Last week's severe weather brought a "storm" of orphaned baby animals to the Ohio Wildlife Center in Powell.
The rehabilitation center took in around 150 baby animals in just two days after multiple storms ripped through central Ohio, said David Donahue, the Ohio Wildlife Center's development and communications manager.
Strong winds — including a small tornado that hit south Columbus on Aug. 11 — toppled trees and destroyed squirrel and songbird nests. Meanwhile, heavy rains caused flooding that forced baby rabbits to abandon their burrows.
Ohio Wildlife Center usually encourages people to try to reunite baby animals with their mothers within 72 hours. For the first 24 hours, a mother is usually still searching for her babies.
Central Ohio's repeated lashings last week made meeting that timeframe difficult.
"The problem is with this continual, every single day storms, our parents don't have enough resources to create a new nest, and then get their babies back home that quickly," Donahue said.
Lending a helping hand
About 85% of Ohio Wildlife Center's intakes come from Franklin and Delaware counties, though they'll accept animals from just about anywhere. The center can't rehabilitate deer or coyotes under Ohio law, but takes most other wild animals.
The team primarily helps orphaned baby animals, but also provides trauma care to injured and sick animals.
Storms tend to displace many young animals.
"A lot of people ask, why do we intervene with severe weather in central Ohio and why do we not let nature take its course and give mom another chance, often even with this weather happening over and over again?" Donahue said.
He said that in built-up urban areas like Columbus, animals have fewer resources to rebuild on their own. Mother animals take longer to get their nests back in order, which leaves babies in danger.
"So, we wanna make sure that we note that there is a human impact, that there's a reason why we wanted to step in because we've reduced the amount of things that they can have to help raise their babies," Donahue said.
Getting animals back on their paws (or wings)
Rescued baby animals typically stay with Ohio Wildlife Center for between three and 16 weeks.
"And along the way, we're teaching a lot to them. We're giving them all the things they need to survive and go back out in the wild," Donahue said.
The Ohio Wildlife Center team makes sure baby songbirds can recognize each other's calls.
Squirrels learn to move from branch to branch and how to find natural foods and crack nuts. They may stay at the center for several months before they're ready to go out on their own. Opossums also may stay for upwards of 16 weeks.
Rabbits typically have shorter stays, averaging around four weeks. They just have to prove that their stomachs can handle native greens, Donahue said.
When the animals are ready, the Ohio Wildlife Center team releases them back where they came from, or in another appropriate area with ample food and resources.
"The good thing is that they don't have an established territory," Donahue said. "So, we have the opportunity that we try to make sure that we're supporting our inner Columbus zone and keeping a native population in central Ohio, but also making sure we're not overpopulating."
Donahue said Ohio Wildlife Center works with Columbus Recreation and Parks and Columbus Metro Parks to find good release sites.
