August’s Patient of the Month was a surprising intake at the Sanctuary. Meet 24-836, an orphaned baby striped skunk! 🦨 Wildlife rehabilitation has trained us to expect the unexpected, and this kit and his six siblings were certainly unusual. Typically, we admit 20-30 orphaned striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) kits each year, but they almost always come into care […]

We’re getting squirrelly at RWS this month as we feature one of Virginia’s most nimble and entertaining residents: the Eastern Gray Squirrel. 🐿* * There is sadly no gray squirrel emoji (yet!), so we’ll settle for a chipmunk for now. Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are tree squirrels and a common sight in our forests […]

July’s Patient of the Month is a bit more punk rock than most of the species we treat, thanks to their crazy backstory and heavy metal look! 🤘👨‍🎤 Meet Chimney Swift 24-729. Being later season nesters, Chimney Swifts are often the last big wave of orphaned songbirds we get before the baby bird season begins to […]

We are so grateful to everyone who joined us at Paws Are The Cause with Ben Around Tattoos. With your help, we raised (drumroll please)…🥁🥁🥁 We are simply blown away! Did you catch our news coverage on NBC29? Check it out for scenes from the event! From June 29th to 30th, a team of generous […]

We’ve got an extra cool Critter Corner for you this month to round out June! The sun is shining, the days are warmer, and the reptiles are out. This includes copperhead snakes! We know copperhead snakes can bring out strong feelings for many people. Respect is all we ask for at RWS. You don’t need to […]

May was busy, but we’re screeching in June! This month, we’re highlighting Eastern Screech-Owl patients 24-447, 448, and 504.

There’s one animal we always go particularly hog wild for at RWS! This month, we’re celebrating Virginia’s most spud-like species: the mighty helpful groundhog.

Every once in awhile, the Sanctuary admits a patient that gets our staff to say, “Wow, that’s the smallest I’ve ever seen!” Meet RWS Patients 24-295, 296, and 297: a trio of infant raccoon kits. They each weighed in at just about 55 grams upon admission, which is essentially birth weight for raccoons. In fact, they […]