Salvatore Wildlife Rescue

08/30/2026

Update: I'm sorry to report that she succumbed to her injuries a few hours after admit 😔

Received this sweet Northern Short-tailed Shrew this evening, who had an unfortunate run-in with a lawn mower. It feels odd to say that she's lucky given that she is injured, but she survived the encounter which is very much not a given so that feels pretty lucky!

She has evidence of head trauma (bloody nose, circling) and a couple of small wounds on her back end and is currently dreaming sweet medicated dreams to keep her comfortable.

Head injuries are never certain, but we'll do everything in our power to try to get her through this. 🤞

08/29/2026

This side eye brought to you by one of five admits from today, who is deeply unimpressed with all the things. Just all of them, thankyouverymuch.

08/28/2026

This is a good reminder!

I found a deceased milksnake in the road yesterday while on a walk (my first time seeing a milk out and about 💔). I moved it off the roadway so scavengers wouldn't get hit as well, but remembering to be mindful is always a good thing!

We just had a harsh reminder that it is getting to be the season where snakes like to bask on the nice warm pavement.

Kind folks rushed a mature male Eastern Fox Snake over to us who was hurt on the road, but sadly the snake passed before arriving at our place.

Please be cognizant of basking snakes on pavement while driving time of year.

Of course road safety is paramount. Do not risk your life or the life of others by pulling over in an unsafe manner.

Find an injured snake? Please don’t hesitate and call us using our new phone number:
(519) 304-5195

08/28/2026

Our rehab text line is acting up today and is only sometimes notifying us of messages! Working on figuring it out, but there may be an above average delay in getting a response in the short term if this keeps up. We ARE still open, just having some technical difficulties.

Thanks for understanding!

12pm update: after trying all the settings, as best we can tell at the moment we have at least temporarily fixed the issue by deleting and uninstalling the app (the line is hosted through Google Voice) then reinstalling it. Fingers crossed it holds and that it corrects the autoresponder which it had stopped playing well with in the last week!

08/28/2026

One of these things is not like the others 🤨🔎

Ending the day with another baby who is temporarily joining the snuggle puddle. This baby chipmunk was found wandering near the finder's garage here in Sterling, much too young to be aboveground, and was disoriented and weak on top of being quite wet and chilled. Baby chipmunks stay in their burrows until fairly indistinguishable in size from the adults so if you ever see a tater tot like this that means something has gone very wrong and they need help.

He's been well hydrated and, like the flyer earlier, is beginning the slow process of being introduced to his new rehab formula. We'll match him up with another baby chipmunk as soon as possible, but for now he's got the warmth and heartbeat of his temporary friends to keep his stress down.

Welcome, little buddy!

08/27/2026

Soufflé's done!

This little flying squirrel, inside a regular ol ramekin for weighing, was found in the Trader Joe's parking lot in Shrewsbury this morning. She was checked out by our lovely friends at Tufts before making her way here to be buddies with our baby flyer (former besties with the grey squirrel who has since gotten same-species companions), who is currently alone after a couple of incredibly delicate babies have come in and sadly not made it.

How she got to the middle of the parking lot we'll never know, but things seem to be particularly wild there despite being on Rte 9... this is the second animal we've gotten from that lot (the other being a baby woodchuck back in 2024)! Physically nothing seems to be awry with her aside from breathing faster than normal, but that could be a stress response from everything she's gone through today followed by transport. We'll keep an eye on the breathing to see if it settles down, since she could easily have been injured by most of the ways she might have gotten into that location (large fall, predator, etc), and address it if needed.

08/27/2026

The Crime

The Criminal

The Arrest

(Yes that is a metal lid he tore up, chippies gonna chippie. Big sigh.)

This man came in as a transfer, barely moving with head trauma and his eyes sealed closed with gunk. Safe to say that he is not barely moving anymore.

Do you think he has any regrets?? 😂🤦‍♀️

08/25/2026

As with humans, sometimes in animals we see some developmental differences that occur and today I've noted one such difference in one of Oak's hatchlings (two of which successfully developed and hatched). This little one was born without a right eye! Named Odin for obvious cannot pass up reasons (his sibling has been named Freya), he absorbed his yolk and seems to have no issues with mobility at this early stage. The babies have been moved into a shallow water hatchling tank today where he will be monitored closely to confirm competency, a process which will continue as he gains strength and moves into more advanced and deeper tanks. As he is an Eastern Painted Turtle, a species whose hatchlings typically remain underground through the winter in our region, he will overwinter in care then be released in the spring should his eligibility be confirmed.

On the human front I am feeling semi-human today for the first time since falling ill to an off-season flu so my "closed due to illness" autoresponder has been tentatively turned off so I can see how reopening goes. If it goes well then we'll proceed forward, but if it blows up in my face I may need to pivot back to closed for a bit. Fingers crossed!

08/20/2026

Huge thank you to finder Sandra for picking up and managing the release of Pool Bunny this morning, taking her from my masked germy self so I could hobble back indoors to the couch to further recuperate from this Flu A that I inexplicably picked up in MA in August (while getting "flu season is coming" texts from the pharmacy, yes thank you I am keenly aware)...almost 2 weeks after coming home from what is often considered a pretty germy vacation that I got through unaffected 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I have been amusing everyone (or myself, anyways) by calling her 'Sprinkles' because of the 100s and 1000s of videos she triggered, but name puns aside she did fantastic in care. A few hours after arrival/medication/oxygen/incubation she perked back up and remained a perfectly normal juvie bun ever since so was cleared for release. Such a bright spot in an otherwise crummy health week 🥰

📷: finder's release photo!

08/19/2026

She wouldn't cooperate for an actually decent photo, but our head trauma flyer with the giant bulging left eye has improved! Her eye was not appreciably different when she was transferred back after we reopened post-vacation, but her travel cage was placed into pre-release so that she could socialize with the group of big kids again. I'm happy to report that in the week or so since it has drastically reduced in size even though her medication trial was completed.

Because of that her cage door was left open last night so that she could choose to exit and join the zoom squirrels (😉 my kids were both Mo Willems' aficionados, what can I say). Exit she did and I watched her navigate for some time to confirm competency. She did opt to snooze alone instead of with the crowd, but all in all I am tentatively quite pleased.

(Photo 2 is of her formerly giganto eye)