Blog

stories from the Sanctuary

An orphaned baby skunk is bundled in a towel in the nursery at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary.

February 15, 2025

Ah, February—the season of love!
Chocolates, roses, romantic dinners… and the unmistakable scent of skunk? 👃

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February 7, 2025

Our Hugs or Bugs fundraiser is BACK by popular demand this season of love. Learn more about how to celebrate (or get revenge!) with the help of our critters at RWS.

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A wildlife corridor graphic says "2025 Virginia General Assembly" and "VOTE YES! On House Bill 2025." It is overlaid on a photo of an eastern box turtle in the road. The yellow Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary logo is on the bottom right.

January 31, 2025

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Help Virginia expand and promote wildlife corridors by telling your representative to vote yes on House Bill 2025 in the Virginia State Assembly this legislative session. Virginia’s wildlife faces an ever-growing challenge: navigating a landscape increasingly fragmented by roads, development, and human activity. In fact, Virginia is in the top ten states in the nation […]

Photo taken of a Virginia opossum from behind, showing its tail and back feet as it walks away from the camera.

January 24, 2025

Drumroll, please! 🥁 Meet our newest, furriest “coworker” at Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary. Learn about her story, personality, and all the details of her naming contest! 

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January 10, 2025

We tend to hear the most about wild animals that get the heck out of Dodge (migrate) or get the heck…under Dodge (hiberate). What about the many species that don’t do either to survive the winter?

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Three eastern screech owls sit squished together on a perch inside RWS's wildlife care nursery.

December 29, 2024

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Our ED chats with our animal care staff about the patients that stuck with them the most in 2024.

A hatchling Eastern Mud Turtle

December 13, 2024

Meet our newest education ambassador: all two inches of her! This charming Eastern Mud Turtle joined the Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary team in the most unusual way. 

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A Wild Turkey poult looks at itself in a mirror inside a rehabilitation care facility.

November 26, 2024

Gobble, gobble, gobble,Snood, caruncle, and wattle!No idea what we just said? Keep reading this month’s Critter Corner. ⬇️ As Thanksgiving approaches, turkeys take center stage in our minds and on some of our tables.  But Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)  have been strutting through North America’s landscapes for millennia—long before they became cultural icons. This month, we’re talkin’ turkeys! […]

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A baby gray squirrel with a missing ear pinna drinks from a syringe.

November 15, 2024

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When one squirrel is released, another arrives! 🔄 🌰 Shortly after we successfully released September’s Patient of the Month, a charming melanistic squirrel, we welcomed yet another unique baby. (Baby season ain’t over til the fat squirrel sings!) Meet Eastern Gray Squirrel 24-984, a slightly asymmetrical yet still adorable patient.  This young male squirrel originally arrived […]

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Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. EIN 51-0498181.
Thank you for supporting our mission to help native wildlife in Virginia and beyond.