The following organizations have provided funding for this into the outdoors television series.

(Music) Sophie, I am beyond excited to meet up with the rest of the adventure team for our next outdoor adventure.

Me, too.

And I think we're all packed.

I've got our tent, our sleeping bag, first aid kit, water bottle.

No, seriously, I've been thinking about all of the great adventures we've had, the exciting locations we've explored, and how much we've learned about the earth, nature and science.

Yeah, I know.

I think it's in here somewhere.

We've learned about electricity and ecosystem, biofuels and biology, aquaculture and agriculture.

Maybe it's what the field guides.

And we met some really cool people who do really interesting work, like forest managers, game wardens, engineers and farmers.

Where did it go?

What could you possibly be missing?

Our nature journals.

Great.

Now, come on.

We've got to get going.

Yeah, we do not want to be late.

Listen, do you hear that?

Look!

What do you think that is?

I think it's a bird of some kind.

I think its injured.

Its wing looks hurt.

Oh, poor thing.

What do you think happened?

I don't know.

Maybe it fell out of its nest?

Maybe the neighbor's cat got it?

I don't think it can fly.

Well, what should we do?

If we touch it, won't the mom abandon it?

But then again, what if the neighbor's cat comes back or the mom can't find it?

How will it survive?

I don't know.

But we're supposed to meet with the others in a few minutes.

We should get going.

But Zack, it's so helpless.

We can't leave the poor baby here.

You're right.

This little guy is too vulnerable to be left alone.

Sophie, I'll let the others know that we found our next adventure in your backyard.

Let's go into the outdoors.

(music) “Grab your gear and” “Lets explore.” “As we discover” “The wild outdoors.” “Science.

Discovery.” “Is what we do.” “You can make our Earth.” “A bright and better planet.” “By joining us.” “In this wide open space.” “Into the Outdoors.” Sophie and I found an injured animal that needs help, but we don't know what's wrong and we don't know how to care for it.

Like, how would we fix its wing?

Should we give it water?

And why would we even feed it?

And how?

But the one thing we do know is that we can't leave it because it's vulnerable to predators.

I think you should ask your parents what to do.

I'll stay here and keep an eye on it and watch for its mother.

All right.

(Bird Chirps) Dad suggested that I call the veterinarian.

Hi, we found a bird in our yard and it seems to have a broken wing.

Would this bird happen to be your pet?

No, it's it's not a pet bird.

All right.

Well, unfortunately, we don't treat wild animals at our clinic.

Oh, you don't treat wild animals?

No.

But you can contact your local professional wildlife rehabilitators.

Professional wildlife rehabilitators?

Yes.

Wildlife rehabilitators will be able to help the animal if that's what's needed.

Here's their phone number.

OK, thank you so much.

We'll give them a call.

Sounds good.

OK, bye.

So did you know that there are places and people that specialize in wildlife treatment?

Our vet gave us a number for a wild animal hospital in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, called Fellow Mortals.

Great.

That's not too far away.

Let's give them a call and see what we should do.

You've reached fellow mortal's wildlife hospital.

It's a messaging system.

We have to leave our name, phone number, description of the animal, and its injury.

All right, we'll wait for their call back.

You know, Sophie, there's a lot of conflicting information out there when it comes to treating injured animals.

I know.

I've seen some crazy things on the Internet.

You can't trust everything you see online.

I think we should wait and talk with the professionals.

I agree.

But what if it hops away before they call us back?

I know we'll cover it with a laundry basket.

That way we don't have to touch it.

It can still get air.

It's protected from predators and it can't hop away.

I'll go get one.

Great idea.

Did you know there are many laws that protect wild animals?

The Lacey Act was passed in 1900 and is considered the first wildlife protection law.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects Native American birds from hunting, capturing and keeping, or selling of the bird's, nest, eggs, or even feathers.

States regulate permission of hunting various species during certain seasons, and the Endangered Species Act lists and protects birds and animals that are in danger of extinction.

(Music) I got it.

(Music) Going to right.

(Music) Here was take some notes and figure out what kind of bird it is.

(Music) Do you see a nest.

Not yet.

(Music) Let's look through the bird guide.

(Music) Oh, its fellow mortals.

Hello.

Hi, this is Carolyn from fellow Immortals Wildlife Hospital.

Thank you for calling us about the bird you found.

I need to start by asking some questions that will help us understand the situation.

Can you tell me when you first noticed the bird?

Have you seen it hop?

Have you seen any adult birds around?

What makes you think it's hurt?

Well, it's just sitting in the grass alone with one wing spread out on the ground.

OK, thank you.

Could you send us a video of the bird so the rehabilitator can assess whether it needs to come in for care?

I'll give you a cell number to do that.

And if it needs treatment, we'll need you to bring the bird in today.

Yeah, we can definitely send you a video, but I'll have to ask my parents about bringing the bird in.

OK.

Send us the video and talk with your parents.

It's best chance for survival is to get proper treatment as soon as possible.

I'll talk with you soon.

Zach, I don't think we can meet up with the adventure team today.

This bird needs our help.

Yeah, well, emergencies are never planned.

Why don't you go ask your parents if they can take us to the wildlife hospital?

I'll send a video of the bird.

OK. (Music) Hi, Sophie.

Thanks for sending the video.

The rehabilitator thinks the baby might have been bruised when it fell from the nest, and that's why it's having trouble standing.

Are you able to get the bird to the hospital so we can examine it?

I can make an appointment for three o'clock.

Yes, we can bring it in.

That's excellent.

Let me get your information for our admin record and then I'll tell you how to contain and transport the bird.

OK, first you're going to wear gloves.

This protects you and the animal.

Birds have a poor sense of smell.

And it's not true that the mother birds will abandon their young if they're touched by humans.

But human scent can be picked up by a predator and put wild babies in danger.

We're going to have you create a carrier to contain the bird and keep it warm.

Get a small box and poke air holes in the side near the top.

Put paper towels on the bottom.

Get an empty water bottle and fill it with hot water and then slip it into a sock.

Wedge the bottle and sock in the box so it won't roll onto the baby.

Make a nest with facial tissue against the hot water bottle and sock and put that inside.

Shut the top of the box.

Hold the box on your lap while you drive so the baby doesn't get jostled.

Keep the radio off and talk quietly to avoid any stress to the bird.

It's important that you don't try to feed it or give water.

Baby birds get all the water they need from their food, and they can go without food until they get to a wildlife rehabilitator.

Feeding an injured, dehydrated or cold bird can cause death.

When you get to the hospital, you'll bring the bird to the isolation area and then you can come over to our admin room while the rehabilitator examines the bird.

(Music) This place is this really cool.

Fellow immortals is a wildlife hospital that focuses on wildlife rehabilitation.

They provide temporary treatment to animals with the goal of getting them back into the wild once they are fully matured and ready.

Hi, Zach and Sophie.

Thanks for bringing the bird in so quick today.

We really appreciate that.

And you kept it warm and quiet.

That's just what we asked to do.

Amanda is going to examine them and then as soon as she's done, she'll come out and give us a report on how they're doing.

Awesome.

Thank you, guys so much.

How many animals do you treat here per year?

We have 500 animals in here right now, and we take in about 2000 animals a year.

We have to keep track of every animal that comes in, and they're all in this book.

So we keep track of every patient as required by law.

But the data helps us identify situations where more education is needed or where there might be a concern about an increase in a type of injury or disease that is affecting certain species.

Do you treat all kinds of animals here?

At fellow immortals, we care for all kinds of birds and non predatory mammals.

But there are other wildlife hospitals that provide care for other sorts of wildlife species.

Here's Jess.

She's a wildlife rehabilitator with a degree in wildlife biology.

Hey, you guys did a really great job rescuing that bird.

Thank you so much for caring.

Well, we didn't want to wing it on our own.

Can we get a tour?

That's a really great question, and I understand why you would want to see the animals, but when they come here, they're very stressed.

And so we try to minimize the stress by keeping them in areas of the hospital that are isolated and we keep them warm and quiet, and that actually helps them to get better.

The other thing we have to think about is disease control.

There are a lot of zoonotic diseases which are diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans.

And we have to be really careful.

And we don't want to compromise any humans that come to the hospital.

And we also have to think about habituation.

Now, what habituation is, is when an animal becomes too comfortable with humans, and that puts them in a very dangerous situation when it comes to them being in the wild, because they will go into unnatural situations like landing on someone's shoulder or joining them for a family picnic.

And that would really put them at risk and people at risk.

That's why we don't give tours.

We want to keep them wild.

That's our whole goal here at the hospital.

But what's going to happen to our little bird?

When your bird was admitted, we first identify what the species is, and from there we can determine what that bird is going to eat.

Also, the age it's very important to know, because if it's a baby, it'll have to be hand fed every half hour.

But if it's an adult, will put food in with it so it could eat on its own.

The next thing we'll do is a physical exam to see if there's any fractures or if there is any bruising or any type of trauma that we can identify.

And then we'll decide a treatment plan from there.

Once we determine all those things, we will find a place in the hospital that best fits the bird.

We are very fortunate that we have actually a fostering program here, and we have a lot of foster birds.

And what those are are basically an adult bird that is non-releasable that we have here by permission of Fish and Wildlife Services.

That basically acts as a parent to the baby when it goes in.

It makes a huge difference in how they do in rehabilitation.

And when they have that, they learn a lot of the behaviors that they're supposed to know to be free.

And then they go out into the world from here and they're ready.

Wow.

That's such a cool job.

It really is.

Sophie, I could totally see you working with injured wild animals one day.

Yeah, me too.

I'd love to learn more.

You're in luck.

It looks like Amy, one of our wildlife educators, is back.

You want to talk to her?

Yes.

(Music) Hello.

Hi, I'm Amy, I'm one of the wildlife rehabilitators and the wildlife educator at fellow mortal's.

I was just coming back from a program and I was going to stop by and show you guys Violet.

Violet is one of our education ambassadors, so that means she gets to come out with me on programs and teach kids like you and adults about their species and about wildlife rehabilitation.

Turkey vultures are super important to the environment because they eat carrion, which means that they eat dead things.

So they clean up all the diseased animals that might be out there.

She came to fellow mortals as a human imprint.

So that means she didn't imprint properly on her own species.

She imprinted on people instead.

So I actually had to do some special training with her in order to be able to have her as an education ambassador.

We're not just allowed to pick any species or anybody out from the wild and say, hey, you're going to be an education ambassador.

We actually had to get special permission from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service.

Any animals that we have, they're not our pets.

So we keep them, as you know, our our helpers.

You don't want to be taking in these animals and trying to raise them yourself because you could actually cause them serious harm.

You could injure them while they're feeding or you're stopping them from becoming a wild animal.

So why is education so important to fellow immortals?

Education is the cornerstone for us to keep wildlife in the wild.

So what we try to do first with every phone call and with every program is to get across to people that the wildlife needs to stay in the wild unless something really bad has happened.

So say your dog has dug up a bunny nest.

Well, if the bunnies aren't injured, usually we can get them back in the nest and mom will come back to feed them.

We're trying to keep everyone safe and prevent certain situations from happening.

Thank you so much for meeting with us.

It was great to meet you and Violet.

You're welcome.

(Music) Fellow mortals has worked with over 150 different species, so wildlife rehabilitators have to receive extensive on the job training from other rehabilitators because each species is so different.

Wildlife rehabilitators not only provide medical care, but they also have to stick to specific feeding schedules for up to weeks at a time.

They have to keep the facilities clean and educate people like us who bring in wild animals for their care, and they raise the money to pay for everything.

Often from donations, it's more than a full time job.

But wildlife rehabilitators do it because they care for the wildlife and want to make the world a better place.

Let's meet some of the staff and volunteers here at fellow mortal's wildlife hospital in Wisconsin.

Let's go.

(Music) I'm Yvonne Wallace Blane and I co-founded fellow mortal's wildlife hospital with my husband, Steve Blane, in 1985.

I was mowing a lawn and ran over a nest and was horrified.

I picked them up.

I ran into the house.

I called Steve, who was at work, and he said, we're not going to let them die.

We're going to help them.

And so that's what we did.

Why did one nest of rabbits end up becoming an organization that now cares for two thousand animals a year?

There was a need.

In 1992, we were taking in six hundred animals at a time, and I didn't know how I was going to continue to care for all those animals.

And the idea of having an intern came up.

One thing led to another.

The internship program has grown.

We've had over a hundred young professionals come to our program at this point.

And now we have a framework for people to become licensed that involves training, education and testing to make sure that the people who are taking care of wildlife know what they're doing.

We have multiple licenses.

There's a license for small mammals.

There's a license where you can work with birds.

There's a license if you're working with endangered threatened species.

There's a license if you're educating, if you're fostering and there's a license if you're keeping pieces and parts like feathers in nest for education .

I would encourage you to find out who your local wildlife rehabilitator is.

If you have a wildlife hospital in the area wildlife center, that is where you start.

But most importantly, anyone who wants to be a rehabilitator has to have a sponsoring advanced wildlife rehabilitator.

You can't come into this field without somebody who is willing to put their name on the line for you when it comes time for your license, because we are responsible, legally and otherwise, for the people who are being brought up into this program.

And that's the way it should be.

Because if we don't feel good about a person that we've trained, when it comes time for them to get a license, then that shouldn't happen.

(Music) Wildlife rehabilitation is a calling of the heart this time of year, in the summer months.

We're working 70 to 80 hours a week.

Baby mammals nurse if they're with their mothers, and that doesn't happen on a nine to five schedule.

Baby birds have to be fed every 15 to 20 minutes from sun up to some sun down.

And so that has to happen.

And then on top of that, we have all the cleaning that goes along with the feeding.

Cleaning is a lot of what we do.

It doesn't matter how advanced you are in the field.

Wildlife rehabilitators, the best of us care about every single life.

And we are going to give every single life the respect it deserves.

So my greatest hope is that that continues in this field and that we never lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with a very special fragile being that we are honored to be able to care for for a short period of time.

I am Dr. Amanda Falch and I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who happens to be a veterinarian.

I volunteered here the first summer when they bought this property, and once I came here, the idea of working with wildlife and animals just I mean, it tugged at my heart in ways I can't explain.

The difference between a wildlife rehabilitator and a veterinarian I'd start by saying they're very different professions who happen to have an intersection at the point of medical care for injured wildlife.

already know what a veterinarian is, but they don't really understand what a wildlife rehabilitator is.

You have to be able to identify species and know their natural history.

So when people call, you can let them know if it needs care.

First of all, and if it does need care, how to provide that.

You have to understand their nutrition from babies through juvenile, through adult.

You have to understand what they need to survive in the wild.

So that's teaching them how to find food, how to find shelter, how to recognize others of their species.

When you come into care and you might be a single bird by yourself, you need to learn that I'm a robin and I need to identify with other robins.

Knowing behavior and being a detective.

And every animal's different.

And a wildlife rehabilitator has to pay attention to each animal individually throughout its time and care so that we can get them ready mentally and physically to be released.

Most of these animals have been negatively impacted by humans or the environment as we've changed it and being able to, in some small way, correct that means a lot.

I'm delighted I learned about fellow mortals because it gives me a chance to put my love of animals to practical use.

It's actually helping the people here.

But there's a lot more to running a hospital than just feeding the baby animals.

They need to do fundraising.

They need to have people deal with the phones.

Sometimes they need to transport animals if the rehabilitators have to do all those additional things.

They can't devote all their energies to giving the care they need to give.

So those of us who volunteer can take on those tasks that go to keeping the whole place running.

And it frees them up to be able to do what they do best, which is care for the animals.

The rehabilitators I've met, they put in long hours.

They don't make a lot of money and their satisfaction comes from giving the best care possible to each animal that comes through their hands.

So my main role here is to perform surgery, usually on broken bones.

Wild life is different than domesticated animals and a number of ways.

First of all, wild animals do not want to be in captivity.

They're in a place they don't understand, they're around people that they're afraid of, and they are under a lot of stress when they come in.

Because of that, we have to be very careful with how we deal with them.

So we try to keep it as calm and quiet as possible while they're here.

The one nice thing is, while animals tend to heal a lot faster.

They have a huge drive to survive and to get better and to get out of here.

And so if we just give them the opportunity to heal, they oftentimes will.

The goal is to then release them back out into their environment.

Wow, you and your staff have really dedicated your entire life to helping wildlife.

What can we as kids do to help?

Be the person who makes the difference and remember that every life matters.

Thank you so much for your time today and for taking care of the bird we found.

We hope it recovers and can return to the wild.

That's the goal.

Goodbye.

Thank you.

Thank you.

(Music) When we first took our bird to the hospital, we got an admit record that told us how to follow up and see what has happened with our bird.

And I just heard back.

They said she was doing very well and will most likely be released soon.

Zach, I'm so happy we were able to help her.

Yeah, me too.

We saved a life.

That's so cool.

I feel really good about that.

You should.

I mean, we all share this home, the earth, and sometimes we have to help our fellow mortals.

Here's what you can do now to help wildlife.

Perhaps one of the most important things we can do as humans to care for wildlife is to pay attention.

They say you should stop and smell the roses, but you should also pause to watch the birds in your backyard or the squirrels hopping on the branches.

You can journal about or draw what you observe.

When you spend time observing nature, plants and animals, you not only recognize how cool it is, but also how we are interconnected.

Our actions affect their world.

As cities grow and wild spaces shrink, animals are losing their natural habitat.

They need a place to live too.

Encourage your community leaders to plant more trees and preserve or create green spaces.

You can even create lush habitat spaces in your yard.

If you have a lot of land, you don't have to mow it all.

Leave some prairie and hedges for the birds.

You can also take measures to prevent injuries to wildlife.

If you have large windows in your home or school, put decals on the outside of the windows so the birds recognize that they can't fly through them.

If you have a house cat, don't leave it outside.

Cats are the most common cause of injuries to songbirds.

Don't litter small containers, colorful pieces of plastic and six pack binders can be deadly for animals.

Remember, food attracts animals.

So if you toss your hamburger or even an apple core out the car window, it may attract animals to the side of the road where they could get hit by a car and always dispose of fishing line properly.

Using poison traps is never a good idea, even live traps.

They do not discriminate.

They often leave the animal injured or cause a nest of babies to be orphaned.

Plus, more often than not, the animal or another will return.

You need to consider what is attracting the animal in the first place.

Or can you coexist?

If you do see an injured wild animal, remember, the best thing you can do is call your local wildlife rehabilitator.

Not all animals need treatment, but they might need protection.

A wildlife rehabilitator can help you assess the situation and guide you so that you can protect the animal and yourself.

And share your knowledge, research with your friends and family about local wildlife hospitals in your area.

You may even want to do a fundraiser or make a donation.

The facilitys, medical equipment, and food, all costs money.

Plus, all the time that the rehabilitator spent caring for the animals.

As supporters of fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital, we've been invited to a special education program today.

They're also going to be releasing some birds that have fully recovered.

Come on, let's go.

Thank you all so much for coming today.

This is a very unique and special opportunity.

We are releasing some awesome birds that have fully recovered.

It's a testament to our care and our dedication.

We put in our hard work and we were able to get them healthy and get them back out into the wild.

(Music) Awesome.

This is the ultimate goal of wildlife rehabilitation to get the animals back into the outdoors.

(music) “Grab your gear and” “Lets explore.” “As we discover” “The wild outdoors.” “Science.

Discovery.” “Is what we do.” “You can make our Earth.” “A bright and better planet.” “By joining us.” “In this wide open space.” “Into the Outdoors.” The following organizations have provided funding for this into the outdoors television series.