Care for Utah Wildlife
At Wasatch Exotic Pet Care, we recognize that most people care deeply when a wild animal is in distress. Every animal brought to us, whether family pet or wildlife, receives the same thorough examination, diagnostics and medical or surgical care.
Please read below for further information BEFORE calling us, as it will likely answer many questions you may have
BATS
The local population of bats in Utah has been found to have an influx of RABIES. For that reason, we are NOT taking any bats.
For the safety of you and everyone in your community, we encourage you to NOT handle any bats you find. Instead, report them to your local animal control. They will assess the risk of rabies, and will act accordingly.
DO NOT TRY TO PICK UP AN INJURED ANIMAL WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!
There is no way for you to know what illnesses the animal has, nor if it will attack you out of fear or pain. Please do not put your health and safety at risk. Use gloves, and/or a towel if you are the only one who can help them at that time. If you need assistance relocating an injured animal, but are worried for your safety, call your city’s animal control.
Please note, it is also ILLEGAL in the state of Utah to rehab an injured wild animal without the proper licenses, as improperly rehabbing and then releasing the animal threatens the rest of the wild population.
Unfortunately, we are unable to continue offering wildlife care for free. We have been paying from our pockets to treat these animals for years, and financially we cannot offer completely free care anymore. Upon dropping off a wildlife case at our clinic, we charge a nominal fee of $30 to help defray costs. This helps IMMENSELY in allowing us to continue to offer care to Utah’s injured wildlife.
Visit this link to locate a licensed wildlife rehabilitator
Visit this link to locate a humane wildlife removal service
Rehabilitators closest to the Greater Salt Lake area
Baby birds: If you find a baby bird, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE IT IS NOT INJURED! If there is a nest nearby or parents, DO NOT remove the bird from that area! If the baby bird was born with a defect, the parent bird will often push it out of the nest. This is a classic “Survival of the Fittest” situation, it is sad, but it’s nature and we need to let nature take its course. If it is branching (Learning to fly) they often jump from the nest early, but the parent birds stay close and continue to feed the baby. If you remove the baby from this situation, it is not likely to survive. Unless you see an obvious injury, you need to leave it alone.
Injured Ducks: Many of the ducks that are found in or around our neighborhoods are domestic species or have cross-bred with domestic ducks (called “hybrid”,) and rehabilitation centers are NOT able to take these birds. If you bring us an injured duck, if our doctors determine that it is a domestic or hybrid we will have to treat it as if it were your pet, and you will need to be responsible for payment for all care provided and for releasing it back to the area where it was found.
GLUE TRAPS: First off, get rid of all of your glue traps. They are inhumane, and horrid things. Secondly, if you find a snake, lizard, bird, mouse, or any other critter on a glue trap, ideally DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RELEASE IT YOURSELF! The stress of the ordeal and being slathered in oil is more likely to kill the critter. We have a special spray that works in seconds to eat away at the adhesive and can remove the animal much more quickly.
If we are NOT available to take it in, then please work carefully with olive oil, mineral oil, or baby oil to slowly remove the animal from the trap, and rinse them with clean, warm water and a drop of dawn dish soap when done. Do your best to get the animal to a proper rehabber afterwards.
Raccoons: We do NOT take in injured raccoons because of the risk of spreading distemper to our ferret patients. Please call your local animal control, and DO NOT HANDLE THE ANIMAL!
Any other wildlife species: Please call us with any additional inquiries, or if you would like to bring a wild animal in. We do still have to take into consideration how many patients we have at the hospital on a given day, so please check before bringing them in. All state- and federally-protected species are transferred to properly licensed rehabilitators as soon as they are medically stabilized and we have a staff member or volunteer who is able to make the drive.