Animals in Education

The permanent residents at the Wisconsin Humane Society's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center help our staff and volunteers in different ways. Some, like Crow Baby, an American Crow, and J.J., a Ring-billed Gull, act as foster parents for orphaned animals of their kind in our nursery and in our outdoor wildlife exercise enclosures. Crow Baby's legs were broken when he fell from his nest as an infant. He received treatment at our Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital, but he can't be released due to a resulting permanent handicap. J.J. was found badly injured and received care at another wildlife hospital. J.J. can't fly well enough to be released, but he enjoys spending three seasons of the year outdoors with convalescing gulls in our pre-release exercise aviaries.

Two of our permanent residents, however, live a much more glamorous lifestyle. They work with WHS educators to teach the public about wildlife and how to live harmoniously with wild animals.

Talon

Talon is a Peregrine falcon, an endangered species in Wisconsin. Before Talon came to us, he was trained by a falconer to sit on a gloved hand and return to the falconer's glove for food. Talon and the falconer worked together to scare other birds away from airports. This protected the airspace for passengers on airplanes. Talon is now a valued member of our education team. You can find him greeting guests at special WHS events and helping teach people to be compassionate to wildlife in our education programs. From time to time, Talon even makes guest television appearances on local TV stations!

Elwood

Elwood is a Virginia Opossum. Someone found Elwood as an orphan and tried to keep him as a pet. As always happens when people try to keep wild animals as pets, Elwood became too big and, well, too messy to keep around the house, so he was brought to the WHS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Our wildlife rehabilitators determined that Elwood had become too tame to be released with any hope of surviving in the wild, so he was enlisted as a member of our educational team.

Our permanent residents require specialized care in order to maintain their health. From exercise regimens to diets particular to their needs, funds are always needed to support them. If you would like to make a contribution to one of our permanent residents, click here to make a donation.