Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation

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Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation

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A center that supports Maine wildlife populations, research, education, and environmental stewardship to ensure long-term sustainability for the future.

10/27/2026

In wildlife rehabilitation, we encounter a wide variety of potential toxins, diseases, sources of trauma, and other assorted reasons for wildlife to come to us. We are lucky to have an array of diagnostic capabilities to help us determine what is wrong with an animal so that we can treat it appropriately, but sometimes we are unable to determine a definite cause for an animal’s clinical signs and must proceed with treatment based on our best guesses guided by what is most common for a species and set of circumstances. Red squirrel 26–443 was one such case, brought to us after being found circling and unaware of its surroundings on a trail in Waterville. Squirrels with neurologic signs such as this are commonly affected by trauma, lead toxicosis, and rodenticides, but the squirrel’s blood lead level was low and there were no signs of trauma whatsoever. While the squirrel did not seem to have a clotting issue such as we would see with anticoagulant rodenticide toxicosis, another common rodenticide called bromethalin, a neurotoxin, was certainly a possibility. There are also other commonly encountered environmental toxins that could have resulted in the squirrel’s neurologic signs. For bromethalin and most other likely possibilities there is no direct treatment, but in less severe cases with good supportive care, full recovery is possible. Luckily, the squirrel’s relatively severe neurologic signs improved rapidly with care and fully resolved, and we were recently able to release it back to its home territory.

You can help prevent animals like this from harm by not using rodenticides or other poisons in any form, not using pesticides, keeping dogs leashed on walks and keeping cats inside or on a leash and harness when outside.

10/25/2026

Small birds often collide with windows, not realizing that there is a solid object in their path when they see a reflection of their surroundings in the window. They can hit with tremendous force in flight and sustain serious head trauma and a variety of potential fractures and other injuries. It used to be common practice in wildlife rehabilitation to recommend monitoring for a period of time to see if the bird was able to fly away, but we now know that this is not the right thing to do and likely leads to later death in most cases. Nearly all birds that collide with a window have significant head trauma, potential ocular injuries, internal bleeding, and potential fractures that may still allow them to escape a short distance away but not fly well enough to survive. Birds in this situation are also very vulnerable to free roaming cats and dogs, which is another reason that we admit birds after a window strike.

🐦You can help prevent this by putting up decals on your windows to make them visible to birds, and there are now a wide variety of options to choose from, including some that reflect UV light but appear clear to our eyes. If you see a bird hit a window, make sure to immediately contain it in a secure container, such as a small box, and then give us a call. We will fully evaluate the bird for potential injuries, and in the best case scenario where there is likely just mild head trauma, we will treat with anti-inflammatory medication for several days before evaluating for release. Red-eyed vireo 26–422 was one such bird that escaped serious injury after a window strike, and we were able to release the bird several days after admission to continue on its migration journey all the way to South America.

10/22/2026

Join us tonight for a free webinar with Maine Audubon!

Learn about the impacts of rodenticides and the non-chemical rodent control options available for homeowners.

This online webinar will feature a panel of experts who will share their expertise and perspective on this issue, followed by a Q&A session.

Meet the experts:

Moderator
• Nick Lund, Acting Director of Advocacy, Maine Audubon

Panelists
• Anthony Erwin, Policy Advocate, Maine Audubon

• Dr. Avery Berkowitz, Founder and Executive Director, Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation

• Dan Smith, SMART Technologies Coordinator, Modern Pest

Learn more and sign up below.

https://maineaudubon.org/events/reducing-rodenticides-online/

10/21/2026

Our green-winged teal made a rapid recovery and was released yesterday! She came to us with bilateral clavicle fractures, several small lacerations, and some ocular inflammation. With supportive care, medications, and wound care, she healed from all of her injuries in two weeks. After spending some time outside in a flight, she quickly demonstrated her excellent vertical flight capabilities, showing that the newly healed clavicle fractures were not impairing her. This small duck made a rapid exit from the transport box and will be making her way at least a couple of states further south for the winter. We partnered with our friends at Hirundo Wildlife Refuge to release her into ideal habitat until she continues her journey. We wish her well!

10/17/2026

Migration season is well underway with our summer visitors heading south to warmer climates for the winter. We recently received one such bird - a young peregrine falcon from our friends at Avian Haven, found down by a roadside for several days. The bird had sustained two significant wounds, one along the humerus and one deep puncture wound into the pectoral muscle, which is very important for flight. We provided stabilizing care, pain and anti-inflammatory medications, antibiotics, and initial wound care, then took the bird to surgery. We successfully closed both wounds and the peregrine has been improving steadily in mentation and appetite throughout care. Soon the bird will be ready to return to Avian Haven for conditioning once the wounds are fully healed.

The name peregrine means wandering, traveling, or migrating, and true to their name, many peregrine falcons in Maine migrate south seasonally, but some do stay year-round. These birds are endangered in Maine and their populations are closely monitored. For a species such as this where every individual matters, this bird's recovery and release can have a significant positive impact on the population. We are hopeful for a full recovery and are encouraged by the bird's progress so far!

10/11/2026

We receive many wild animals that have been shot each year, some of them with legal hunting seasons and some for which it is never legal to hunt. We recently admitted a young double-crested cormorant that had pellet fragments and associated wounds in one leg and around one shoulder, which appeared to have occurred some time ago. Unfortunately, the cormorant also had severe aspergillosis, caused by a fungal organism that is abundant in the environment and is a cause of common bread mold. It generally does not pose a threat to wildlife, but particularly for some species of birds, including aquatic birds, debilitation and immunosuppression can lead to this fungus growing within their air spaces and eventually causing death. In its earlier stages, it is possible for us to treat, but in the advanced stage the cormorant had, it unfortunately was not.

Cases like this highlight the many dangers that wildlife face as a result of human activity and development, some of which we can more easily address than others. When wildlife are shot illegally (or in some cases legally) and are left in the environment, this can hurt not only the individual animal that is suffering but also animals that may consume that animal if it dies, which can lead to heavy metal toxicosis for the predator/scavenger. Even if the shot animal survives, it is possible for them to have delayed absorption of metals in the pellets even if embedded in muscle, potentially leading to toxicity and death later on.

🦆If you hunt, you can help by being sure that you are only targeting legal species during their appropriate season and not leaving any remains in the environment, as there are multiple heavy metals in spent shot that can poison wildlife from gut piles and other remains, including but not limited to lead. If you witness illegal shooting of wildlife, please report it and if the animal is injured but alive, give us a call. Wildlife face many less easily controlled dangers, but this is one area where we can work collectively to reduce our impact.

Picture 1: Cormorant shortly after intake
Picture 2: X-ray showing the pellet fragments
Picture 3: Microscopic appearance of Aspergillus fungal hyphae
Picture 4: Microscopic appearance of Aspergillus spores

10/06/2026

We received another late season turtle recently - a snapping turtle that had seemingly just been hit by a car, with multiple facial injuries. 26-407 is an adult male weighing nearly 20 lb and sustained bilateral fractures to the maxilla, or upper jaw, near the beak. The turtle also had a small amount of bleeding in the front part of the left eye (which you can just see in the close up pictures), called hyphema, but luckily no retinal or other significant ocular damage. However, the turtle was clearly suffering from significant head trauma and we waited through several days of stabilization before going to surgery. This can be a tricky area, but we successfully placed two wires to stabilize the fractures so that the turtle can heal well and eat normally during the healing period. Due to the time of year, we will need to keep 26-407 through the winter, but hope to be able to release him as soon as the weather is appropriate in the spring, in time for mating.

🐢Keep an eye out for turtles along roads this fall, as they haven't gone to sleep for the winter just yet! If you do see a turtle and feel comfortable doing so, help them cross in the direction they were going, but don't take them to the opposite side as they will just go right back into the road to try to cross again.

10/04/2026

Green winged teal 26–408 came to us after being found by the road unable to fly. On examination and x-rays, we found that she had fractured both clavicles but had luckily otherwise avoided serious injury. We started her on pain and anti-inflammatory medications, and she will spend 2-3 weeks inside with supportive care while her fractures heal before going back outside for pre-release conditioning.

The green-winged teal is North America’s smallest dabbling duck, several times smaller than the more commonly seen mallard. In the summer, they migrate up to breeding grounds in the northern US and Canada and back down to more southern regions in the winter. Green-winged teal consume a wide variety of aquatic vegetation, seeds, and invertebrates. We hope to get this bird back on her journey south soon!

$We received a young raven recently via our friends at Avian Haven that had sustained a radial fracture, one of the wing ...$

10/01/2026

We received a young raven recently via our friends at Avian Haven that had sustained a radial fracture, one of the wing bones. The raven was emaciated and the fracture was partially healed in a displaced position, indicating that the bird had been dealing with this for some time already. After stabilizing the bird for a day, we performed surgery to appropriately realign and stabilize the bone with a pin. The raven has been doing very well in care with a voracious appetite to make up for lost body condition! This bird is also challenging to keep sufficiently stimulated and occupied during the indoor healing period, as ravens are exceptionally smart and require various forms of enrichment to keep them busy and to deflect their attention from removing necessary stabilizing wraps. We will keep being creative with our offerings to keep the bird distracted during the healing process!

09/27/2026

Our hoary bat patient has been doing very well and just had her pin removed after three weeks of healing. Soon she will be ready to go outside for flight conditioning and then release when she is ready! We are very happy with her fast healing progress and hope to get her back on her way soon. See the pictures for the healing fracture site appearance both directly and on x-ray.

Address

1014 Bennoch Road
Old Town, ME
04468

Telephone

+12078148980

Website

http://www.mainewildliferehabilitation.org/

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