Winchester Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

06/13/2026

Thank you for all of your suggestions for our little orphan gosling. He is spending the weekend with his new family at Wilson Pond in Swanzey after they accepted him with open wings yesterday morning! 🥰

06/05/2026

WANTED: Loving foster (Canada goose) family for orphaned Canada goose

We know…Canada geese can be a lot. They may invade your property or the local park. They squawk a lot. They make it difficult to walk across the lawn without stepping in their p**p.

But did you know that they are amazing foster parents? They will immediately adopt orphaned goslings and raise them as their own! We currently have a young orphaned gosling who is in need of a home.

Friends, do you know of a Canada goose family in the area with goslings approximately 7 inches tall?

Please contact us if you do. We’d like to find this little guy his forever home!

05/09/2026

Phew, baby squirrel season is almost over - until we ramp up for the next one! We've had about 40 baby squirrels this year which is a record for us! Most of them are now acclimating to the outside world in a large enclosure and have graduated from formula.

As you may have seen on the news this week, we rescued a Red Fox kit from a soccer net in Ashuelot. She and her new buddy (from another rehabber in the state) are spending their time in a large enclosure where they have very limited human interaction. A friendly fox is a dead fox - it's so important to keep them wild so they can fend for themselves upon release. We believe these two will be released towards the end of summer.

This week we received a Great Horned Owl fledgling who had fallen out of its nest. Yesterday, we received its sibling who had done the same thing. Oddly enough, we also received two baby Barred Owls who did the exact same thing. The Barreds were very dirty and hungry - their nest had not been keeping them protected from the elements. They both had a bath and tube feeding when they arrived. Normally we try to renest, but there was no opportunity to do that for these guys. Both pairs of siblings are now together again - clean and bellies full!

Thank you for all of your support and positive messages. There's a lot of work that goes into caring for these critters to get them ready for release - but they wouldn't stand a chance if it wasn't for the kind-hearted people of our community who take time out of their day to make that call to save them. Thank YOU!

05/06/2026

Just a little morning update on the orphan kit who was rescued from the soccer net the other day... She was examined by the vet yesterday and is doing well! Another rehabber in the state was kind enough to bring her a friend yesterday, an orphan kit who is approximately the same age. Today they will move outside into a larger enclosure. They will be released together towards the end of summer, after they have grown more and are able to hunt for themselves. We thank you for all the support and encouragement for our little orphan kit!

04/21/2026

Meet Harriet, the Red-Tailed Hawk!

Harriet (about 3 years old) was brought to us back in December by a kind couple who had found her upside down in the traffic circle near Walmart in Keene. She had been hit by a car, injured her right eye (now blind) and had an almost completely severed left wing. It's a miracle she survived at all.

After recovering from her wounds inside for most of the winter, Harriet recently moved outside to her own mew (housing for a bird of prey). She loves to sit in the front corner and warm herself as the sun shines through the trees. Todd Little, who is working as an apprentice with Deb Gode to obtain his New Hampshire Wildlife Rehabilitator license, has been working daily with Harriet. They have slowly been working on building trust and connection, in action and in silence. Harriet will eat directly from Todd's hand, doesn't mind having her head scratched and, most of the time, would rather be held in his arms than standing on his glove. Yesterday, Todd and Harriet soaked in the sunshine together with Harriet enjoying a chicken neck on the new perch that Todd made for her.

Our goal is to work with Harriet as an educational bird who can teach members of the greater community, young and old, about Red Tailed Hawks. We also think she has a quite a bit to teach us about resilience and purpose, too!

04/18/2026

It's squirrel baby season at Wi******er Wildlife Rehabilitation!
This little girl (approximately 5 weeks old) was brought to us by a responsible tree company who had unknowingly cut down her home.
If you see a baby squirrel on the ground and it seems friendly and is walking up to people, it is an orphan - something has happened to their mother. Even though they look like a miniature squirrel and they can take care of themselves, they can't. They need to come into rehab. Often you will hear the babies make a high-pitch barking sound looking for mom. So be aware and if you are planning to cut down trees this time of year, remember to look for nests!

03/30/2026

They call us ugly.
They call us pests.
They say we don't belong.
But we were here first.
We raise our babies.
We keep ecosystems balanced.
We're just trying to live the life meant for us.
THE OPOSSUM:
→ Eats 5,000 ticks per season
→ Immune to most snake venom
→ Nearly impossible to get rabies
→ "Plays dead" because it's TERRIFIED of you
THE RACCOON:
→ Remembers problem solutions for 3+ years
→ Has more sensory receptors in paws than most mammals
→ Washes food to "see" it better through touch
→ Just wants to eat and raise babies
THE SKUNK:
→ Eats grubs destroying your lawn
→ Digs up yellow jacket nests (you're welcome)
→ Only sprays as absolute LAST resort
→ Stomps feet and warns you FIRST
You call the exterminator. You put out poison. You shoot them.
For WHAT?
For eating the pests you'd pay money to remove?
For existing in a neighborhood built on THEIR home?
Kindness should include all lives.
They're not beautiful to everyone. They're not always welcomed. They're not always understood.
But they're just trying to live the life meant for them.
Maybe let them.
.

03/23/2026

Daylight doesn’t turn a raccoon into a threat.
Sometimes it just means there are mouths waiting back in the den.

But the detail most people miss is what that daytime walk actually signals.

A healthy raccoon in daylight moves with purpose.
Steady steps, clear eyes, ears tracking, nose working the ground.

Spring shifts everything.
A nursing mother can need two or three times her normal food, and the night alone does not cover it.

So she stretches her hours.
She risks open yards, quiet streets, and brief daylight exposure to keep up with the demand.

Rabies tells a different story entirely.
Disorientation, staggering, unusual aggression, a body that cannot coordinate itself.

Not a calm animal passing through and continuing on.

Time of day is easy to judge.
Behavior takes a moment longer, but it is the only thing that tells the truth.

What looks out of place is often just survival adjusting to pressure.

And sometimes the line between fear and understanding is nothing more than a few seconds of attention.

03/18/2026

Today we released two barred owls who have recovered from vehicle strikes. FREE!

02/13/2026