Where Marin's Injured Wildlife Goes While WildCare Moves Home

Through Dec. 13, a hawk that can't fly, or a window-stunned songbird that still can't fly after a rest, doesn't go to San Rafael. It goes to a trailer beside the Marin Humane shelter at 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. in Novato. WildCare staff take wildlife patients there every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while the nonprofit moves back into its rebuilt hospital on Albert Park Lane.

The phone number stays the same through the move. WildCare's Living With Wildlife Hotline is still 415-456-7283. That call matters more now than it usually does. For anyone in Tiburon, Mill Valley or West Marin, the drop-off is now a longer drive, and the person on the phone can tell you whether the animal needs to make the trip at all.

Three addresses in a little over two years

WildCare has run its hospital from several places while the new building went up. Its campaign timeline shows the sequence.

At the Novato shelter, look for the wildlife intake area on the side of the building. Marin Humane asks people not to carry wild animals into the shelter itself. The shelter is built for dogs and cats, and a frightened owl in a lobby full of them helps nobody.

The Marin Independent Journal reported that WildCare takes in at least 3,500 animals a year from around the Bay Area. Executive director Ellyn Weisel told the paper that 78% of recovered patients go back to the wild. A five-week detour to Novato is a small cost next to that.

Why the call comes before the car

Both WildCare and Marin Humane give the same first instruction: call before you handle or move the animal. Marin Humane's notice puts it plainly: "Not every animal needs to be rescued, and our teams can help you figure out the safest next steps." WildCare's Found an Animal FAQ says not to step in unless an animal is clearly injured or distressed, and not to assume a young animal has been orphaned.

Some cases should be called in right away. If the animal is bleeding, seems to be suffering, or was caught by a cat or dog, call immediately. After hours, you can reach Marin Humane's Animal Services at 415-883-4621. Ask for a field team member, or leave a message requesting a callback if no one is free.

The hard case is the one that turns up at 5 p.m., an hour after the Novato trailer closes. You may be told to keep the animal safe until morning. Marin Humane's general guidance for that night:

1. Put the animal in a secure, ventilated container lined with a towel.
2. Keep it somewhere warm, dark and quiet, away from children and pets.
3. Handle it as little as possible.
4. Give it no food, water or medication.

If you can't keep the animal safely overnight, tell the team. They can work out the next step, including whether a field officer can come to you or arrange a pickup.

The cases a Marin winter tends to bring

WildCare's own guidance covers several situations that come with wet, windy weather and glass-heavy houses.

A bird that hit a window. If the bird is stunned but shows no injury, WildCare suggests placing it in a ventilated box in a safe, quiet spot outdoors and checking on it after 30 to 60 minutes. If it still can't fly, it needs care. Until Dec. 13, that means the Novato trailer. WildCare's window-collision page recommends exterior markers in a uniform pattern, spaced 4 inches apart vertically or 5 inches apart horizontally. It also suggests placing feeders either within 1.5 feet of a window or at least 30 feet away.

Ducklings after a storm. WildCare notes that rain can wash ducklings into gutters or trap them in storm drains, and that a fluffy duckling on its own needs rescue. The same guidance says wind can leave a downy baby bird exposed and cold.

A young bird on the ground. WildCare's baby bird guide separates fledglings from nestlings. For a fledgling that looks healthy, watch quietly from at least 50 feet for 60 to 90 minutes while keeping people and pets away. A nestling that is bare or still in pin feathers needs warmth and help.

Hawks and owls. WildCare has long campaigned against rat poisons because they reach the predators that eat rodents. Its rodenticide page reports that its testing program has covered more than 400 animals, and that 76.8% of the samples tested positive for exposure.

What's waiting on Albert Park Lane

The building these patients will go to was paid for over three years of fundraising and built over two years of construction, according to the Marin Independent Journal. The price was $24 million. WildCare broke ground at 76 Albert Park Lane in May 2025. The IJ reported a private ribbon-cutting scheduled for Nov. 14, after which WildCare's 35 employees and 150 volunteers would move in.

"We want to have one of the best animal hospitals in the country. It's all state of the art." Ellyn Weisel, WildCare executive director, to the Marin Independent Journal

On a tour for the IJ, Weisel called the old facility "the most dilapidated, funky, cobbled building." The paper's description of the new campus reads like a list of fixes for that building's problems:

• A raptor aviary with a solar roof, plus large outdoor cages with small openings so recovered birds can fly out when they're ready
• Small rooftop ponds for ducklings and waterbirds
• Windows dotted so birds can see them and avoid hitting the glass
• A laundry room for staff who get sprayed by skunks
• A courtyard for WildCare's animal ambassadors, including Sequoia, a northern spotted owl who has been an ambassador for 20 years and will have a large cage with a hollow trunk to sleep in

WildCare's campaign page adds advanced surgical suites, flexible education spaces, and restoration of San Rafael Creek along the edge of the site.

The oldest piece of the campus is also its most unusual. According to the IJ, the education center is a refurbished 1870s church parish hall that WildCare has used since the 1950s, and the church was originally a ship's hull. During construction it was lifted and moved several times to make room for the hospital. It is named for Elizabeth Terwilliger, the longtime WildCare educator who led school field trips into Marin's wild places and died in 2006.

Terwilliger's influence shows up across the project. Kevin Lewis, the Cahill Contractors superintendent on the rebuild, told the IJ that she brought WildCare animals to his elementary school in Penngrove when he was a boy, and that this will be his last project before he retires. Chief advancement officer Nicole Trautsch remembered Terwilliger visiting the Hamlin School in the 1980s. "It's transformative for children," Trautsch said. "They come home and tell their parents." Trautsch told the paper that private donations ranged from $5 to $5 million.

After Dec. 13

The Novato trailer's last day is Dec. 13. The IJ reports that the rebuilt San Rafael clinic begins accepting patients on Dec. 14. If you're planning to see the building rather than drop off a patient, WildCare's tour page lists new-facility tours for spring 2027. Whatever the date, the hotline is 415-456-7283, and it's worth saving in your phone before you need it.

If you'd like more local numbers like this one, or want to talk through anything else about Marin, reach out to Rob Sullivan. Let's Connect.