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All county government administrative offices are open to the public. County government employees and visitors will not be required to wear masks. Verify office locations and hours before visiting.

What to do if you find a baby wild animal?

Look Twice Before You Leap to the Rescue

The 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

If Alive •National Aquarium Rescue Hotline- 410-567-3880

If Dead •Stranding Cell Phone - 443-758-6607

SICK, INJURED, ABANDONED WILDLIFE

Contact a rehabilitator before you try to rescue an animal. 

MD/DNR Wildlife Services Hotline: 410-260-8540

Calvert 

  • Blue Angel Wildlife Rehab, Lusby- Small Mammals and Birds only. 410-610-6903
  • Make Animals Great Again, Owings- Mammals excluding bats and deer, reptiles and amphibians. 443-771-5342
  • Smirnoff, Lusby- Mammals excluding bats and deer. 443-975-1282

St. Mary's 

  • Back to the Wild Rehab (Mary Martin), California- Only raccoons, foxes, skunks under certain circumstances. Work: 301-342-7643 Cell: 240-298-6324
  • All Kinds Vet, Callaway- Captive Exotic animals. 301-994-9919

Montgomery 

  • Second Chance Wildlife Center (Hannah Wilson), Gaithersburg- bald eagles, birds, mammals including bats, reptiles, and amphibians- no skunks or raccoons. Open 10-4pm. 301-926-9453
  • Owl Moon Raptor Center (Suzanne Shoemaker), Boyds-Birds only under certain circumstances. 24hr calling line. 301-908-7249
  • Lee Prouty, Rockville- waterfowl only. 301-460-7468

NUISANCE WILDLIFE

Nuisance Wildlife Hotline: 1-877-620-8367

https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/wildlifeproblems.aspx

Calvert 

  • Daniel Baker, St. Leonard-mammals including bats, reptiles, and amphibians. 410-610-3311
  • M. Elder, Solomons-reptiles, birds, mammals  including bats. 443-532-5500
  • William King, Lusby- Mammals excluding bats. 410-610-5311

Prince George's 

  • Daniel Potter, Marlboro- Birds, mammals including bats, reptiles, and amphibians. 301-257-6330
  • David Wiest, Upper Marlboro- Birds mammals;including bats, reptiles, and amphibians

Anne Arundel 

  • William Gray, Deale-mammals; ecluding bats. 301-873-9794
  • Charles Miller, Annapolis-birds, mammals; including bats, reptiles, and amphibians. 410-266-5400

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 Birds

Most 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 Mammals

Mammal, 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 Turtles

As 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 Links

Coyote Clearinghouse

How to tell if baby animals are orphaned, injured, or perfectly fine: Humane Society of the US

 

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


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