To our fellow wildlife enthusiasts:

Executive Director Sarah, here! I hope you are having a fantastic holiday season. ❄️ We have kept busy at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary, though we would have expected nothing less from our 20th anniversary year! In 2024, we:

• Admitted a record 1,008 injured and orphaned wild animals (and counting!).
• Treated 63 different species, including some firsts: a Common Raven, Northern Short-tailed Shrews, and Meadow Voles.
• Educated over 3,000 Virginians through 49 engaging programs, featuring our ambassador animals.

Our patients are much more than a number at RWS, though. Each animal we care for has its own story and leaves its mark on our team.

To reflect on our busy year, I chatted with Elka Hutcheson, our rehabilitation program manager, and Chandler Dennis, one of our two staff wildlife rehabilitators, about their most memorable wildlife patients from 2024.

Eastern Chipmunks (Patients 24-907, 908, and 929)

Chipmunks may look adorable, but their surprisingly spirited nature makes them a challenge to care for. We admitted three baby chipmunks this year, all of whom were orphaned—and they sure kept us on our toes.

Because this species is unusual to receive in care due to their relatively elusive nature, these patients also presented a great learning opportunity for our newer staff members and our summer student interns. That’s something I love about RWS: everyone on our team knows that there is always more to learn about the natural world. 

Eastern Screech-Owls (Patients 24-447, 448, 504, 604, 605, and 861)

A group of six Eastern Screech-Owls captured our hearts, too. Each owlet had arrived as a lone orphan, making up one big “adopted” clutch. Among them was a slightly older owl who consistently seemed to lead the way for the others.

“On the trail cam footage from their enclosure, you’d watch the older, braver owl go to try and hunt mice first. Eventually, the others would follow his lead,” Elka shared. “It was really meaningful to see, and it was a relief since it meant I didn’t have to teach them that myself,” she added with a laugh.

We love what we do at RWS, but it’s true:  there is nothing more satisfying than successfully reuniting a mom with her baby or watching an older sibling, like this owl, share its instinctual knowledge with younger patients. Through our wildlife hotline and our rehab program, we got to witness those special moments a lot this year.

Snapping Turtle (Patient 24-703)

Another one of our team’s most memorable wildlife patients, and perhaps among our most endearing, was a young Snapping Turtle. His shell was only about four inches long! Despite his small size, he had already experienced some big hardships in life.

“This little guy had been kept illegally as a pet and couldn’t swim when he arrived,” Chandler remarked.

Luckily, his intake exam revealed no major health issues despite the tough cards he’d been dealt over the past few years. Our staff designed a care plan to  gradually increase his tank size, water depth, and array of live food options so he could build stamina and foraging skills. 

“Over time, we watched him practice swimming and start catching the fish we provided,” Chandler told me. Chandler was the lucky team member who eventually got to release this charming patient back to the wild. She continued: “Releasing him was a special moment. He swam away real quick!” (Just what we want to see!)

As we reflect on our year of memorable, marvelous wildlife patients at the Sanctuary, we know that each of these second chances was only possible thanks to our supporters. 

Your end-of-year gift today will help power us into our upcoming busy baby season so we can provide comfort and hope to another 1,000+ wild animals in need. Together, we can build a brighter future for Virginia’s wild creatures.

Thank you for reflecting on our milestone year with us and for caring about the natural world! 

With wild gratitude,