stories from the Sanctuary
August 1, 2025
We’re true Swifties at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary! Now, we don’t mean fans of Taylor Swift (though, admittedly, some of our staff members certainly are). We mean fans of the original swift: the Chimney Swift! 👏
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July 15, 2025
Our wildlife patients get only the very best when it comes to wildlife rehab haute couture. We were privileged to bear witness to a true fashion statement from Northern Mockingbird 25-514 this month!
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June 24, 2025
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Well, summer has certainly arrived in full force! 🥵 This month, we’re sharing how our wild neighbors keep cool on sweltering days…without popsicles.
June 12, 2025
June’s Patient of the Month came to us last Friday in quite the predicament. Meet patient 25-356, an Eastern Ratsnake who came to RWS literally tangled up in knots! 🪢
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May 30, 2025
As birds flit to and from their nests, fox kits dash around their dens, and humans call the RWS hotline all day long, one species is taking things slow…very slow. Cumbersomely slow, in fact. We’re talking, of course, about the charming Common Snapping Turtle!
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May 16, 2025
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We spent late March wondering, “Where are the fox kits?!” Typically, we admit our first orphaned kits shortly after the spring equinox. While opossums and baby songbirds began pouring in, our rabies-vector species nursery was comparably quiet. Until…
April 29, 2025
There are new residents at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary, and they’re neither orphaned patients nor education ambassador animals. They’re Eastern Phoebe parents-to-be!
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April 16, 2025
As temperatures rise and animals begin raising their young, we’re seeing a familiar wave of “firsts” roll in: the first squirrels, the first baby cottontails, and, of course, the first raccoon kit. 🦝
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March 27, 2025
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Spring has sprung, and all sorts of creatures are coming out of the woodwork…literally. 😆 One of those critters arrived as a patient earlier this month and inspired March’s Critter Corner. Meet the elusive and oh-so-charming Allegheny Woodrat! It began how most stories from the Sanctuary do: with a call to our wildlife hotline. ☎️ That […]
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