage. Food and water is given for several weeks to help support them until they find their way. As for The Professor, once he was released, he didn't want to go near the cage. He was so happy to be in the trees. He comes down close enough to look, but stays out of reach. All wild animals want their freedom. No matter how "tame" someone makes them, they all want and deserve to be free. Just a reminder why we shouldn't put animals from the wild in a cage or force them to live in your home. ❤️