FEBRUARY 2023

Wild Care Celebrates 30 Years

of Wildlife Rescue in 2023!

Wild Care began in 1993 out of the need for compassionate care for the wildlife that is such an important part of our coastal community. Since then we’ve treated over 30,000 animals and have been a trusted resource for the community we serve. Each season brings with it different challenges - from storm-weary seabirds in the winter, to the hundreds of orphaned animals we treat in the spring and summer months in our clinic. Dedicated staff and volunteers are always ready to meet those challenges. We care for more than 1,800 animals each year, answer almost 10,000 phone calls for assistance and advice, and participate in educational programming all over Cape Cod and virtually. So much happens in our antique yellow house on the Orleans Rotary!


As we celebrate the past thirty years of rescuing Cape Cod’s wildlife, we look forward to the future. We will be breaking ground on a new expansion project meant to help with the care of our animal patients. We will also host a variety of exciting events this year starting off with a champagne brunch in March, a baby shower in spring, with more fun announcements to come. We hope you will join the celebration. Thank you for supporting our work throughout the years! We are so grateful for such a caring community, and look forward to the next thirty years and beyond!


Stephanie Ellis,

Executive Director

PURCHASE TICKETS

Sponsorship opportunities are available.

Email Judy or Call 508-237-7359


Sponsorship Levels and Benefits

Celebrate Cape Cod's Women of Wildlife with

a Champagne Brunch


Wild Care will celebrate thirty years of wildlife rescue on Cape Cod with a Champagne Brunch March 11th at The West End Restaurant in Hyannis. A highlight of the event which takes place during Women’s History Month, includes talks by five Cape Cod women who’s impressive work has had an important impact on the wildlife that are so vital to our coastal environment.


There will also be an exciting online auction featuring six unique experience prize packages. More details will be announced soon!


Sip a champagne mimosa, enjoy served hors d’oeuvres, gourmet brunch buffet, soft drinks, coffee, tea, and celebratory sweets. Vegan options are available. Join us for this fabulous event and support the important work of Wild Care. Less than 29 tickets remain!

Watch Lower Cape TV's Expansion Project interview with Executive Director Stephanie Ellis

Wild Care Seeks Donations to Complete new

Education Center



2023 will be an especially exciting year for Wild Care. Plans to mark this 30th anniversary milestone include breaking ground on a much needed expansion project to handle the more than 1,800 animals treated each year. The new structure was designed by Chatham-based architecture and interior design firm, SV Design. It will serve as a dedicated intake area for animal patients, a place for the public to learn more about local wildlife when they drop off an animal, and a well-functioning space for cleaning and sanitizing the many necessities used for patient care by Wild Care's staff and volunteers. $150,000 in funding is needed to complete the project. Naming opportunities for the new building are available. Donations of any amount are much appreciated.


For Naming Opportunities and

questions, email Stephanie.

DONATE to Wild Care's Expansion Project

See our Expansion Project Brochure for all the details and naming opportunities

Are you or Someone you Know Looking for

the BEST SPRING / SUMMER OPPORTUNITY EVER?


Wild Care is looking for Spring-Summer Interns to be part of our Wildlife Rehabilitation Team! This hands-on internship offers a great experience providing care for our many animal patients during the busy spring and summer months. HURRY, don't miss this awesome opportunity to have the BEST SUMMER OPPORTUNITY EVER!


MORE INFORMATION. •. APPLY HERE. •. EMAIL QUESTIONS


Congratulations to Rachel Wojciak for passing the Massachusetts Wildlife Rehabilitator Exam!


“Becoming a wildlife rehabilitator has been a dream come true for me.” says Wild Care’s newest Wildlife Rehabilitator  “Ever since I was lucky enough to set foot into Wild Care in 2019, it’s all I have ever wanted. There are no second chances in nature, but as a rehabilitator we are lucky to be able to provide each animal with that second chance, even if the patient’s outcome isn’t a success. Rehabbing is also essential for informing the public about the many wonderful critters we share this planet with and for helping spread awareness about how we can best co-exist with them. This is something I am very passionate about in a day and age where technology tends to impede the connection between most individuals and caring for the natural world. It is such a privilege to be able to treat our incredible patients and to work with such wonderful, compassionate, like-minded staff!”


Congratulations Rachel, we are so lucky to have you as part of the Wild Care team!


Wild Care Volunteers put in

Over 5,700 Hours in 2022!


Wild Care volunteers are such an important part of all of our rescue success stories, and we couldn’t do what we do without them! In 2022 volunteer hours topped over 5,700 with volunteers Chris O’Neil, Roz Goldstein, Dick Collins, Marcus Seletsky, Amy Sanders, and Judy Bullard logging more than 200 hours each! Thank you to each and every one of our volunteers for all you do. You make a difference for animals every day, and are an important part of the Wild Care team!


Volunteer opportunities are available year round. Whether you have a few hours a week or month to help keep our clinic clean, transport animals in need, volunteer at an event, feed baby birds, or do a little gardening to name a few, there are many different ways to help.


PHOTO: Volunteer Jody Rice-Hines holding Wild Care Educational Ambassador Ilean


LEARN more about volunteering at Wild Care

QUESTIONS? Email Volunteer Coordinator, Amy Sanders

RAT POISON KILLS MORE THAN JUST RATS - Cold winter weather on the Cape brings with it a whole different type of “houseguest” than in the summer months. Mice are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Using poisons and bait traps kill more than just mice, they affect the many animals that rely on them as a food source such as owls, hawks, fox, and coyotes to name just a few. Wild Care treats many animals that become victims of this type of poisoning. The poisons intended to kill rodents, are killing our raptors and animals who are the best natural form of rodent control there is. There are alternative ways to keep your home mouse free.


Check out this website from Raptors are the Solution

for some good advice, and help our wildlife!


Help Reduce the Number of Orphaned Squirrels this Season


Even though it's cold outside, squirrels are breeding, and some squirrels are pregnant. (Yes, you have read this correctly.) We have received neonatal Eastern Gray Squirrels at Wild Care as early as February 10th one year, though most of our squirrel babies arrive in March. Please help us reduce the number of orphaned squirrels this season by following these simple steps, and call us for advice: 508-240-2255.


If you have a car or a piece of machinery that has not been moved for a while - open the hood, or move the vehicle frequently, to discourage squirrels and other rodents from nesting. Rodents do not want to move into a home that is unpredictable and "unsafe". (This goes for lawnmowers and grills too!) If there is already a nest under the hood, call us for tips to encourage momma squirrel to move her young.


Dead trees and snags. Eastern Gray Squirrels will nest in tree cavities, but also build large round nests of dead leaves. If you must trim or remove trees this winter, please check carefully to ensure that they are not inhabited by squirrels, owls, or other roosting birds. No dead tree is ever really dead. Save a tree, save a life!


If you find a squirrel nest on the ground with babies in it, place them into a shoebox with gloved hands, and provide a heating aid. Do not give them food or water. Note where the nest fell, and watch for activity from momma squirrel. Please call us. Eastern Gray Squirrels build SEVERAL nests, and we can often reunite them with their young. Squirrels are very attentive mothers.

Are you a Wildlife Rehabilitator or just love wildlife?

Register for the Wildlife Rehabilitators' Association of Massachusetts Virtual Conference 2023!


If you love wildlife, you won’t want to miss Wildlife Rehabiltators’ Association of Massachusetts or WRAM’s virtual conference happening March 18th through 19th. WRAM offers a weekend full of educational lectures, social opportunities, interesting round table discussions, live Q&A's, and much more. Wild Care's Executive Director Stephanie Ellis, and Animal Care Coordinator, Jennifer Taylor will be guest lecturers again this year!


Become a WRAM member

and receive a $35 discount off

the conference registration.


Register Here


Read Wild Care Executive Director Stephanie Ellis’s Why Wildlife Matters WRAM column titled “Our Wonderful Waterbirds”


Get a sneak peek at WRAM's e-newsletter. and Wild Care's Executive Director Stephanie Ellis quarterly column focusing on “Why Wildlife Matters”. Her most recent column discusses "Our Wonderful Waterbirds" and why they matter. Each species, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, makes a contribution to the planet and humankind.


Become a WRAM member for exclusive content like this!


Read Stephanie's Column

"Our Wonderful Waterbirds"

Nauset Disposal's Trash Bash

raises $6,000 for Wild Care


THANK YOU to our amazing friends at Nauset Disposal for making Wild Care a recipient of their annual Trash Bash again this year. We are so grateful for their generous donation of $6,000, and excited to be part of this impressive event!



Wild Care Receives Ready Rooter

"Ready for You" Donation


Each month a member of the Ready Rooter team selects a local nonprofit to benefit from donations to their “Ready for You” program. Wild Care is so grateful to have been selected as the January recipient! THANK YOU to everyone at Ready Rooter for your generosity! This $500 donation will go a long way towards helping Cape Cod’s wildlife.



DONATE TO WILD CARE
Check out our Amazon and Chewy WISH LISTS and donate much
needed supplies to help the animals being cared for at Wild Care.

10 Smith Lane, Eastham, MA 02642 

Email Us I. WildCareCapeCod.org


When in Doubt Please Call Us

508-240-2255

We Are Here To Help!


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