Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release

Host Gail Buhl breaks from the podcast's usual taxa-specific format to discuss a topic of growing importance and interest in the wildlife rehabilitation world: databases. Such databases are the wildlife medicine equivalent of electronic medical records now used in most (human) healthcare systems and hospitals. In this episode Karra Pierce, a veterinary director at The Wildlife Center of Virginia,...

In Episode 5, Host Gail Buhl caught up with Rebecca Duerr, MPVM/DVM, one of the world's leading experts on water birds. Dr. Duerr serves as Director of Research and Veterinary Science as well as the primary veterinarian at International Bird Rescue's two wildlife centers in California. Jennifer Martines, one of IBR's talented veterinary and rehabilitation technicians, also joined the interview, wh...

Host Gail Buhl invites Partners For Wildlife podcast producer Kirk Klocke to step out of the booth and onto the mic to discuss public outreach, which is a big part of his role as the new P4W Outreach Specialist. Gail and Kirk quickly realize in the course of their back and forth about issues around public outreach communications & education that this discussion can spin off into deep dives acr...

Host Gail Buhl is back for a Part-2 with Brittany Turner, Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, or "WRC." The conversation began in Episode 2 with a a look at Brittany's background and career at WRC. In this episode, we get into the nuts and bolts of songbird care, from intake through feeding, housing, and preparation for release. We also touch on a metabolic...

I'm so glad you came back to listen to episode 2 of our second season, which began to drop in January, 2023. I spoke with Brittany Turner, who serves as Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. Brittany has led a fascinating and ambitious career, having started as nursery intern to a Director in just under 10 years! She has experience with all the 200+ species th...

This episode kicks off Season 2 of Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release! I am so excited about this episode. I think you will enjoy listening to it as much as Leslie Kollmann and I had recording it. I know you probably would not normally put “joy” and “infection control” in the same room, let alone the same sentence but when you find out how you can take simple steps to protect yourself...

Calling all plant people, foragers and rehabilitators! Ready to forage for a cause? Naturalist Kate Guenther is working to bridge the gap between the foraging community and rehabilitators through her ongoing project Wildfoods4Wildlife . As a website and database designed to share knowledge of wild foods and animals’ diets, Wildfoods4Wildlife is a wonderful resource for rehabilitators, and voluntee...

Host Gail Buhl is joined by Tim Jasinski, Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist at Lake Erie Nature and Wildlife Center in Bay Village, Ohio . We talk about an underappreciated bird the Timberdoodle. What is a Timberdoodle you ask? Some know it as the "Bog Stomper." Bog Stomper is my new favorite name for the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor ) . Lake Erie Nature and Wildlife Center receives 200+ woo...

In this episode, Stephanie McMahon, Board Chair of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario Canada and licensed therapist, and Dr. Renee Schott, Medical Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota rejoin host Gail to elaborate on last episode’s conversation on compassion fatigue. They further explore the intersection of self-care and rehabilitation. Listen to learn about the diff...

Stephanie McMahon is the Board Chair of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario Canada and a licensed therapist, and Dr. Renee Schott is the Medical Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. These expert guests take the stage in the next two episodes to bring attention and awareness to a condition many rehabilitators suffer from but may not know they have. Compassion fatigue:...

This is the last in our series of episodes on Eastern Cottontail rabbits. Laura and I had a great conversation talking about housing of cottontails at all ages. They are a little easier to house than many of the other animals rehabilitators care for.  We also talk in depth about release criteria and all the details to think about to make their transition to the wild as successful as possible. This...

So you are able to get your young eastern cottontail rabbit eating formula--or maybe you are tube feeding the youngsters. They are growing and developing so quickly! It is time to start weaning the young rabbits. Here in lies the danger however--switching to solid food too quickly can be devastating to the developing gut of the rabbit. Laura Davich Jette and I sit down and have a detailed conversa...

Eastern cottontail rabbits are a high stress prey species. They are one of the hardest wild animals to rehabilitate. This episode I speak with Laura Davich-Jette a Minnesota based wildlife rehabilitator that specializes in cottontail rabbits. Since stress is a real experience for all young cottontail rabbits, everything rehabilitators can do to reduce stress needs to be considered. The episode exp...

North America is currently experiencing an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in both wild and domestic birds.  To discuss this devastating disease and the implications for wildlife rehabilitation, I am joined by Dr. Victoria Hall, Executive Director at TheRaptorCenter at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hall is the Patrick T. Redig Endowed Chair in Raptor and Ecosystem Health. S...

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus-2 is a disease that affects both domestic rabbits and wild rabbits and hares. It is a fatal disease that is also extremely contagious. If that wasn't bad enough, this disease is very hardy in many environments and is easily moved from one place to another via fomites -- clothes, shoes, cages, cage furniture etc. Laura Davich Jette is an Eastern cottontail rabbit wi...

In our last two episodes on creance flying raptors I talked in depth with Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) about her journey to TRC and what eventually led to a study regarding reconditioning raptors using the creance technique. Tune into this final episode Creance Technique in Practice as we focus on what creance flying looks like--the ins and outs of this useful tool to...

Host Gail is joined again by Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) at the University of Minnesota, for a captivating conversation about how the science of the creance technique for reconditioning raptors was developed. So much of what is done in wildlife rehabilitation is educated guesses. This episode explores how educated guesses and trial and error led to the study of recond...

This series of episodes will focus on creance flying as a reconditioning technique for raptors as the last step before release back into the wild.  Host Gail is joined by Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) at the University of Minnesota for an interesting set of conversations about creance flying. They discuss Lori's journey from interest in animals to a passion for raptors....

This is part-4 of a conversation with Debbie Sykes about white tail deer fawn. We spend more time on nutrition and the types of plants the young fawns should be exposed to as they are growing to get them ready for release. The episode continues with housing, covering both indoor and outdoor housing, and what are the most important factors for each from the fawn's point of view. We also touch on Ch...

Debbie talks in detail on how to evaluate a white tail deer fawn when it comes into care. What are the factors for first housing a fawn? How does grouping of young fawn reduce stress? We also talk a lot about the GI system of deer and critical importance of nutrition. What are the components of nutrition, when should you introduce solid foods, and in what form should it take?  If that is not enoug...

Listen as Debbie Sykes of Nashville Wildlife Conservation  discusses white tail deer fawns and the first point of contact wildlife rehabilitators have with that fawn -- the public. Gail and Debbie discuss how to enlist the caller/finder as an advocate for the fawn, including when the fawn should be left alone. As rehabilitators, we want to educate the finders on what is the best for the fawn. Gail...

Debbie Sykes tells us about how her college biology program led her to discover wildlife rehabilitation as a fulfilling career. In just a few years, Debbie's passion for the field carried her from rehabilitator newbie to expert specializing in North American White Tailed Deer. Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicin...

Wildlife rehabilitator Sara Cole, of Duluth, MN discusses the process of becoming a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and establishing a home wildlife rehabilitation practice.  Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke. To learn more about The R...