Sierra Wildlife Rescue

09/01/2026

Is it just us, or does it feel like Fall??? 🍂 Spooky season is right around the corner, and Sierra Wildlife Rescue would like to invite you to our 2nd annual "Feathers, Fur, and Frights" event! 🧡
📅 Date & Time: Sunday, October 18th from 11am-2pm
📍 Location: Shingle Springs Community Center (venue generously sponsored by Gold Country Ace Hardware!!!)
💲 Cost: $10 for Adults (18+), $5 for Youth (17-)
🎟️ Learn more and buy tickets today: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-feathers-fur-and-frights

Event admission includes 🪶 wildlife education with Ambassador Animals, 🎶 live music by Sierra SoundBox , 🎨 face painting by All Party Art , 🎃 Halloween-themed games and crafts, and more! Join us and support our mission of educating the public and rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing injured and orphaned wildlife in El Dorado County.

Sierra Wildlife Rescue's mission is to preserve the wildlife of El Dorado County through public education & the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured…

08/27/2026

🐥 Numerous quail chicks and even entire clutches of the little fluff balls came into the care of SWR this summer, with just one volunteer taking every single chick “under her wing.” Some chicks may have fell behind, got separated from their Covey (flock), caught by a cat, and in one case a group of 11 fell into a storm drain. (A common occurrence with babies following their parents on the ground). Our volunteer got an assist from El Dorado Fire Department on that call. 🚒❤️‍🔥

Quail chicks are considered “Precocial” which means they are born with downy fuzz, eyes open, on the move, and able to feed themselves. This includes birds like turkeys, ducks, geese, and more. Even though they are born with these advantages, they still rely on their parents for warmth, protection and learning behaviors. A lost quail chick has zero chances of surviving on his own. Even attempting to raise a baby precocial bird is difficult due to stress and the innate need for companionship.

All summer long, our home rehabber kept adding to, and creating a new family of quail whose best chance for survival was to grow up together, practically to adulthood before being released. Last week this beautiful, blended Covey of California Quail were released in the perfect habitat. We can never fully express our gratitude to the volunteers who give so much of their hearts and lives to make a moment like this happen. Thank you to our community for your support and belief in our mission.🪶

08/24/2026

You can enter our raffle for a chance to win a Wild Encounter VIP Experience with Sierra Wildlife Rescue! 🤩 Your entry directly supports our mission.

➡️ Link to enter: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/sierra-wildlife-rescue-wild-encounter-vip-experience

One winner will enjoy an intimate, interactive experience with our Education Team and Ambassador Animals—like Whisper the California Spotted Owl or Raspberry the Ringtail—and learn how their stories guide our public education and hands-on care.

The VIP experience will include:
💚 A 1-hour interactive education session, for up to 10 people, with our Education Team and Animal Ambassadors (date, time, and location to be coordinated with the winner).
💚 Photo opportunities with the Animal Ambassadors (they will be held by their handlers!).
💚 Sierra Wildlife Rescue swag for each participant.

Individual tickets cost $15, or you can bundle & save with 4 tickets for $50 or 10 tickets for $100! 🎫💰

Raffle entry will close at 11:55 P.M. on Sunday, October 18th. One winner will be drawn at random on Monday, October 19th. The winner will be contacted by email and phone.

Good luck! 🤞

08/20/2026

Time to reveal the answer to yesterday's post... Did you guess a Barn Owlet??? 🦉 If you did, congrats! If you didn't, now you know what sound this critter makes.

Barn Owls are AMAZING natural pest control to have around your neighborhood and property, even if they sound scary. They are voracious hunters, and a single Barn Owl can eat 7-10 rodents each night! Unfortunately, they are highly susceptible to harm from pest control products, like glue traps and poisons. 🐀☠️ Please refrain from using harmful pest control methods - They don't just kill rodents, they can cause severe harm and even death to predators like this beautiful Barn Owl.

Thank you for helping us care for the wild critters we share space with. 💚

08/19/2026

How well do you know our local wildlife??? Take your best guess at what's in the box - We will reveal the answer tomorrow! 🤔💭📦

Hint: You can see the outline of their face, and that sound is from the critter! 👂

08/17/2026

Here in the foothills, most fawns are born late May through early July, but late births do occur — so if you see a spotted baby deer curled up alone right now, that's completely normal! 🦌

What looks like abandonment to us humans usually isn't. Mother deer intentionally leave their fawns hidden and alone for long stretches during the day. 🌿 She's not far — she's staying away on purpose so her scent doesn't attract predators to the hiding spot. She'll return to nurse, usually at dawn and dusk.

📌 A few fawn facts:
Fawns keep their spots until about 3 months old — nature's camouflage while they're most vulnerable.
By 5–6 weeks of age, fawns are no longer dependent on milk and can survive on a plant-based diet.
A resting, quiet fawn is a safe fawn. Curled up and still = doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

🚫 What NOT to do if you come across a fawn:
Don't offer food or water.
Don't hover or let pets approach.

✅ When to actually worry: If the fawn is wandering and crying nonstop, visibly injured, covered in flies or maggots, or lying on its side and not moving, call Sierra Wildlife Rescue’s Fawn Line at 530-678-FAWN (530-678-3296).

When in doubt, back away and leave it be — mom is watching from the tree line. 🦌💚

08/13/2026

Wildlife encounters with vehicles can happen quickly and unexpectedly. 🚘 This sweet little fawn arrived in our care after a vehicle collision left him with head trauma and several cuts and scrapes. 🩹 Luckily, he is now in good hands and improving every day. 🦌💚

Here are some driving tips that can help keep wildlife safe:
👀 Be extra vigilant when driving between the hours of 5-8am and 5-10pm, when deer and many other critters are most active.
🖐️ Follow the speed limit. Driving slower can give you more time to react to an animal in the road.
🔦 Turn off your brights when you don't need them. Brights can improve your visibility, but can stun wildlife in roadways and cause them to freeze. If your brights cause an animal to freeze, turn them off and give a quick beep with your car's horn to encourage them to move along.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to prevent them, wildlife-vehicle collisions happen. 💔 If you’ve accidentally hit a fawn or notice one in or on the side of the road that might need help, do not hesitate to call Sierra Wildlife Rescue’s Fawn Line at 530-678-3296 (530-678-FAWN). 📲 For non-fawn inquiries, please contact our main line at 530-621-4661.

08/09/2026

🐇 A happy day for these five baby cottontails, often called kits or kittens, as they explore their new habitat. A group of wild rabbits live together in colonies, with a very organized social structure. They spend much of their time in burrows also called warrens but we have saved the best for last. A group of rabbits can also be referred to as a FLUFFLE! 🥰

👏 Thank You to our rabbit team for their hard work and dedication.

🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰= Fluffle.

08/06/2026

🐾 This time our mammal rehabber was able to capture these two fox kits on the exercise wheel together. Aren’t they gorgeous?

“Foxes on the run~”