Poplar Bluff Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation

10/28/2025

10/28/2025

🪵 Build a Brush Pile That Becomes a Winter Shelter
A simple pile of sticks and branches can become one of the most valuable habitats in your garden.

How to build it:
• Stack larger logs or branches at the base for air gaps.
• Add medium twigs and smaller sticks on top.
• Fill gaps with leaves, bark, and straw.
• Place it in a quiet, shaded corner.

Who moves in:
• Wrens, robins, and sparrows find shelter from wind and snow.
• Toads, frogs, and small mammals overwinter safely inside.
• Beetles and pollinators use the decaying wood for nesting.

✨ Leave it undisturbed through winter. By spring, it becomes a thriving mini-ecosystem that recycles nutrients and supports wildlife.

10/27/2025

10/24/2025

10/24/2025

🍂 October isn't just fall. It's eviction season for baby wildlife. 💔

THE DISPERSAL CRISIS:
As days shorten, thousands of young animals are being forced from their dens for the first time. What was a baby in spring is now alone, inexperienced, and crossing your road.

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW:
🦝 Squirrel and skunk babies get the "boot" from parents
🦌 Young deer forced away so mom can breed again
🦊 Fox kits travel 50 miles looking for territory
🐭 Opossum joeys navigating roads solo
🦝 Raccoon siblings venture out without mom's guidance

WHY OCTOBER IS DEADLY:
💔 First time crossing roads alone
💔 Zero traffic experience
💔 Desperate for food before winter
💔 Active at dawn/dusk (rush hour)
💔 Don't understand speed or headlights

THE HEARTBREAK:
They survived their first summer.
Learned to hunt, avoided predators, grew strong.
Then died on a highway in their first week of independence.

WHAT YOU'RE SEEING:
Not animals "randomly" on roads.
Confused, displaced babies trying to find home.
Inexperienced youth making fatal first mistakes.
The price wildlife pays for our convenience.

THE KINDEST THING YOU CAN DO:
✓ Slow down at dawn, dusk, and night
✓ Watch for reflecting eyes near roads
✓ Be prepared to brake suddenly
✓ Remember: they're not trying to die—they're trying to survive

Every young animal on the road tonight is someone's baby.

Someone who was kicked out too soon, learned too late, and met your headlights before they learned what they meant. 🍂💔