Four Lakes Wildlife Center is open for the season!

[Kate Katzban-Beren]

Spring is finally here (we hope) and FLWC has opened for the season to
care for ill, injured, and orphaned wildlife in Southeastern
Wisconsin.

This year's admitting hours are:

10am - 4pm & 6pm - 7pm seven days a week.

Remember - many baby birds and mammals are mistakenly taken from their
nests by well meaning citizens even though they are still being cared
for by their wild parents. If you are unsure if an animal has been
orphaned please call 838-0413 x 151 to speak with a trained volunteer
before removing it from the wild. A baby's best chance for survival
is with its parents!

***************************************************************************************************************

Rehab Spotlight: Eastern Cottontails

Healthy baby Eastern Cottontail Rabbits are often mistaken for orphans
and stolen from their nests to be brought to rehabilitators. A mother
cottontail will only visit her nest twice a day - at dusk and dawn -
and only spends moments feeding her babies each time. If a mother
senses humans in the immediate area she will not visit the nest so as
not to draw attention to her young.

Young rabbits are easily stressed in a rehab enviroment, and have a
much greater chance for survival when raised in the wild. If you are
worried that you may have found an abandoned nest, please take the
following precautions to ensure that the rabbits are orphaned before
removing them from their natural environment:

Place string or small twigs across the nest opening in the form of an
X. Re-check the nest in the morning, if the X has been disturbed, the
mother has visited the nest and the babies are fine. If the string or
twigs have not been disturbed it is possible that the young have been
abandoned.

If you find a nest of abandoned cottontails, please contact FLWC for
further instruction. It is important not to give baby mammals any food
or water without consulting a licensed rehabilitator.

A nest of healthy babies will leave the nest after a few weeks. Mark
the nest site so that you can mow around it, and keep children and
domestic pets away from the nest during this time.

***************************************************************************************************************

To learn more about the other animals FLWC cares for each year, visit
our web site: http://www.fourlakeswildlifecenter.org