Austin Wildlife Rescue Sees Early Surge in Baby Animals

A baby opossum is seen in an incubator at Austin Wildlife Rescue's rehabilitation center in Elgin, Texas Thursday, July 18, 2024. The center normally tends to 9 thousand animals each year, but are expecting 9,500 this year due to taking in extra animals from rescue centers impacted by Hurricane Beryl.

Austin Wildlife Rescue is used to the chaos of spring. But that chaos this year arrived a little early.

The rescue, which takes in about 11,000 animals a year, says the annual crush of baby wildlife is arriving faster than usual, with orphaned and injured young animals already pouring in across Central Texas. Executive Director Jules Maron said the nonprofit is seeing babies come in "in larger numbers, faster than we normally do," a shift she suspects may be tied in part to a warmer winter that might have kicked off an early breeding season.

"It is our busy season," Maron said. "The majority of them come in from about March through September, because that is the baby season. And what’s happening is we’re just seeing a little bit of a shift."

In practice, that means tiny animals everywhere. The rescue has already taken in hundreds of baby squirrels and opossums this year.

"It’s like the flood gates have pretty much opened," Maron said. "Especially on opossums."

Why are baby animals needing rescue?

The animals are coming in for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes a mother opossum is hit by a car and rescuers discover babies still alive in her pouch. Sometimes dogs and cats find vulnerable young wildlife before people do. And sometimes the weather does the damage.

Animal care technician Bonnie Villarreal cleans out an opossum's cage at Austin Wildlife Rescue's rehabilitation center in Elgin, Texas Thursday, July 18, 2024.

Rainstorms can knock baby birds from nests, wash young animals out of tree hollows and even flood ground nests used by cottontails and skunks, she said. On the day Maron spoke with the American-Statesman, the rescue had already taken in around 30 animals before the day was over.

"Every time we have rain, we’re all holding our breath," Maron said.

The seasonal rush has also brought some less common patients through the doors. Along with the usual wave of squirrels and opossums, Maron said Austin Wildlife Rescue has recently taken in baby armadillos. It even had a vulture hatch from an egg after the egg was brought in.

How to help a baby animal

For the public, the baby boom can make every patch of grass or sidewalk feel like a rescue scene. But Maron said that is not always the case.

"We love it when people’s first step is to call us first, because not every baby found by itself is actually orphaned," she said.

Arianna Tijerina bottle-feeds fawns at Austin Wildlife Rescue's rehabilitation center in Elgin, Texas Thursday, July 18, 2024. The center normally tends to 9 thousand animals each year, but are expecting 9,500 this year due to taking in extra animals from rescue centers impacted by Hurricane Beryl.

Maron specifically cited deer, saying fawns are often left alone for most of the day while their mothers stay away until evening, a normal survival behavior that can be mistaken for abandonment. In many cases, she said, rescue staff can assess the situation through photos or video and help people figure out whether the animal needs intervention or just space.

Rehabilitating and releasing baby animals

When an animal does need help, the rehab process can stretch for months, according to Maron.

Executive director Jules Maron tends to birds taken in from Houston rescue centers in the wake of Hurricane Beryl at Austin Wildlife Rescue's rehabilitation center in Elgin, Texas Thursday, July 18, 2024.

Young squirrels and opossums typically start in incubators, then graduate to heated bins, indoor cages and eventually large outdoor enclosures where they can practice climbing, running and foraging before release. For those species, the process usually takes two to three months. Raccoons take even longer — often about six months before they are ready to go back into the wild.

The rescue’s goal is to return animals to their native habitat as functioning wildlife. That final step can be its own challenge. Maron said the group relies on county help and private landowners for release sites, ideally large properties with at least 100 acres and a permanent water source that will not dry up in the summer.

"Without good release sites, it makes what we do a moot point if we don’t have that end game," she said.

How to support Austin Wildlife Rescue

All of this takes money, labor and a steady flow of supplies. The service may be free for people dropping off animals, Maron said, but it is not free for the rescue, which has to cover staffing, veterinary care, medicine and food. Feeding wildlife also comes with its own logistical headache, especially when fresh produce is involved and storage space is limited.

The Austin Wildlife Rescue took in a beaver kit in early April of 2026 after a recent rainy weather.

"We can only buy so much fresh food at once before it spoils," Maron said, noting that animals from squirrels to raccoons to porcupines need fresh fruits and vegetables.

As the early baby season ramps up, Maron said people who want to help can volunteer, donate money or buy needed items through the rescue’s Amazon wish list. Austin Wildlife Rescue is also planning its annual spring baby shower fundraiser, which will run online from May 4 through May 10.