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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June 24, 2025
Well, summer has certainly arrived in full force! 🥵 This month, we’re sharing how our wild neighbors keep cool on sweltering days…without popsicles.
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May 30, 2025
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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!
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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March 27, 2025
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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February 15, 2025
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Ah, February—the season of love!
Chocolates, roses, romantic dinners… and the unmistakable scent of skunk? 👃
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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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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November 26, 2024
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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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