The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota provides
quality medical care and rehabilitation for all injured,
sick and orphaned wildlife, and shares its knowledge
with the people who care about them.

Believe it or not our nursery season is almost upon us! Gray squirrels will have their babies sometime before the end of February. Training for our nurseries will occur in March, and the Mammal Nursery will open in early April.

Volunteering in our nurseries is a great way to work with wildlife for a relatively short amount of time (3-4 months). No rabies vaccine is required and you may choose to work in either the Mammal or Waterfowl Nursery. If you have specific interest, or prior experience, working with orphaned songbirds, we'd love to have your help in our Avian Nursery.

Volunteers must be 18+ in age to volunteer with the squirrels in the Mammal Nursery or with the songbirds, but teens 14-17 may volunteer in the Waterfowl Nursery as long as a parent volunteers as well. Apply now to volunteer with us. Questions? Contact Liz Cross, our volunteer services director.

Looking for a way to make a difference from home? We need volunteers for our Orphan Outreach Program. These volunteers are licensed rehabbers who provide round-the-clock care to patients who need more feedings than we can provide at the Center (like the orphaned red squirrel at right). To become a licensed rehabber, you'll work with the state's DNR in preparing for a test and a home inspection. Once licensed, we'll provide you with the materials you need (baskets for housings, food, syringes, etc.) and pair you with another WRC OOPs volunteer who will act as a mentor. If you'd like to learn more, visit the DNR site on how to obtain your license.

For those who want a more indepth volunteering position, our year-round Animal Care Crew (ACC) is the answer. In this area you'll have the opportunity to work with nearly 160 different species of animals, pretty much all the adult animals we have in the building for treatment. Because of this, we do require the rabies pre-exposure vaccine. You'll want to make sure your insurance covers these shots, or at least be able to apply them to your deductible (roughly $180/shot, 3 shots, plus a titer draw after your last shot).

Our ACC volunteers are required to be 18 years or older and work with everything from the amazing Trumpeter Swans and snapping turtles to the more common backyard animals such as squirrels, rabbits and cardinals.

Minimum committment to the ACC is 9 months, but many of our volunteers have been with us for more than 5 years! You may also choose to pick up an additional seasonal shift in one of our nurseries if you'd like without losing your position on ACC.