In episode 9, Gail Buhl welcomes Amanda Nicholson back to the podcast. If you missed Amanda's first appearance on Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue To Release, check out season 2, episode 13. There she talks with Gail about social media best practices in wildlife rehabilitation. Amanda serves as Senior Vice President of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. In this episode, she virtually visits Gail to talk about having crucial conversations -- those sometimes difficult or touchy talks we have...

Gail Buhl is back with Part 2 of her discussion with Ruby Davis, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Director for the Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center. In Part 1, episode 8, Ruby discusses her origin story and the natural history of the striped skunk, a common skunk species in North America.  Here in Part 2, Gail and Ruby do a deep dive into the rehabilitation techniques of young skunks in care. That includes feeding, behavior, husbandry, and even how to avoid getting "sprayed." Ruby includes a...

Host Gail Buhl welcomes Ruby Davis, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Director for Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center. There, she oversees the center’s rehabilitation, along with the training and mentoring of staff and volunteers. This was an in-depth conversation, so we've divided it into two parts. In part 1, Gail and Ruby cover Ruby's origin story and how she came to enter a long and fulfilling career at the Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center. From there, the conversation covers some...

Host Gail Buhl is back for a Part 2 with guest Tim Jasinski to talk about the wild fostering of the Canada Goose. In Part 2, Tim and Gail get further into topics such as goose behavior, understanding flocks, gender differences, how goslings develop, and techniques in wild fostering of goslings in their journey to independence.   Next episode, Gail welcomes Ruby Davis, wildlife biologist and wildlife rehabilitation director of the Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center in North Carolina.  Ruby...

In episode 5, Gail welcomes back a familiar face --Tim Jasinski, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist at Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, Ohio. Tim originally appeared on the podcast in Season 1, Episode 19 to discuss one of his passions in wildlife rehabilitation, the Timberdoodle. That first interview with Tim and Gail is well worth going back to take a listen!  In this episode, Tim brings with him yet another area of expertise -- wild fostering of the Canada Goose. Not...

Host Gail Buhl is back for Part 2 of the in-depth discussion she had with Deb Galle this past fall about Cottontail Rabbits. Here in Part 2, Deb gets into more of the specifics about how she cares for rabbits after assessment and intake. Those include formulas and food, housing, avoiding imprinting, controlling the environment and her approach to managing rabbit's stress, general husbandry, and the lead up to release.  Cottontail Rabbits also make an appearance in Season 1, Episode 14, in...

Deborah Galle, a longtime Connecticut-based wildlife rehabilitator joins host Gail Buhl to discuss caring for Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. Deb and Gail get into a lengthy discussion, so we've divided their talk into two parts. Here in Part 1, we learn about Deb's career path, which originally had nothing to do with wildlife. Later Gail poses the common question, "Why rehabilitate rabbits?" This episode also includes a bit about working with finders to better understand what may have happened...

Gail Buhl is back with Part 2 of her in-depth discussion with Dr. John Huckabee on the Art of Wildlife Rehabilitation. Dr. John Huckabee is an icon in the wildlife rehabilitation world in North America. What's clinically best for an animal and what feels best isn't always the same. In this episode, Gail and Dr. John talk about how that plays into the need for adequate self-care and risk of compassion fatigue.  You'll hear Gail remind us: when in doubt, always consult with mentors, wildlife...

Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue To Release host Gail Buhl is back for a third season! Gail, a Master Level Wildlife Rehabilitator in Minnesota, draws on decades of experience caring for wildlife to connect with guests on a deep, meaningful level, eliciting thought provoking dialogue among fellow peers. That unique ability to draw out the story behind the story comes into play right off the bat in Season 3, Episode 1 - a discussion on the Art of Wildlife Rehabilitation with Dr. John...

In Part-2 of our discussion with Dr. Leslie Reed, a Minnesota-based veterinarian who specializes in wildlife dentistry, we get into more specifics about what good dental care looks like for different species of wild animals and why it's so important to treat pain adequately.  Gail and Leslie get into how wildlife rehabilitators can be more effective caregivers through learning dentistry basics and also collaborating with their veterinarian on standard operating procedures for animals that...

Our host Gail Buhl invited Dr. Leslie Reed on the show to talk about her unusual niche within the wildlife rehabilitation sector -- wildlife dentistry! Animals that have teeth suffer from many of the same problems humans do, such as cavities, chips, decay, and foreign bodies lodged in the gum line. These and many other dental issues can severely affect an animal's quality of life in care and after release, so Leslie draws on her years of experience to help her patients with the best dental...

In Part 2, host Gail Buhl talks more about social media for wildlife rehabilitation settings in Part 2 of an in-depth discussion with Amanda Nicholson, senior vice president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Amanda is one of Gail's go-to gurus for all things social media. This part of their discussion gets into best practices, including avoiding posting content that could jeopardize a wildlife rehabilitator's permit status. It also touches on engaging audiences through livestreaming on...

Host Gail Buhl caught up with Amanda Nicholson, senior vice president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Amanda has long been their communications and social media guru, and was eager to share some of the things she's learned, having managed the Wildlife Center of Virginia's social media presence since the earlier days of Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Gail and Amanda talk about how and why having a robust, actively managed social media presence can benefit a wildlife organization - both...

Host Gail Buhl caught up with Dr. Michelle Willette of Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Willette shares her expertise on the ever-evolving and sometimes controversial topic of animal welfare. Welfare isn't something we give to an animal, she says, rather it's a state of being that exists with the right inputs and conditions for that animal. Dr. Willette is pursuing a board certification in Animal Welfare, a...

Host Gail Buhl connected with Rachel Avilla, co-founder and project manager of the database Wildlife Rehabilitation MD, or "WRMD." Rachel gives us a synopsis of her origin story, starting with her first career step out of college, which was a summer internship at The Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa. That led to an internship at Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital. There she met Devin, her husband and partner in creating WRMD. Rachel and Devin continued working in the wildlife...

Dr. Michelle Rivard and Casey Mclean, marine mammal expert guests from SR3 in Washington are back in conversation with Gail Buhl, sharing more about the release phase of caring from Harbor Seals. Later in the episode they get into some of the nuanced differences among pinnipeds, particularly the California Sea Lion. We learn what a what makes a seal a "true seal." This episode also dives more into the nitty gritty of daily operations of a marine mammal rehabilitation facility, which is no...

Host Gail Buhl connected with marine mammal veterinarian Dr. Michelle Rivard, and Casey Mclean, of SR3, the Washington state based organization named for its missions: sealife response, rehabilitation, and research. Casey and Dr. Michelle tell Gail about SR3’s origin, how they came to be involved, and all about the work they’re doing with harbor seals. This is a two-part series. In Part-1, we cover some common reasons harbor seals land in rehabilitation, what their rehabilitation  process...

Dr. Dave Scott began his career as an electrical engineer, working for 10 years at the Department of Defense, then decided to attend veterinary school. He practiced small animal vet med and emergency care for several years, but eventually followed his heart into wildlife medicine. He again went back to the Department of Defense, but continued to practice wildlife medicine on a volunteer basis. A paid full-time staff vet job in wildlife medicine ( rare opportunity) opened up at the Carolina...

Host Gail Buhl caught up with Lauren Glickman, a former Volunteer Manager at PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) in Seattle and current organizational training and development consultant.  Lauren Glickman began her career in the Peace Corps, then found her way into wildlife rehabilitation in the Seattle area. There she volunteered at PAWS and quickly realized she had found a passion for animal care. After landing a full-time role as a volunteer coordinator, Lauren established monthly...

Host Gail Buhl breaks from the podcast's usual taxa-specific format to discuss a topic of growing importance and interest in the wildlife rehabilitation world: databases. Such databases are the wildlife medicine equivalent of electronic medical records now used in most (human) healthcare systems and hospitals. In this episode Karra Pierce, a veterinary director at The Wildlife Center of Virginia, discusses the WILD-ONe database, which was launched there and is widely regarded as a top choice...

In Episode 5, Host Gail Buhl caught up with Rebecca Duerr, MPVM/DVM, one of the world's leading experts on water birds. Dr. Duerr serves as Director of Research and Veterinary Science as well as the primary veterinarian at International Bird Rescue's two wildlife centers in California. Jennifer Martines, one of IBR's talented veterinary and rehabilitation technicians, also joined the interview, which we recorded onsite at the 2023 NWRA Symposium in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Duerr and Jennifer...

Host Gail Buhl invites Partners For Wildlife podcast producer Kirk Klocke to step out of the booth and onto the mic to discuss public outreach, which is a big part of his role as the new P4W Outreach Specialist. Gail and Kirk quickly realize in the course of their back and forth about issues around public outreach communications & education that this discussion can spin off into deep dives across multiple areas, ranging from social media best practices, to how best to help staff and...

Host Gail Buhl is back for a Part-2 with Brittany Turner, Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, or "WRC." The conversation began in Episode 2 with a a look at Brittany's background and career at WRC. In this episode, we get into the nuts and bolts of songbird care, from intake through feeding, housing, and preparation for release. We also touch on a metabolic bone disease that is increasingly being seen in North America. There is SO much to cover about...

I'm so glad you came back to listen to episode 2 of our second season, which began to drop in January, 2023. I spoke with Brittany Turner, who serves as Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. Brittany has led a fascinating and ambitious career, having started as nursery intern to a Director in just under 10 years! She has experience with all the 200+ species the WRC sees. Over the years Brittany has always had a special place in her heart for songbirds,...