Storm makes refugees of wildlife

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European starlings are among birds being cared for at Elburn’s Fox Valley Wildlife Center.

Updated: October 27, 2011 12:30AM

The powerful windstorm that ripped through the Chicago area last week left the staff at Willowbrook Wildlife Center in a whirl.

Workers arrived at the Glen Ellyn facility last Monday morning to discover a massive catalpa tree had crashed into an outdoor woodchuck cage and blocked off part of a nature trail.

It wasn’t long before the phones started ringing off the hook. Staff members fielded a record number of wildlife inquiries in a single day — nearly 140 phone calls — and admitted about 90 animals, mostly birds and squirrels that had been rocked from their treetop homes during the storm.

“It was the busiest day that we have ever had,” site manager Sandy Fejt said. “It was a little crazy.”

As for other animal rehab facilities in the area, Fox Valley Wildlife Center in Elburn also reported an influx of critters during the aftermath of the storm.

“After every big storm we usually get a lot of bird and squirrel calls,” said Katie Birk, the center’s executive director and senior wildlife specialist. “It was especially high in this storm because there were so many downed trees, and so many baby birds that don’t have their tree to go back to.”

The number of birds the group houses nearly tripled that day, with about 150 total now in rehabilitation.

The center also took in about 15 baby squirrels — some only days old.

“Because the trees were swaying so much they got tossed around and thrown out of the nest,” Birk said. “A lot of those guys had severe bruising.”

If any more injured or orphaned animals are found, Birk urges people to call a local wildlife center before feeding or handling the creatures.

ChicagoWildlifeNews.com