Wildlife Rehabilitation

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Wildlife Rehabilitation: The Challenges

Wildlife rehabilitation is demanding—physically, emotionally, and financially. Rehabilitators must obtain proper licensing, which often requires completing a costly, multi-day training course. Beyond that, they are responsible for providing appropriate facilities, including a separate building from their home equipped with heat, air conditioning, and running water.

All expenses fall on the rehabilitator. This includes caging, food, medical care, and daily supplies. The financial burden can be significant, as costs quickly add up across every animal taken in. For those who rehabilitate deer, there are additional state requirements. Any loss must be reported, and the animal must be transported to a diagnostic laboratory for necropsy to rule out Chronic Wasting Disease—an expense that can exceed $100 per case.

With so many challenges, it’s fair to ask: why do it at all?

The Rewards

Because it’s the right thing to do.
Because every innocent life matters.
Because, often, they have no one else.

At Wolf Run, our wildlife team is dedicated to animals requiring round-the-clock care. While many of our intakes are adults, we are especially privileged to care for a variety of native, orphaned babies—each one leaving a lasting impression on our hearts. Here are just a few who have meant so much to us.

She was skinned by a cat!

She was shot with a BB gun!

An unsupervised child shot her with a BB gun. It left her completely paralyzed on one side. It was a long recovery time but look at her now! We were so very proud of her courage and strength. She put up with a lot of physical therapy and was a very good girl!

He Needed Help Desperately!

Three images portraying the progress of a very ill baby raccoon. It was touch and go for several days. Many hours were spent administering subcutaneous fluids. He spent five days in an incubator. Then one morning he popped his little head up, opened his mouth and let us know in no uncertain terms that he was hungry! His first solid food was a juicy strawberry! It was smooth sailing from there on out! He grew to be big and strong and was successfully released back into the wild!

This sweet baby opossum came to us after being attacked by a cat, suffering a punctured lung. If you look closely in the video, you can see the air bubbling from the wound—it was heartbreaking to witness. Despite everything, she proved to be incredibly strong and resilient. She fought her way through recovery and was ultimately released back into the wild where she belongs. Though the fur never grew back at the injury site, it stands as a small reminder of just how much she overcame.

The blow cracked his skull!

his tiny fox kit was found lifeless in the middle of the road. A car struck him so violently that it cracked his skull. Near death, he was rushed to our veterinarians where he received the help he needed to get back on the road to recovery. It took quite a while for us to feel safe about releasing him but it was the right decision! He has been seen since his release and is thriving!

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A young doe was caught in a fence.

Trying to keep up with her mother, this little doe almost made it over a wire farm fence. But what happened left her hanging from one leg, unable to move. Her pelvis was broken along with some deep lacerations from the wire cutting into her skin. You can imagine how badly this hurt and how sore she was! She was kept in a stall where we focused on her wounds and keeping her quite long enough for the pelvis to heal. It took months of rehabilitation but she was eventually released back into the wild!

Let's Get Into Wildlife Rehabilitation For Adult Animals

This adult male coyote was found on the side of the road in Lexington, KY. on February 8, 2023. Landowners called Wolf Run to help him. It was the saddest situation, and he was dragging himself, trying desperately to find safety. He had been on his own for days.

Once on site, we evaluated him, where he was located, how he was laying and which way his head was facing. A plan was devised! We loaded him without a scratch on us and not too much stress on him. We immediately headed to our veterinarian!

The coyote was sedated, and x-rays showed a broken back, broken pelvis, and dislocated leg. None of this was what we wanted to hear. The good news was that he was not paralyzed, and his back was broken but not severed. His hip was relocated with hope of it staying in the socket. He was vaccinated, wormed, and we took the opportunity to also get some Frontline Plus on him.

As we headed back to Wolf Run, we wondered if we had made the right decision in this rescue. He was on pain medication but were we prolonging his agony? We recounted the many miracles we had witnessed and took him to the refuge for recovery with the plan that if he did not heal enough for release, we would do what was best for him.

Cameras were installed so that we could view his movements. First, we noticed that the hip was staying in place! He began using both back legs and that told us his pelvis was also healing. With lots of time, supplements, good food and management, this boy was released on May 24, 2023!

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Finally it's release day!

The forecast was for days of sunny weather and we knew this was his time!

He had been sedated and although most of the drugs had worn off, he still stumbled a bit coming out of the carrier. He quickly regains his footing and shot off into the trees!

Rehabilitating adult wildlife can be very dangerous. Every precaution is taken but the risk of injury is immense. For this reason, most wildlife rehabilitators shy away from working with older animals. With nearly forty years of experience in wildlife, Wolf Run's staff, has become well equipped to handle animals from African Lions to Primates. This allows us to save as many adult animals as possible. Here are just a few of our most recent adult success stories!

Coyote Hit By Car

She laid on the roadside, unable to move, severely dehydrated, starved and left for dead. Someone saw her, stopped, gathered her in their arms, put her in the backseat of their car, and drove her to the first vet clinic they could find open. What was thought to be a young dog, under six months of age, was mangled and terrified, and not a dog at all but a coyote.

Once this little animal was admitted into the clinic, the veterinarian noticed her behavior was odd but kindly continued to treat her as best they could. Wolf Run was contacted. She was transported from the first vet to the refuge where she was put into a quite area to rest. We were instructed to leave the wrap on for three days which would give us time to get this girl into a specialist that was capable of pinning the bones in her leg. A simple cast would not work.

This girl's leg was badly broken along with her pelvis. Since she is young, we were advised that her pelvis would heal if she remained quiet and calm for at least six weeks. The leg was beyond casting and would need a specialist to plate the bones back together. What should have been a surgery to perform the plating of the leg turned into an amputation. This was certainly not the outcome we wanted, and it ruined her chances for release. Spooky took it like a champ and is now a permanent resident of Wolf Run. Her packmate is Candy..