The Menagerie Rescue and Rehab

04/30/2026

How to help licensed wildlife rehabilitators:

Wildlife rehabilitation is a labor love & compassion. Many licensed wildlife rehabilitators are not paid & lack funding from the state or federal government.

Many work full time jobs on top of rehabbing wildlife day & night, while taking calls from the public, caring for their families, & their pets. Baby season is tremendously draining emotionally, physically, & financially for these very special individuals.

They rely heavily on donations & to help with the costs of formulas, medications, medical supplies, vet bills, cleaning supplies, etc.

Please be kind to them & if you can not donate, ask if there are supplies they may need. You can offer to volunteer or help with transport. And if those aren't options, follow them on social media, like & share their posts so others can see what an amazing group of people rehabilitators are!

04/05/2026

Don’t just make the call and say you saw a dead opossum. If you care check it ! We can’t get to every location that calls 10 times a day . Save a dozen lives !

03/17/2026

03/05/2026

As we finish preparing the final parts of setting up for these upcoming babies here’s a reminder on what to do if you find a baby squirrel!

In comments I will provide the number for the Finger Lakes Wildlife Hotline!

Babies are here💕

12/15/2025

08/29/2025

This post is going to p**s some people off. There is a difference between knowing better and not knowing better. When you take in an animal because you don't know to call a rehabber or because one isn't available, that's one thing. But it's unacceptable for someone to think that because they run a domestic animal rescue that they are now qualified to take in wild animals hit by cars and coddle them like pets. Furthermore, letting your child hold and swing that poor critter around just DAYS after it was hit by a car, is NOT OKAY. They knew better. They even said so and were bragging about all of the animals they have illegally rehabbed over the years because they simply wanted to.

Potter the opossum came in only because someone called the DNR and reported that he was being kept illegally. The finder had posted many photos and videos of him on her domestic rescue page, claiming he's doing great.

He's not.

He's got massive head trauma, made worse by being swung around and constantly handled by kids. When he finally got to me, he was very dehydrated and "head pressing", which is something animals do when their heads feel like they are on fire. Maybe you'd be feeling up to being man-handled by a child 2 days after being hit by a semi truck, but I know I wouldn't be... and he shouldn't be subjected to that either.

He's now on a great sedative and pain medication and is being hand-fed because he doesn't want to eat. He SHOULD have been started on medication last weekend when he was found, not 4 days later.

He's not a pet. If a wild animal is acting docile, it's because they are REALLY HURTING, not because they "love" you.

If you want to work with wild animals, VOLUNTEER with a wildlife rehabilitator and get licensed in a LEGAL way. Thinking you know better than licensed people doesn't help anyone.

Do I know everything? No! But at least I have years of experience working as a volunteer and learning BEFORE getting certified and then many more years of classes and experience as a LICENSED rehabber. I still have lots to learn! If you can't be bothered to get licensed (a fairly easy process in Indiana), then you shouldn't be taking in animals when rehabbers are right here available to help.

Again, I know some people honestly don't know any better. We have compassion for you and want to help you! Come volunteer with us and see what it's like. Let us help you with that animal you've been raising. But to the "rescue" who keeps taking in wild animals because you think you know more than us... you don't. And animals don't deserve to die because of your ego and desire to take cute photos of your kids holding a hurt wild animal. You know better, so DO BETTER!

Angry? Great. Here's your chance to anger-donate to help Potter (I swear that's a thing, and it will make you feel better):

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=FAL7SFZFK8WR8
http://venmo.com/werling-wildlife
Cash App: $WerlingWildlife

08/21/2025

Late post- but BIG thank you to everyone who donated off our Wish List in the past couple of weeks. 8 boxes of supplies!

08/21/2025

While bottle kitten season is winding down here, we are in need of canned kitten food! We currently have 6 kittens plus a momma and her 5 babies in care here. Our Amazon wish list is below! We would also be glad to take any cat food your cats don't like/won't eat! Message for pick up!

08/05/2025

Pest control companies seeking your business may be quick to exaggerate— or even totally fabricate— the damage that chipmunks can cause. Please don’t be in a rush to harm these little guys!

Eastern chipmunk burrows have tiny entrances only about the size of a quarter, so unless your lawn is so neat and tidy that it could pass for AstroTurf, these holes aren’t likely to even be noticeable. Chipmunks do not chew wood or cause damage to trees or homes, although they may occasionally nibble the berries or flowers off ornamental plants.

Although any mammal can carry fleas and ticks (and the diseases they transmit) chipmunks themselves aren’t considered to be at a high risk for any disease affecting cats, dogs, or humans, so there’s no need to eliminate your resident chippies for anyone’s safety.

Please let your chipmunk neighbors stay in their home! But, if you absolutely must evict a chipmunk family, please seek humane ways to repel and exclude them rather than rushing to the exterminator.