Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center

Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center DCHS’s Wildlife Center provides rehabilitation services to injured, ill, and orphaned wildlife.

Humans have a big impact on the natural world, especially on the wild creatures that share it with us. Since our wildlife center was founded in 2002, we have constantly strived to expand, adapt, and hone our skills and resources to provide the best care possible for the wildlife patients that come through our doors. We rely on a small dedicated staff, many passionate volunteers, and the invaluable generosity of donors in order to make a difference one paw, wing, tail, or scale at a time. We are Dane County Humane Society’s Wildlife Center, and we couldn’t do what we do without you! Please consider supporting our work by donating at www.giveshelter.org/donatewildlife. You may also offer support by donating items from our wish lists: https://www.giveshelter.org/how-to-help/wish-list or from Amazon - https://a.co/dv8XThb.

This week the Wildlife Center released an American Goldfinch, a Bay-breasted Warbler, an Eastern Cottontail, 2 Mallards,...
09/24/2026

This week the Wildlife Center released an American Goldfinch, a Bay-breasted Warbler, an Eastern Cottontail, 2 Mallards, an Ovenbird, 8 Red Foxes, 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a Silver-haired Bat, a Virginia Opossum, and 4 Western Painted Turtles!

This week we said goodbye to our 8 beloved summer residents—the Red Foxes. For the last 4 months we have watched as they have grown from timid juvenile foxes to fierce young adults. It’s a bittersweet goodbye but we are so happy that they are able to start their next phase of life—the wild! We wish them luck on their next big journey together!

The Eastern Cottontail released this week was admitted to the Wildlife Center after a run in with a house cat. The juvenile cottontail came in with several wounds, but all of them were luckily mild. We provided anti-inflammatory medication, wound care, and rest. After a month the little rabbit was able to be released back into the wild!

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿This American Beaver has had a difficult last month, but he’s come a long way—pretty "dam" s...
09/21/2026

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿

This American Beaver has had a difficult last month, but he’s come a long way—pretty "dam" strong for a comeback, if you ask us!

In early September, this young adult beaver was found with numerous puncture wounds and lacerations—especially over the hips, hind legs, and tail. He was originally being cared for at another facility, but was transferred to DCHS’s Wildlife Center when it became clear he needed long-term medical care for his wounds.

He has 3 lacerations to his tail and 3 punctures, and many of his wounds are also infected. We suspect the cause of his injuries was an animal attack due to the types of wounds and their locations—predators of beaver often will attack the tail and rump to stay away from the “bitey” end.

In the last few days, he has started to repair tissue and heal. We are even able to start giving him some swim time in a deep pool! He still has a lot more healing to do, though. In the meantime, he is active and eating well. He is almost a whopping 40 pounds!

This week the Wildlife Center released 6 American Robins, an American Toad, a Bay-breasted Warbler, 3 Common Map Turtles...
09/17/2026

This week the Wildlife Center released 6 American Robins, an American Toad, a Bay-breasted Warbler, 3 Common Map Turtles, 2 Gray Catbirds, 15 Mallards, a Mourning Dove, a Red-winged Blackbird, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a Turkey Vulture, and 2 Western Painted Turtles!

One of the Gray Catbirds came in with a fractured clavicle and bruising after hitting a window. We bandaged them up, gave fluids, and allowed the catbird plenty of rest while they recovered. After a month in our care they were ready to be released! Our program manager Jackie Edmunds released this Gray Catbird on Sunday at our Discovery Day event!

The 3 Common Map Turtles released, were hatched in our care! In June, we had a Common Map Turtle admitted after being hit by a car. She was in grave shape so we elected humane euthanasia, but she had 3 eggs we were able to save and incubate. In late August and early September, they all hatched! They got released into the wild this last week!

We are seeing many patients with bacterial conjunctivitis! 🐦‍⬛🐦Here is how you can help!How to clean your feeder:1. Star...
09/16/2026

We are seeing many patients with bacterial conjunctivitis! 🐦‍⬛🐦

Here is how you can help!

How to clean your feeder:
1. Start by washing with hot, soapy water to remove all debris.
2. Create a diluted bleach solution: 1 Tbsp of bleach for each 16 oz of water.
3. Soak for 10 minutes. If spraying down the feeder, keep it wet for the entire 10-minute period.
4. Once disinfected, rinse and dry your feeder before refilling.

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿This week’s patient may be tiny, but he has a mighty cry! This infant Bobcat came to us afte...
09/14/2026

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿

This week’s patient may be tiny, but he has a mighty cry! This infant Bobcat came to us after being found near a highway with no mom or siblings to be found. At first he was quite distressed and vocalized for his mother often, but has since settled down and now cuddles with a stuffed animal for comfort.

We estimate that he is 10 to 11 weeks old (based on weight), and most young Bobcats stay with their mom until almost a year. So this little guy is WAY too young to be all alone.

Overall, he came in with no injuries, but he was dehydrated and had patches of fur loss. We have collected a sample for a fungal culture to check for ringworm. It can take 1 to 3 weeks for ringworm to be detected in a fungal culture, so we are waiting for those results.

If the culture is negative we will likely transfer him in the coming weeks so that he can be in a facility with other young Bobcats, but for the time being, he is spending his days with us. He eats well and is gaining weight, which makes him a perfect patient!

This week the Wildlife Center released 3 American Robins, 4 Common Grackles, 20 Common Snapping Turtles, a Killdeer, a M...
09/10/2026

This week the Wildlife Center released 3 American Robins, 4 Common Grackles, 20 Common Snapping Turtles, a Killdeer, a Magnolia Warbler, 9 Mallards, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a Tennessee Warbler, and 18 Western Painted Turtles. That is 58 animals returned to the wild!

One of the Common Grackles released this week came to us at the end of May after being transferred to our facility. The grackle was originally brought in after a dog attack and had bruising over the spine and both clavicles fractured. It was the perfect time for us to admit him because we had several others currently in our care that could be foster siblings for him. All the Common Grackles were released together as a group earlier this week.

Two of the Mallards released this week were admitted after being found on the roof of a building. During breeding and nesting season for Mallards it is common for mother Mallards to make nests on building roofs to keep her ducklings away from danger. While this does keep hatchlings away from certain dangers, it often poses a problem since the ducklings can’t get down from the building easily. In this case, the mother duck left without these two so we took in the ducklings and cared for them until they were ready to be on their own in the wild!

It's a BIG night for migrating birds! 🐦According to the BirdCast Migration Forecast, there is high migration intensity t...
09/09/2026

It's a BIG night for migrating birds! 🐦

According to the BirdCast Migration Forecast, there is high migration intensity tonight in Wisconsin! Here is what you can do to help migrating birds travel safely:

1. Reduce lighting. Turn off unnecessary indoor and outdoor lights. (Or use curtains)
2. Use warmer tone lighting. Switch lights to yellow and orange tones rather than cool or blue tones.
3. Have outside lights face down rather than up.

To get more information on the Bird Migration Forecast go to: https://birdcast.org/migration-tools/migration-forecast-maps/

For more information on how you can help migrating birds, check out our news post: https://www.giveshelter.org/news/how-you-can-help-migrating-birds

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿This week's patient is a new admission from just a few days ago. An adult male Osprey! This ...
09/07/2026

🌿 Meet the Patient Monday! 🌿

This week's patient is a new admission from just a few days ago. An adult male Osprey!

This fish-eating bird unfortunately is missing out on prime Labor Day weekend fishing, but there was no question that he needed to be admitted to the Wildlife Center. He was found down in a backyard in Mauston, WI on Friday, unable to fly and hardly able to walk.

The neurologic symptoms are concerning, and can be from a variety of causes including lead, disease, or trauma. With a quick blood draw we were able to rule out lead toxicity right away.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is another possibility. We are waiting on HPAI test results to come back—and we are keeping him quarantined away from other patients in the meantime. Our hope is that those results will be negative and this is a simple case of trauma.

Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center will be open for regular hours today (September 7th). If you find a wild an...
09/07/2026

Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center will be open for regular hours today (September 7th). If you find a wild animal in need of assistance, please contact the Wildlife Center at (608) 287-3235.

Dane County Humane Society's Main Shelter and both Dane County Humane Society Thrift Store locations are closed for Labor Day and will reopen tomorrow (Tuesday, September 8th).

Address

5132 Voges Road
Madison, WI
53718

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16082873235

Website

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