Welcome

Squirrelmender Wildlife Rehabilitation is dedicated to providing compassionate care and rehabilitation for orphaned and injured wildife in our community. Our efforts are primarily devoted to tree squirrels and ground squirrels but we will assist any wildlife in need and make sure that if we do not work with that species it will be delivered to someone who does. We work with a large network of wildlife rehabilitators. SWR is an all volunteer group made up of a permitted wildlife rehabilitator and rehab assistants.

We can provide temporary care for squirrels that are orphaned, ill or injured with the goal of returning healthy animals back into their natural environment with the instinctual skills needed to survive.

It is our hope to help the public understand and respect the urban wildlife that they live with and to reduce the negative impact that humans have on wildlife, their natural habitat and the environment that we all share.

In this website I hope to share with you information on the profession of wildlife rehabilitation, the world of squirrels, and what to do if you find one in need of help. I hope that together we can make this a better place for all the life that shares it and impart the understanding that we are all connected in one way or another.

The Star Thrower

By Loren Eisley

A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking up something and throwing it out into the water. Time and time again, he kept hurling the things into the water.

As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach, and one at a time he was throwing them back into the water. Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said, "Good morning, friend, I was wondering what you were doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean," answered the man. "You see, it's low tide right now, and all of these starfish have been washed up on the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"I understand," our friend replied. "But there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize that this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches up and down this coast? Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish. As he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one."

Join me by making a difference and caring for even one of these animals in need.

VC Star: Thousand Oaks resident cares for and rehabilitates squirrels
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