Wildlife  •  Education  •  Planetarium
Contact Us | Directions | Hours of Operation

wildlife

wildlife rehabilitation

We operate the Kenneth A. Scott Wildlife Rehabilitation Program to aid and assist injured and ill wild animals. The Lake Erie Nature and Science Center has been performing wildlife rehabilitation at no charge to the public since its inception in 1945. We define wildlife rehabilitation as human assistance for injured or ill wildlife with the ultimate goal of releasing the animal back into the wild.

We are members of the OWRA (Ohio Wildlife Rehabilitators Association), the NWRA (National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association), and the IWRC (International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council) and perform our wildlife rehabilitation activities under permits from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Although we cannot pick up or rescue animals, those which can be transported to the center will receive quality care and hopefully another chance at life in the wild.

Please contact us before you try to assist a wild animal to protect both you and the animal. 440.871.2900 ext. 204.

finding an ill or injured animal after 5:00pm

If you can safely capture the animal, place it in an escape proof box not much bigger than the animal itself. This should significantly reduce the amount of thrashing around and protect the animal from further injuring itself. Do not offer food or water to it as even these seemingly helpful actions may harm or even kill the animal. Place the box in a dark, quiet location (garage, basement, closet) until it can be transported to us for a medical examination 10:00am to 5:00pm, seven days a week.

questions about wildlife

Frequently Asked Questions
I Found Baby Wildlife - Does It Need Help?

rehab stories

Want ongoing, behind the scenes information about rehab at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center? We’re telling some of our rehab patients’ stories on our Chirp & Chatter blog.  On the homepage of the blog, if you scroll down to the “Labels” list in the right column, you can click on Rehabilitation to pull up only entries about rehab patients or select Wildlife to see all our animal news. We’re including photos as well as descriptions of the exciting challenges that are part of our wildlife work.

wren newsletters

WREN brings you the Center's Wildlife Rehabilitation Education & News. Download the pdf versions below or follow this link to have them delivered twice a year, right to your email inbox!

Back to Top