09/05/2026
There have been so many baby squirrels 🐿️ lately, it’s been hard to keep up! But here is great advice from The International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council on How to temporarily house an injured wild animal, while you find a trained wildlife rehabilitator to help!
We used a cardboard box in this example, but the same idea applies to other containers - just make sure the basics are still covered! Containers need to be secure, with sufficient air flow, and an absorbent cloth on the bottom to provide grip and keep animals dry.
However you contain the animal, make sure you keep them dark, quiet, and warm, away from people and pets. And remember - don't offer food or water unless you get the all clear from a trained wildlife rehabilitator. It's normal to want to offer food and water, that's human compassion! But the wrong food can be deadly, and animals can drown or get wet and hypothermic if water spills. It is much easier for rehabilitators to reverse a calorie deficit or minor dehydration than to correct metabolic issues, gastrointestinal issues, or aspiration pneumonia, which are all potential consequences of offering food and water.
Find a wildlife rehabilitator using IWRC's International Wildlife Rehabilitator directory: https://theiwrc.org/help
Help us spread the word so everyone can learn when and how to intervene if they encounter wildlife in need! A reminder that you can share this post, or you can head over the https://theiwrc.org/resources/shareables/ to download any IWRC infographic to share as you'd like - we just ask that you keep the image as-is, or reach out to us first to collaborate if you want to make any changes (like translation - we're always looking for volunteers to help with translation into new languages!).
BIG thank you to our volunteer, Alesha of Creative Fae Studio who helped us create this graphic ❤
