Georgia Raptor Conservation & Education Programs, LLC

Y’all. We need to have a little group chat. 😅

Georgia Wildlife Network is here to connect the public with LICENSED rehabbers so injured and orphaned wildlife can get into care. Every person answering texts, coordinating placements, and transporting animals is a VOLUNTEER.

We cannot guarantee transport availability. Ever. But especially not right now.

We’ve got animals going here, there, and everywhere. It’s wildlife baby season, the last day of school, a holiday weekend, AND the beginning of summer vacation all rolled into one… which means more animals and fewer people available to help.

Some folks reaching out seem to think we’re parked at the end of the driveway waiting to pick up an animal found 15 minutes ago. 😅

Friend… respectfully… no.

If you find injured or orphaned wildlife, PLEASE plan to transport if at all possible. We need to reserve volunteer transport help for truly critical situations and for people who genuinely have no other options.

Get creative:
• Call a neighbor
• Text your cousin
• Rekindle things with your mother-in-law you haven’t spoken to since the Christmas incident
• Bribe your teenager with Taco Bell
• Call a pet-friendly Uber
• Ask literally anyone with a pulse and a vehicle

Please do everything you can to get the animal where it needs to go (quickly) before requesting transport help. At the same time, don't let it sit there three days without reaching out.

Please remember, you are not calling customer service for a product you overpaid for. We are exhausted wildlife volunteers running on stress, snacks, and enough caffeine to mildly concern our primary care physicians. 😅

Help us help you. The more teamwork we get from the public, the more animals we can save. 💚 THANK YOU!

⚠️ RED-SHOULDERED HAWK NESTLINGS: A STORY THAT ALMOST HAD A VERY DIFFERENT ENDING ⚠️

I debated sharing this but I believe it’s an important lesson.

Last week, a tree was removed that contained an active Red-shouldered Hawk nest with 3 nestlings. A crane was used to lower the nest when it was discovered, so the babies were physically uninjured, and I met with someone at midnight to provide overnight care for 2 of the 3 nestlings. I’m grateful for that.

But here’s where my heart broke.
That third baby? I was never told about it. Whether communication broke down somewhere along the way, I still don’t know.

What I do know is that a helpless nestling was separated from its siblings, alone. Most likely not warmed up and rehydrated, not fed it's proper diet and all while I had no idea it even existed.

Due to the quick thinking of some truly incredible people, this story has a happy ending. Brandon of Sanders Wildlife, Inc. and a Chattahoochee Nature Center Wildlife Rehabilitation volunteer worked together to renest the first two babies in a surrogate nest. That same volunteer was then told about the third baby that “wasn't doing well” and acted immediately, picking it up from another location around 4:30 PM and rushing it to CNC for an exam.

After a couple of days of monitoring, it was deemed healthy and reunited with its siblings.
All three babies are together now and back home. But it so easily could have gone the other way.

Here’s what everyone needs to understand:

-Red-shouldered Hawks (and all raptors) are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
-Disturbing, destroying, or taking their nests and young is a federal offense.
-Cutting down a tree with an active nest is illegal, regardless of whether it’s on private property.
-Nestlings cannot survive on their own. They are entirely dependent on their parents, or a licensed rehabilitator, for food, warmth, and protection. Their parents cannot “pick them up” to take them to a new nest and they will not reject them if you touch them to help. Every hour counts.

If you are a homeowner, a tree company, or a contractor, please, please, please check for active nests before any tree work begins. If you find one, stop work and contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and/or your state DNR immediately. There are people who will help, and you will not get in trouble for doing the right thing. Yes, it may cost you some extra time, BUT you’ll make a huge difference and learn something along the way. Some of the best partnerships between tree companies and wildlife rehabbers have been built exactly this way.

This story has a happy ending. The next one might not. 💔

Photo by CNC wildlife rehab