Mammal Homecare
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Opossum Team
Caring for opossums is easy at all stages. These amazing creatures are fun to watch grow from sleepy infants with giant ears to spunky “teenagers” displaying toothy snarls.
First, let’s clean up opossums’ reputation. Although they appear to be gigantic rats, they’re not rodents, but shy cousins of the kangaroo and are North America’s only marsupial, carrying their babies in their pouches. They are good friends for gardeners, spending their nocturnal hours clearing gardens of snails, rodents, slugs, snakes, insects, carrion, dropped fruit, and ticks. They don’t chew holes in pantries searching for food or dig up yards. Because of their low body temperature, they seldom get many diseases common to other mammals, including rabies.
The Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital receives more opossums than any other species and volunteers are needed at all stages of care from tending infants to releasing them back into the wild. Depending on your availability and space, there is sure to be a stage for you.
Infants/"Nursing": Very small babies are housed in a cardboard carrier or plastic tub, and are syringe or tube fed every few hours (training and mentorship are provided). This stage is not recommended for beginning volunteers - it's best to have some experience with young opossums first. They quickly advance to eating solid food on their own after this stage.
Young/Weaned: Once weaned, opossums are kept in indoor wire cages in a secluded area of the house, and are fed and cleaned once daily. Indoor cages can sit easily on a counter or tabletop. Care takes about 15-20 minutes per day for an experienced volunteer.
Juvenile/Sub-Adult/Pre-release: Older opossums are kept in wire cages outdoors and are fed and cleaned once daily. At this stage, they perfect their nest building and foraging skills with the help of their caregiver. Outdoor cages are typically placed on sawhorses or tables in a secluded section of the yard. These opossums are kept in outdoor cages until they are ready to be released.
Opossums grow very fast, with each stage lasting around 7-14 days. Young babies take more time, but volunteers with wire indoor and outdoor cages spend about 15 minutes per day cleaning and feeding. Opossums must be kept away from household pets and regular family activities.
Volunteers are also needed to scout out release locations and then return these wonderful animals back into the wild.
Interested? We’ll train you, provide the equipment and food you’ll need, and offer prompt support!
(11/7/22)
Infant plastic tub.
Indoor enclosure.
Indoor enclosure.
Basic outdoor pre-release enclosure.
Outdoor pre-release enclosure.
Outdoor pre-release enclosure.
The lower opo is "playing 'possum". He is so into the "Tao of Oponess" that he played dead whenever a human approached, even if he was climbing. Here he hangs "dead" by one arm, head on branch, drooling, being very much an opossum.
Skunk Team
Skunks are a native species and unfortunately, many are brought to our hospital during baby season. We need more at home caregivers for every stage of life! Did you know that baby skunks rarely spray? It’s true! Baby skunks have spray glands and will occasionally dribble some when they are scared, but this doesn’t happen often. They are musk producing mammals, so they may smell a little “musky” from time to time. It might get smelly, but saving these striped mustelids is very rewarding!
Infants/Nursing: Small babies can be kept in a cardboard pet carrier or small kennel with a heating pad in a secluded area away from children and pets. They need to be syringe fed formula approximately four to five times a day (no nighttime feedings necessary). They also need to be stimulated to urinate/defecate after every feeding. We want to raise them wild, so no baby-talk or petting, please!
Young/Weaned: Once baby skunks grow in their adult teeth, they are ready to eat solid foods. Preparing frozen mice for their diet is part of their daily care, so being comfortable with cutting up mice is a must. These babies can be kept in a bathtub, a kennel, a wire cage, or a playpen type enclosure, preferably inside. They will only require about 15-20 minutes of care each day once you get the hang of it. They need a morning snack, enclosure cleaning, and a nighttime meal daily.
Juvenile/Sub-Adult/Pre-release: These babies are ready to go outside into a large pen in a yard. At this stage, they will learn how to live in an outside environment (digging, finding food, etc). This is the stage where you’ll see them stomping, charging, and play fighting with each other. Care should take about 15-20 minutes each day. Skunks typically defecate in one corner of their enclosure, and at this age only require one feeding at night.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SKUNK CAREGIVERS:
Must have a separate area away from kids/pets in home/yard for keeping skunks
** Pre-exposure rabies vaccines are required for volunteers to handle and care for skunks. **
Infant indoor kennel
Indoor young/weaned enclosure
Pre-release outdoor pen
Raccoon Team
The raccoon home care team cares for around 150 raccoons every year. Most baby raccoons are born between April and July. If something happens to the first litter, a second litter will be born and we can get babies in our hospital all the way into October. Most babies are abandoned or injured when they are brought to the hospital. We continually recruit new home caregivers to assist with raising these babies.
Raccoons are highly intelligent and watching them transition through the different stages of development is fascinating and comical. Raccoons can carry many diseases, so detailed biosecurity practices must be in place at your home in order to be successful.
There are currently about 15 members on the home care team, which is the bare minimum required to raise the amount of babies we get in each year. We are in need of volunteers who can provide frequent day to day care for babies, or have adequate space to facilitate an outdoor enclosure for older raccoons.
Stages of homecare:
Bottle feeding: 0-8 weeks old
Weaning: 8-11 weeks old
Outdoor enclosures: 12 weeks and older
Requirements:
Bottle feeders – A space in your house where the bottle feeding babies can be undisturbed in a quiet environment. No exposure to pets or children.
Weaning – Can be an indoor or outdoor enclosed space (garage, shed, etc. which has power and natural light) undisturbed with no exposure to pets or children.
Outdoor enclosure – All enclosures are walk in structures. Two different stages needed:
Half way house – Footprint negotiable - 6 feet high or below to prevent injury while practicing their climbing skills. No exposure to neighbors, street, children or pets. Raccoons transition to the release pen as skills improve.
Release pen – Minimum footprint of 10x8 feet with a height of at least 6 feet. No exposure to neighbors, street, children or pets. Raccoons are released into the wild from this enclosure.
** Pre-exposure rabies vaccines are required for volunteers to handle and care for raccoons over 6 weeks old. **
Raccoons require deworming every 14 days while they are in care, as well as two distemper/parvo vaccines. We will teach you how to deworm. A member of the team will come to your house to do all vaccine administrations and will also do all of the releases from the pen.
Many caregivers do a combination of stages which is dependent on their availability of time and appropriate housing space. Some do just a single stage. Raccoons are passed on to other caregivers to further their development dependent on age and readiness.
(12/9/24)Squirrel Team
The Squirrel Team mission is to rehabilitate and release orphaned and injured squirrels to live “free in the trees”. We continually recruit new home caregivers to help us with the large number of squirrels that need our help every year. Here are a few facts about what we do:
What kind? Worldwide, there are 275 different species of squirrels, but LWH generally receives only four species: Eastern Fox Squirrels (~88%), California Ground Squirrels (~11%), Eastern Gray Squirrels (<1%), and Western Gray Squirrels (<1%). Very occasionally we get “exotics” like Northern Flying Squirrels, chipmunks, and even marmots, but they are usually brought here from other areas and are transferred back to a center in their home range.
How many? About 400-500 squirrels are accessioned every year, and of those approximately 300-350 are healthy enough to go to homecare with one of our volunteers.
Why so many? Tree-trimming, wind and rainstorms, falls from the nest, dog and cat attacks, accidents that separate them from mom squirrel.
When are squirrels in care? Eastern Fox Squirrels have two birth seasons per year. In our spring season they start arriving in mid-February and are generally all released by mid-June; the fall intake begins sometime in July with most releases completed by mid-November. California Ground Squirrels have only one extended birth season; they are usually in care during the months of April through August.
Who’s on the squirrel team? We currently have about 30 members, some of whom provide support functions (placement, releases, caging, etc.) rather than hands-on homecare. We generally have 20-25 active home caregivers each season but need more to even out the load.
Are squirrels easy or difficult to rehabilitate? Baby squirrels are not delicate and generally thrive with well-trained caregivers. Over the past 7 years the Lindsay squirrel team has provided homecare for almost 2000 squirrels with an 88% survival rate. However, fostering a litter of squirrels is more time- and effort-intensive than some other species since they nurse longer and require care for many weeks before release.
What help is needed? Squirrel Team needs caregivers for young nursing babies that are housed inside the home, and older juveniles in large outdoor enclosures. There are also some openings for release team members who find and plan soft-releases with willing homeowners.
Home Caregiver – Young Squirrels
Responsibilities: Provide foster care in your home for a litter of baby squirrels. Tasks include observing and charting development and health, formula feedings, buying and preparing solid foods, cage cleaning, laundry, recordkeeping, taking babies for hospital rechecks, administering prescribed medications. Generally one litter per season (spring and fall).
Requirements: A spare temperature-controlled room in your home where squirrels can be housed and fed in a quiet environment. This room needs a solid door that can be closed off, and during the time you have squirrels in care the room cannot be used for other purposes. Pets, children and visitors must be excluded at all times. Willingness to follow established care protocols and prioritize welfare of the baby squirrels. Experienced squirrel team members will conduct a detailed interview and visit your home to assess and approve the specific set-up.
Time Commitment: The length of time you will foster the litter, and the number of daily care hours, vary greatly depending upon the age of the litter. Home care is fairly time and labor intensive during the period you have babies, but will be extremely rewarding!
Cost: Moderate start-up costs to buy equipment items like heating pads, mug warmer, weighing scale, chew bones, etc. The milk replacer formula is supplied by LWH but there are moderate ongoing costs for solid foods (fruits, veggies, nuts, etc.)
Training: Initial hands-on training class to learn the basics. You will be assigned an experienced mentor who will work with you to provide further training and ongoing consultation/support.
In short, there are 3 major requirements for doing baby squirrel rehab: a big chunk of time, an adequate home facility, and a real love for squirrels so that the time you spend on their care (which is considerable!) will be rewarding to you.
(2/21/17)For Further Information
New Volunteers
For further information on any of the teams described above, please fill out this form:
Wildlife Rehabilitation Interest Form
or contact us at: homecarerecruiting@lindsaywildlife.org
Current Volunteers
If you are interested in assisting any of these teams, please contact the Hospital Volunteer Manager and indicate which species and developmental stages are of interest. Your information will be forwarded to the appropriate team contact.
(2/8/22)