If you give a squirrel a cookie…Each day we receive a variety of calls and we never know where they might lead. While many make us smile or laugh, some are emotional. These calls remind us that behind every rescue is a person who stopped what they were doing to help an animal in need. That gives us hope.

We thought it might be fun to share a couple of the more common calls we receive: the stories behind the rescues that come through our doors.

Recently a call came in from a concerned woman who had found a young squirrel alone in her yard. She was doing all the right things – observing, asking questions, and getting ready to bring the little one in for care. But, before we ended the call, she added, “Oh, and I gave him some milk and cookies because he seemed hungry.” Cue the internal gasp… Before I hung up, I politely shared what squirrels eat (hint: it’s not Oreos and milk).

Every year, we get dozens of similar calls where someone finds a baby animal and, with the best intentions, offers them a snack from their pantry.

Probably our most common call is, “I rescued a baby bird I found on the ground.” We get it, it’s totally natural to worry about young animals who appear to be alone. But here’s a little secret, most of the time, they are fine. Most young birds leave their nest before they can fully fly. These scruffy little adventurers, called fledglings, spend a few days hopping and fluttering around on the ground while they learn to fly. It’s completely normal, and their parents are usually close by watching over them, even if we don’t see them. Like teenagers, fledglings just need a little space and patience while they’re learning.

These are just two of the more than 30,000 calls and text messages we receive each year. Whether someone spots a coyote running through their neighborhood “off leash,” finds ducklings swimming in their pool, sees a bird hit a window, or discovers an animal stuck to a glue trap, we’re here to answer questions and, hopefully, help give these animals a second chance in the wild.