For the University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic, a non-profit organization that provides care for 1,500 ill or injured animals every year, spring means the arrival of many new mouths to feed. Each year, dozens of wildlife baby orphans are delivered to the clinic needing care and nurturing.
So the clinic will hold its annual Wildlife Baby Shower, a free event, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Prairieland Feeds, 303 S. Dunlap St. (Route 45) in Savoy on Saturday, April 4.
Wildlife fans are encouraged to attend to meet the clinic’s resident birds of prey, see wildlife orphans, and play baby shower games while assisting the clinic with meeting needs for supplies during its busiest season of the year.
Baby shower attendees are encouraged to donate gift cards from grocery, discount, or office supply stores or items from the clinic’s wish list, some of which can be purchased at Prairieland Feeds. Presentations at 11 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. will explain what to do when you find a baby wild animal.
According to caregivers at the Wildlife Medical Clinic, about 40 percent of the baby animals brought to the clinic aren’t orphans at all. They are animals—typically cottontails, fawns and fledgling birds—that are healthy, but a well-meaning bystander “kidnaps” the young animal because no parents appear to be watching the nest.