Earthfire Stories

Tag: Wildlife Rehabilitation
Woman feeds an orphaned vole with a syringe

A Vole, A Bear, and a Berry Pie

The Vole It’s true that we serve bears, wolves, and other large, dramatic animals that capture our imagination. But from an ethical perspective, Life is owed a deep respect regardless of size because anything with the breath of life is

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Woman holding a baby rabbit

Baby Rabbit Rescue: A Will to Live

On June 27th, a weeks-old baby mountain cottontail was hit by a car on a road in Rexburg, Idaho, and badly injured. A caring young woman saw him, picked him up, and called Earthfire. Hearing of the extent of his

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Fox kits sleeping together in a metal culvert

A Skulk of Foxes Comes to Earthfire

Five orphaned fox kits arrived in April for recovery and rehabilitation, their mother killed by a dog. When discovered, they were hungry and dehydrated. They’re now thriving and rambunctious in their covered enclosure with an outdoor play area. We’ve placed

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Smiling woman with long brown hair standing near some aspen trees in the fall

Meet Heather Holcomb

Heather wears many hats at Earthfire, helping in both office administration and managing the day-to-day care of Earthfire’s 31 resident sanctuary animals, from wolves to bison to a porcupine named Teddy. How did you come to rehab work? Do you

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Orphaned baby squirrel eating from an eye dropper

A Trouble-Making Trio

Mid March The towels in the shoe box gave a suspicious lurch. There is Life in there! Every day, they change. Ears a little perkier. Tails up across their backs. Three blind heads poking out from the edge of the

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Three orphaned squirrel babies snuggle in a towel

Dear Momma Squirrel

Dear Squirrel Momma, We have your three babies and they are doing well. You took such good care of them—all three were sleek and well fed. Together, they must weigh more than you! How did you keep them all fed

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Raccoons emerging from a crate

Raccoon Release Day

The weather was perfect and the girls were ready, so we knew it was the right day for releasing our rehabilitation raccoons. We found the ideal spot with a small stream and ample natural food in a location where we

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Two orphaned and hairless baby squirrels

Two Tiny Orphans

Tiny arms intertwined with one another, the two orphaned baby squirrels lay sleeping. I gently disentangled the little girl for a feeding. So tiny they fit into one half of my hand, eyes tightly closed shut, delicate pink skin still

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Two baby raccoons in an outdoor enclosure

The Sad Side of Rehab

This has been a difficult week for rehabilitation efforts here at Earthfire, having more losses than wins. They warn you when you start that it won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. You won’t be able to save them all, and

Read More
Raven with an injured wing that has been treated and wrapped with bandages

The Rehab Raven: Hurt by People, Helped by People

It’s the time of year when rescue and rehabilitation are in full throttle. It’s painful enough to see animals coming in because they have been orphaned or injured in accidents. But when we receive animals who have been intentionally harmed

Read More
Woman feeds an orphaned vole with a syringe

A Vole, A Bear, and a Berry Pie

The Vole It’s true that we serve bears, wolves, and other large, dramatic animals that capture our imagination. But from an ethical perspective, Life is owed a deep respect regardless of size because anything with the breath of life is an absolute miracle. Even from a practical perspective, size doesn’t

Read More
Woman holding a baby rabbit

Baby Rabbit Rescue: A Will to Live

On June 27th, a weeks-old baby mountain cottontail was hit by a car on a road in Rexburg, Idaho, and badly injured. A caring young woman saw him, picked him up, and called Earthfire. Hearing of the extent of his injuries, we recommended that she take him to our local

Read More
Fox kits sleeping together in a metal culvert

A Skulk of Foxes Comes to Earthfire

Five orphaned fox kits arrived in April for recovery and rehabilitation, their mother killed by a dog. When discovered, they were hungry and dehydrated. They’re now thriving and rambunctious in their covered enclosure with an outdoor play area. We’ve placed logs, large stones, sandboxes and wide-mouth tubes in their garden.

Read More
Smiling woman with long brown hair standing near some aspen trees in the fall

Meet Heather Holcomb

Heather wears many hats at Earthfire, helping in both office administration and managing the day-to-day care of Earthfire’s 31 resident sanctuary animals, from wolves to bison to a porcupine named Teddy. How did you come to rehab work? Do you have a history of working with animals? My background is

Read More
Orphaned baby squirrel eating from an eye dropper

A Trouble-Making Trio

Mid March The towels in the shoe box gave a suspicious lurch. There is Life in there! Every day, they change. Ears a little perkier. Tails up across their backs. Three blind heads poking out from the edge of the box. I reach in to take one out for feeding

Read More
Three orphaned squirrel babies snuggle in a towel

Dear Momma Squirrel

Dear Squirrel Momma, We have your three babies and they are doing well. You took such good care of them—all three were sleek and well fed. Together, they must weigh more than you! How did you keep them all fed and cleaned so well? You had to feed yourself and

Read More
Raccoons emerging from a crate

Raccoon Release Day

The weather was perfect and the girls were ready, so we knew it was the right day for releasing our rehabilitation raccoons. We found the ideal spot with a small stream and ample natural food in a location where we can provide supplementation if they need it to thrive through

Read More
Two orphaned and hairless baby squirrels

Two Tiny Orphans

Tiny arms intertwined with one another, the two orphaned baby squirrels lay sleeping. I gently disentangled the little girl for a feeding. So tiny they fit into one half of my hand, eyes tightly closed shut, delicate pink skin still unprotected by fur. The little boy stirred and started to

Read More
Two baby raccoons in an outdoor enclosure

The Sad Side of Rehab

This has been a difficult week for rehabilitation efforts here at Earthfire, having more losses than wins. They warn you when you start that it won’t always be sunshine and rainbows. You won’t be able to save them all, and it can be heartbreaking. But knowing something intellectually and handling

Read More
Raven with an injured wing that has been treated and wrapped with bandages

The Rehab Raven: Hurt by People, Helped by People

It’s the time of year when rescue and rehabilitation are in full throttle. It’s painful enough to see animals coming in because they have been orphaned or injured in accidents. But when we receive animals who have been intentionally harmed by humans, it’s downright maddening. We received a juvenile raven

Read More

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