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Plan Ahead! See the Calvert County Natural Resources page for park hours, closures and other updates.
What to do if you find a baby wild animal?Look Twice Before You Leap to the RescueThe best thing you can do is contact a licensed rehabilitator. They are trained to take care of wildlife.Do not bring animals to the Nature Center; staff are not trained or licensed to take care of abandoned or injured wildlife. Maryland DNR Wildlife Rehabilitators List: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/rehabilitators.aspx Stranded marine mammal or sea turtle: MD DNR Police-1-800-628-9944
SICK, INJURED, ABANDONED WILDLIFEContact a rehabilitator before you try to rescue an animal. MD/DNR Wildlife Services Hotline: 410-260-8540
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NUISANCE WILDLIFE
Nuisance Wildlife Hotline: 1-877-620-8367
https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/wildlifeproblems.aspx
Calvert
| Prince George's
| Anne Arundel
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Stranded Sea Turtles & Marine Mammals
Call 1-800-628-9944 to report stranded marine mammals and sea turtles (alive or dead). Call is free from any Maryland phone number and available 24 hrs-7 days.
You can also fill out an online report: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/5b27b80ff6ef4ec189a4e4ac49d4282d
For additional information: https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/oxford/stranding.aspx
The Maryland Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program was established in 1990 after a bottlenose dolphin was found stranded in the Tuckahoe River. The program covers marine mammal and sea turtle strandings in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources collaborates with the National Aquarium's Animal Rescue and the Smithsonian Institution for response efforts. The department handles dead strandings, while the Aquarium responds to live animals. The program is based at the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory and is part of Maryland's Fish and Wildlife Health Program.
Calvert County Parks & Recreation Natural Resources Division is unable to assist with relocation or removal of stranded sea turtles.
Baby BirdsMost baby birds do not need to be rescued. Contact a rehabilitator before you try to rescue an animal. What should you do with a bird out of the nest? Watch it from a distance for an hour to make sure the adult birds return to feed the chick. The parent birds are usually nearby ready to feed and protect their baby. What if a bird builds a nest in an inconvenient place, like the barbecue grill? The birds have built the nest in a place they consider safe, and they will abandon that nest if it is moved to a different site. Wait patiently until the birds have successfully fledged. Then you can seal up or move the grill to prevent a second nest from being built. Put up birdhouses close to the spot. Baby MammalsMammal, like rabbits and squirrels, have more than one litter in a year and offspring are independent at a fairly young age. If its eyes are open and it is up and out and moving around, it can be on its own; remember, keep your pets, especially cats, indoors. If you do find a baby mammal with its eyes closed, do not rescue the babies until you are certain it is abandoned. Mammals often feed their young only a few times a day, so absence of an adult does not mean it is abandoned. Contact a rehabilitator before you try to rescue an animal. Baby TurtlesAs soon as turtles hatch they can make it on their own. They do not need our care in any way. You can release the hatchling in a stream or pond near where you found it. |
MYTH: If you touch a young animal the mother will abandon it.
FACT: Wild animal mothers will risk their own lives to save their babies and will not reject them based on human scent alone. Keep your cats indoors and watch dogs carefully to make sure they don't inadvertently harm wildlife. 
If you’re worried that a fox will eat an animal you don’t rescue, remember that fox babies need to eat too!
Some Useful LinksHow to tell if baby animals are orphaned, injured, or perfectly fine: Humane Society of the US
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Last resort options if you can't find any other rehabBERS:
- Frisky's Wildlife Center- Woodstock, MD- 8am-8pm only 410-481-8899 or friskyswildlife@yahoo.com website: www.friskys.org
- Pheonix Wildlife Center- Baltimore Co. (Kathern Woods)Appointment Required to drop off animals 401-682-9736 website: www.phoenixwildlife.org
- Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc - Newark, DE- 9am-5pm drop off times 302-737-9543 or leave message on x103 website: www.tristatebird.org
- Kim McLamb, Anne Arundel County/Eastern Shore- birds/wildlife 443-786-8992