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A recovered Barred Owl returns to the wild.
Photo by Mark MacKenzie

If you have found a bird or mammal you believe to be injured, orphaned or abandoned, click here to determine whether or not to contact a rehabilitator.   While Owl's Hill is licensed to have and release native animals, maintain an active hacking program for raptors, and release other rehabilitated animals on the site, we DO NOT accept injured or orphaned animals of any sort for rehabilitation.  Rehabilitation of a wild animal is a very complex, full-time job and, by state and federal law, must be done by licensed rehabilitators.  Attempting to rehabilitate an animal yourself can result in injury or death to the animal, injury to yourself, and/or expensive legal fees and fines.  The following organizations and individuals are licensed rehabilitators in the Middle Tennessee area:

        Raccoons, Fawns, Squirrels, Hawks, Owls   
Harmony Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (Fairview)
Carol Burgess
615-799-8712

Possums, Squirrels, Groundhogs, Adult Songbirds
Creekside Wildlife (Fairview)
Jennifer Varden
615-799-5418

Small Mammals ONLY
Lisa Butler (Franklin)
615-790-7809

Hummingbirds
Deborah Dorsey (Madison)
615-865-2941

Any Wild Creature
James R. Talbott, DVM (Nashville)
615-662-1700
OR
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (Nashville)
Richard Schwartz
615-833-1534
OR
Walden's Puddle (Joelton)
299-9938
OR
TWRA (Nashville)
781-6500

Can't capture or transport the injured animal yourself?
Contact Wildlife Solutions
John Blanton
615-207-3199 (cell phone)
John will capture and transport the animal in his rescue truck to Walden's Puddle. 
He requests only that you make a small donation (tax deductible, of course) to Walden's Puddle.

Remember, under the laws of Tennessee and the United States Fish and Wildlife regulations, you are not permitted to care for wildlife.  Rehabilitators do not rescue or pick up injured or orphaned animals. You must take the animal to them.  When  you call, you will get a recorded message – leave a number where they may call you back with instructions.  Rehabilitators are not publically funded and depend upon private donations.  Please pay them something if you are placing a found animal in their care.

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Coyotes are extremely adaptable.  They are the only large wild predator that has extended its range despite human intrusion into habitat...they now live in rural and urban areas from California to Maine, from alpine to desert habitat.  Coyotes come into heat once a year in late winter or spring.  About two months later they bear roughly six pups, which begin to emerge from the den about two weeks later.  They are less social than wolves or domestic dogs and usually hunt alone, although they sometimes hunt in pairs for larger prey.  Coyotes are carnivores, and opportunistic.  Ninety percent of their diet is meat: carrion, mice, rats, ground squirrels, marmots, prairie dogs, other rodents, and the occasional bird.  Any environment that attracts small rodents will, in turn attract coyotes.

So, since we all live in coyote country...

• CLOSELY SUPERVISE SMALL CHILDREN, DOGS, AND CATS AND KEEP THEM IN, ESPECIALLY AT DUSK AND DAWN.
• ELIMINATE HIDING COVER in landscaping and dwellings.  Make it difficult for coyotes to approach unseen.
• INSTALL OUTSIDE MOTION DETECTORS.
• Predators follow prey.  STORE GARBAGE, GRAINS, PET FOODS, AND OTHER ITEMS THAT ATTRACT RODENTS SECURELY.  Feed pets inside; don't allow a build-up of uneaten bird seed near human residence.
• IF YOU ARE CONFRONTED...stay calm, look big and tough, and back away.  Remember, a friendly coyote is eventually a dead coyote.

IF YOU LOVE WILDLIFE, KEEP YOUR CAT INDOORS BECAUSE:

• Every day, cats kill between 4 and 5 million birds in the U.S. alone.
• Collar bells don't work.  Birds and other wildlife do not associate bells with being stalked.
• Ground-nesting birds are very susceptible to predation by cats.
• Even well-fed cats will hunt small wild animals.
• Most young birds leave the nest before they are able to fly well, spending a day or two on the ground as they learn.  These fledglings are frequently caught by cats.
• Most of the birds caught by cats, but not killed outright, die of their injuries or infection.
• Cats that kill small rodents can eliminate a critical food source for owls and hawks.

IF YOU LOVE YOUR CAT, KEEP HIM OR HER INDOORS  BECAUSE:

• Cars kill millions of cats each year.
• Outdoor cats are exposed to serious - and often fatal - infectious diseases such as feline leukemia and rabies.
• Parasites such as fleas, ticks, and intestinal worms post a health threat to your cat.  Some of these parasites can be transmitted to humans.
• Outdoors, cats can be chased by dogs or other cats and killed, injured, or become lost.
• Cats are often shot at, poisoned, trapped, or tortured by neighbors who are annoyed by cats using their gardens as a litterbox or hunting ground.
• Coyotes, great-horned owls, and other wild animals are known to regularly kill and eat house cats.
• Cats that spend time outdoors require more medical treatment and their life-span is much shorter than cats who live indoors.

Content for "Keep Your Cat Indoors" was provided by Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Walnut Creek, California

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Page last updated March 14, 2008.
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