Cottontail Cottage Wildlife Rehab

05/29/2026

Our bat rescue story is featured on The Dodo today! 🥹

Every year we help bats, rabbits, opossums, squirrels, and so many other wild animals, but none of it happens without people like Jeanine who stop to help, and people like you who support our work.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens after someone finds an animal in trouble, take a look at her story. It’s one of my favorites. 🤍

She was shaking 😰

A woman noticed what looked like a dried brown leaf on the sidewalk — but right before she stepped on it, she realized it was actually a tiny stunned bat lying perfectly still on the ground ❤️

05/21/2026

She was found trembling on a sidewalk in one of the busiest parts of New York, barely able to move. Someone stopped. Someone cared. And because of that, Janine got a second chance. 🤍

After weeks of treatment for head trauma and inflammation, Janine finally spread her wings and flew free again at sunset.

Our bat program is such an important part of what we do at Cottontail Cottage Wildlife Rehab, but it’s also one of the hardest to fund. We are one of the only wildlife rehabs caring for bats across a huge part of New York, and we truly can’t do it without your support.

If Janine’s story touched your heart, please consider donating to help bats like her continue getting a second chance. 🤍

05/15/2026

This is my first Opossum funeral, so I guess a eulogy seems appropriate.

Parsley changed a lot of minds about opossums, but I don’t really want to talk about that right now.

I want to talk about who she was.

She was gentle. The kind of gentle you only understand once you’ve held it in your hands.

She explored the world nose first, slow and curious, like everything deserved a closer look. Her tiny ears would twitch at every sound. Every blanket had to be tested. Every corner inspected. Every soft bed claimed as if she had personally discovered comfort itself.

She walked on her wheel at the pace of an elderly woman window shopping at a garden center, and somehow it was the cutest thing any of us had ever seen.

When she first arrived, she survived almost entirely on fruit pouches and dog food because apparently she had the palate of a stubborn toddler. Eventually she branched out to cherry tomatoes, fresh fish, and the occasional vegetable when she felt like making healthy choices. Roma tomatoes, however, offended her deeply and personally.

But what I’ll remember most is the way she looked at the world.

There was so much softness in her. So much wonder. She looked at life like it was still worth being curious about.

And maybe that sounds silly to say about an opossum, but anyone who truly knew Parsley understands exactly what I mean.

She wasn’t “just” an opossum. She was a soul. A funny, sweet, strange little being full of light and warmth and quiet joy.

I know there are other opossums out there just as wonderful as she was. But how lucky was I that this one found me.

How lucky was I to know her.

I think a lot of people go their whole lives without ever getting the privilege of being loved by a creature like Parsley. And I got to wake up every day and experience her tiny existence beside mine.

What a gift that was.

Run slow in the next life, sweet girl 🤍

05/06/2026

You’re not seeing the hardest part of this.

This little fox was the only one left after rodenticide poisoning took his entire family. While all of that was happening, I was here, running on no sleep, just trying to get him through it.

I tend to go quiet on here when things get like that. Not because nothing’s happening, but because everything is.

At one point I checked my phone and saw a message that someone had canceled their monthly donation because I don’t post enough. And I get it, I really do. Social media is how I get the funds to keep this going.

But the truth is, I’m not an influencer. I’m just someone trying to save as many of them as I can and social media is the only way I’ve found to fund that. So when I’m not posting, it’s usually because I’m right here doing this instead.

Most of this work isn’t visible. It’s long days, cleaning, overnight care, sitting with them when things aren’t looking good and just hoping they turn a corner. Sometimes hour by hour.

And I’m always going to choose that first.

Thank you to my friend Claire at Wild by Nurture. She has the space for long term fox care and seeing him there now, playing and just being a baby again… it means everything. I can’t say enough good things about her and what she does.

Most of what goes into moments like this isn’t really seen. It just happens over a lot of hours with a lot of people who really care.

He made it and now he gets to be a fox again. And that will always matter more 🤍

04/22/2026

If you think bats are scary… listen to this one complain 😭

That little squeaking? That’s not echolocation, that’s pure batitude 🤣

She’s letting us know, very clearly, that she has opinions about being handled… and honestly, fair.

Most people never get to hear this side of them. They’re not scary, they’re just tiny, dramatic and full of personality.

And yes, she was absolutely fine… just offended.

04/17/2026

Most of the baby bunnies people “rescue” every spring never needed help.

We’re getting call after call from people finding nests in their yards and panicking, and I get it. They look tiny and helpless so your first instinct is to step in.

But their mom isn’t gone. She’s doing exactly what she’s supposed to do. She stays away to avoid predators and only comes back a couple times a day to feed them.

What looks like abandonment is actually really good parenting.

These nests are often just a small patch of fur and grass right in your lawn. Dogs find them, lawnmowers hit them. People accidentally disturb them trying to check on them. That’s when they actually end up needing rescue.

If you find a nest, protect it, don’t move it.
• Keep pets away
• Avoid mowing that area
• Use something like a laundry basket during the day, with a gap for mom
• Put up an inexpensive temporary fence
• Leash your pets

I know it feels wrong to leave them, but leaving them alone is often what keeps them alive.

I’ll share some temporary fencing ideas in the comments, but honestly, a leash goes a long way. These babies are only there for a short time.

Sometimes helping wildlife looks like stepping back and letting a mother do her job 🤍

04/08/2026

I think one of the most dangerous shifts in our society is how entitled we have become to everything around us.

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that everything belongs to us and by extension, to our pets too. Even the wild…

Every time you walk into a park, a preserve, or a trail, you are entering someone else’s home. That’s not a metaphor, it’s the truth.

There is a mother fox raising her babies there. There is a rabbit hiding her newborns in the grass, relying on stillness to keep them alive.

And we walk in and unclip the leash.

I was at a local park recently walking my dog on leash, as required. We passed more than ten dogs. All but one were off leash in a park where leashes are clearly required.

About eighty percent of the animals who come into our care were attacked by off leash dogs or roaming cats.

80% percent!

I see the injuries, I see the fear, I see the babies left behind because their mother did not make it back.

Then come the social media posts…

“A coyote attacked my dog.” “A fox went after my dog.” These wild animals must be vicious right?!?

But when you ask if the dog was on leash, the answer is almost always no.

What people call aggression is often a mother defending her home, her babies, her life.

That is not cruelty, it’s survival.

Wildlife populations have declined by about 73% percent in the last 50 years.

They are disappearing, and we are still treating them like they are in our way.

I’m not asking for perfection. I’m asking for respect.

Please leash your dog and keep your cats indoors. Follow the rules in the few places wildlife still have left.

Because for them, this is not a park.

This is their home.