Maine Wildlife Rehabilitation

06/13/2026

On Tuesday, we received this beautiful female wood turtle for evaluation after she was found in a roadway with an injury to her plastron, the bottom part of the shell. A thorough examination and x-rays revealed that while she did have a former plastron fracture and missing piece of shell, this injury was very old and healed and not impairing her in any way. She also had 8 eggs visible on x-ray, so she was likely crossing the road to find an optimal place to lay them, as is common at this time of year. We decided to observe her for a few days in care to be sure that she was otherwise okay, and on Friday we returned her to exactly where she was found so that she could continue on her journey and lay her eggs!

🐢Wood turtles are relatively uncommon in Maine and are currently listed as a state species of special concern, so every injured turtle that we can save is individually important. If you see a wood turtle, you can report this sighting at the link below to help the state monitor populations:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/1665421defcb4809b230a8047a6266f6

06/10/2026

Our friends at Avian Haven recently admitted a common loon with a neck wound and brought it to us for evaluation and surgery. We discovered a deep laceration extending into the esophagus, which looked like it had been present for a while. We often see these types of injuries caused by fishing gear, such as hooks left in fish that birds like this consume and that can cause jagged and infected wounds. Fishing line left in the environment can also cause serious constriction injuries that can cut off the blood supply to parts of limbs or become entangled in the wings and cause serious injury. Loons in particular are very commonly affected by lead containing fishing weights, though luckily this bird did not have a high blood lead level.

We promptly went to work on the loon and were able to remove the dead tissue and to close the esophageal laceration and skin wound, allowing the bird to eat normally right away to regain lost body condition and to recover back in a pool setting at Avian Haven. We wish the loon well on its recovery and hope that it doesn't encounter any further hazards!

06/07/2026

Some very good points to keep in mind! We have recently started to receive injured turtles as they cross roadways to lay eggs.

It's happening... so it's time to repost this PSA. Please share widely!

06/05/2026

We recently received a red-eyed vireo after it collided with a window, a common occurrence for small birds. In these cases, we always recommend immediately collecting the bird in a secure container and bringing it in for care, even if the bird seems more alert and active after a while. These impact events almost always cause head and/or ocular trauma to some degree, and birds can still fly short distances with certain fractures, giving the appearance that they are better off than they are. They can also have delayed brain swelling that can cause a bird to become depressed later and be unable to fly or acquire food, even if they were flying around previously. The second and third pictures show examples of retinal damage in songbirds that can be caused by window strikes like this.

Luckily, this vireo only sustained mild head trauma and with pain and anti-inflammatory medications and supportive care was ready to go back home in a relatively short period of time. Red-eyed vireos are small songbirds that are only in Maine in the summer and go all the way to South America in the winter. They eat mostly insects during their time here in the summer but also eat some berries and seeds. In the winter, they eat almost entirely fruit. We wish this bird well back on its summer journey in Maine!

05/31/2026

On Thursday, we received two young ravens, old enough to be out of the nest but not old enough to be on their own. They had been seen on the ground and alone for several days and had both sustained significant injuries. One had a fractured clavicle and a luxated coracoid, two of the shoulder girdle bones. The other had a fractured femur, which was seemingly at least a week old. Based on these injuries, both siblings were likely hit by a car after being separated from their family or orphaned. Both were in very poor body condition and we spent the first day stabilizing them and providing them with plenty of food, along with pain and anti-inflammatory medications. The next day, we took the femur fracture raven to surgery to realign and stabilize the bone ends with surgical pins. Both ravens are doing well and have each other for company, which is always ideal for this social species.

🐦Common ravens are much larger than crows and like crows are highly intelligent. They can work cooperatively and creatively to find and acquire food and can mimic many other bird calls or other sounds. Ravens are highly adaptable and do well in proximity to human habitation as well as away from it. Their diet can be extremely varied and opportunistic and young ravens spend significant time exploring their surroundings and learning from their parents after leaving the nest.

05/27/2026

Patient 26-103 is a pileated woodpecker that came to us from Avian Haven after sustaining a radial fracture, one of the small wing bones. While fractures to the neighboring bone, the ulna, can be managed without surgery in cases where the bone ends are well aligned, the radius is much more mobile and should be stabilized with a pin in cases like this. If this is not done and the ends are more displaced, flight may be affected and the body's attempt to heal can result in a fusion between the two bones, called a synostosis. In order to avoid this, we place a small pin in the radius and additionally stabilize the wing with a supportive wrap during the healing process. The woodpecker is very bright and is making its way through the supply of wood provided! We need to get creative with some patients and in this case strapped logs to the inside of the enclosure door to provide a more natural visual barrier and additional wood. The woodpecker has some healing ahead but is doing very well so far.

🐦 Pileated woodpeckers, despite their significant size, consume a large quantity of ants as well as other insects. They also eat a variety of fruits and nuts and make impressive holes in dead trees in their pursuit of carpenter ants, termites, and wood-boring beetle larvae. They are the largest woodpeckers in North America!

05/22/2026

Our mother and baby porcupine patients were released back to their home territory last night! The mother, patient 26-63, was likely hit by a car and sustained a large laceration that we repaired. The baby, born in care and now 2 weeks old, is very healthy despite the mother's trauma and was enthusiastic about exploring their new surroundings. 26-63 went straight back to her usual den area and will be well set up for the summer with abundant food sources and a safe place for her baby to learn how to be a successful adult. We are happy for the good outcome!

05/16/2026

As the weather becomes warmer, we are releasing our overwintered bat patients. Big brown bats, our most common bat admission, have adapted well to human development and frequently seek crevices in buildings to hibernate in. Historically, big brown bats roosted and hibernated in tree hollows, caves, or rock ledge openings. Protected but unheated building areas such as attic spaces often create just the right conditions for hibernation, maintaining high enough and consistent temperatures to support a colony of bats throughout the winter. However, if a bat's hibernation is interrupted for any reason, they may find their way down into inhabited building areas in search of food. This can happen if the bat was unable to reach an appropriate body condition prior to entering hibernation, which we commonly see in association with injuries. In these cases, bats are often found and brought to us for care. If you find a bat, make sure to never handle it with your bare hands and give us a call!

After we assess and treat any injuries, we feed winter bats enough to build them back up to an appropriate body condition and then hibernate them for the rest of the winter in an artificial hibernaculum. When conditions become appropriate in the spring, we wake them up for release! In some cases, if there was a significant injury, we first recondition them in a flight enclosure to make sure their flight is appropriate. Big brown bat 26-27, pictured, is spending time in our flight after recovering from a significant wing wound. We wish all of our overwintered bat patients well this spring!

05/10/2026

Today is Mother's Day and we have a new mother porcupine in care, patient 26-63. She was found on the side of the road with a significant laceration across her back, presumably hit by a vehicle. We sedated her for a full exam, diagnostics, and treatment on intake and discovered that she was very pregnant and likely ready to give birth soon based on how mineralized her baby's skeleton was on an x-ray. As her laceration was very fresh and clean, we decided to go ahead and close it under her intake sedation to minimize the need for further sedation and disturbance over the coming days. We also checked that the baby's heartbeat was still present and normal with ultrasound, and despite her mom's significant trauma it was!

After several days of healing, we moved her outside to a sheltered enclosure space to reduce stress and make her more comfortable to give birth. On Thursday morning, we discovered a newborn and healthy appearing porcupette! 26-63 will be fully healed soon and able to return to her home territory with her baby. We have been closely monitoring both with remote camera footage to make sure that the baby is continuing to do well and that mom is recovering as expected. We are happy for the good outcome for both!

05/09/2026

It’s World Migratory Bird Day and we wanted to share this recent release of a purple finch after successful recovery from Mycoplasma, the causative agent of finch conjunctivitis. We wish him well back in his home territory!