Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

✨Summer 2026 Internships✨ Come join us and find a passion and inspiration you didn't know you were missing! /wildlife-husbandry-internship.html

You’ve followed the rescues. Now you can help make them possible 🌟 This week only, your monthly gift can make an even bigger impact for wildlife! From 5/11 - 5/15, we are participating in a special Givebutter donor promotion: 🌟 For every donor who signs up for a new monthly gift of $5 or more, Givebutter will donate an extra $10 to support the injured and orphaned wildlife in our care 🌟 If just 500 of our followers, like you!, start a new $5 monthly donation, our patients will receive an incredible $35,000 in support! ✨Plus - if you become a monthly donor, you also join our incredible Wild Sustainers community - compassionate, consistent supporters who ensure patients receive lifesaving care year-round. ✨Already a Wild Sustainer? You can still help by inviting a friend to join our community! ✨Already donate, but not monthly? You can become a Wild Sustainer today! ✨And if you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to take that next step and directly save wildlife, this is it! Make a donation with the link in our bio and become a part of something special, something that makes a huge difference every day 💚 #SavingWildLives #GiveWildlifeAChance #WildlifeRehabilitation #RescueRehabReleaseRelate

How are you committing to a better tomorrow? You can make a difference for wildlife with us today. Join us - /GrowWild 💛

Forty-One. 41. 4️⃣1️⃣ Not just a random number. That is the total number of 💥new💥 patients that came through our doors today 😮‍💨 From tiny hatchling Eastern Blue Birds orphaned to loads of opossum joeys to a large snapping turtle hit by a car we admitted a wide range of species and reasons for arrivals today. It may be surprising to you, but we are just now beginning our busiest season‼️ and we are already very much in the trenches every day. Our team works tirelessly around the clock to ensure these wild ones have every opportunity for a second chance in the wild. Your support makes that possible! You can help provide: 🩺medical care - supplies and medications needed to heal 🐻formula - we feed out hundreds of pounds per season 🐢feeding supplies - nipples, tubes, and syringes are essential 🦆cozy bedding - babies need to nestle 🐣 insects - the baby birds and bats eat thousands of live insects 🦅second chances - releases after successful rehabilitation is priceless join us today in saving lives - link in bio ❤️

We aren’t just raising cute babies….our team is diligently working to save lives ❤️‍🩹 And this week has been no exception. A red fox kit attacked by a predator leaving him with a deep wound into his abdomen and struggling to maneuver. We are immensely grateful for the finders that took quick action and got him into care this morning. His prognosis is extremely guarded right now, but he is stable and bandaged and safe 🧡 An opossum joey attacked by a dog left a large wound across his head, just barely missing his eye. He was a trooper under anesthesia for such a tiny guy and his wound stitched up beautifully. He moved into our nursery and we expect him to make a full recovery 💙 Warm weather brings the turtles and one of our first shelled friends arrived with a huge ear abscess. Thankfully while it looks really bad, it cleaned up really well and we expect her to go back home soon 💚 Our team works tirelessly around the clock to ensure these wild ones have every chance possible for a second chance in the wild. Your support makes that possible! You can help provide: 🩺medical care - supplies and medications needed to heal 🐻formula - we feed out hundreds of pounds per season 🐢feeding supplies - nipples, tubes, and syringes are essential 🦆cozy bedding - babies need to nestle 🐣 insects - the baby birds and bats eat thousands of live insects 🦅second chances - releases after successful rehabilitation is priceless join us today in saving lives - /GrowWild ❤️ #WildlifeRehab #SavingWildLives #WNC #RescueRehabReleaseRelate #828isgreat

Let the baby Groundhog season begin ✨ We don’t believe we’ve ever seen a groundhog so tiny. Thankfully for this little one someone spotted him in a horse pasture and took quick action to do the best thing to help him. Reuniting wasn’t possible for a few reasons and the decision was made for him to come into care. (we always try to keep babies with mom if at all possible - mom is always best!) Weighing in at just 120 grams (the size of a medium kiwi 🥝) and being approximately 2 weeks old this little one needs constant, around the clock specialized care to ensure he thrives. Our team is up for the challenge 💪🏼 and it’s all possible because of you! Helping to keep our shelves stocked and babies with everything they need, we all save lives! Our team works tirelessly around the clock to ensure these babies have every chance possible for a second chance in the wild. Your support makes that possible! You can help provide: 🐻formula - we feed out hundreds of pounds per season 🐢feeding supplies - nipples, tubes, and syringes are essential 🦆cozy bedding - babies need to nestle 🐣 insects - the baby birds and bats eat thousands of live insects 🦅second chances - releases after successful rehabilitation is priceless join us today in saving lives - link in bio ❤️ #WildlifeRehab #SavingWildLives #WNC #RescueRehabReleaseRelate #828isgreat

It’s the milk mustache for us 🥛 We now have 4 #BlackBear cubs in our care….and it’s only March 🫣 the older 3 are learning to eat on their own and have already graduated to the cub building. All of our cubs will remain in our care until late September when they return to the wild. Bear cubs eat so much food! Right now, it’s close to a gallon of formula per day. Before much longer that will be almost a gallon per cub per day! Not to mention when they started eating solid foods…really we believe they are bottomless pits! Our team works tirelessly around the clock to ensure these babies have every chance possible for a second chance in the wild. Your support makes that possible! You can help provide: 🐻formula - we feed out hundreds of pounds per season 🐢feeding supplies - nipples, tubes, and syringes are essential 🦆cozy bedding - babies need to nestle 🐣 insects - the baby birds and bats eat thousands of live insects 🦅second chances - releases after successful rehabilitation is priceless join us today in saving lives - link in bio ❤️ #WildlifeRehab #SavingWildLives #WNC #RescueRehabReleaseRelate

Looking for a reason to hit the town on a Wednesday night? We've got the perfect excuse for you! Join us at The Flying Squirrel Pub on Wednesday March 25th from 4:00pm-9:00pm where 20% of all food and drink purchases will be donated back to the wild ones! What a perfect way to enjoy a night out and make a difference! #SavingWildLives #GiveWildlifeAChance #protectlocalwildlife #Asheville #Buncombe #wildlives #WildlifeRehabilitation #wildlife #westernNC #wncmountains #828isgreat #RescueRehabReleaseRelate #ashevillenc

Join us tomorrow night from 4-9 PM to support @appalachianwild We will be donating a portion of our net sales directly back to Appalachian Wildlife Refuge to continue supporting their efforts in wildlife rehabilitation in Western North Carolina. And all you have to do is show up and enjoy good food! It’s perfect, just come in and grab anything on the menu including our weekly specials: The Paddy Melt and our Loaded Potato soup. Cause if you love us here at The Flying Squirrel, you’ll definitely love the people who are saving flying squirrels! Don’t miss it this Wednesday 4-9 PM. #flyingsquirrelpub #appalachainwildliferefuge #givebackevent #ardennc #weeklyspecials

Do you or someone you know.... Have an interest in wildlife rehabilitation? Wildlife husbandry? A future career in wildlife management? Wildlife research and data? Maybe you are just still exploring options in working with animals. Maybe you are looking for a different focus. Our internships are the perfect way to learn how to get involved with wildlife rehabilitation and start a foundation for future paths working in the wildlife field. Consider joining our team for the summer of 2026 and learn something new! /wildlife-husbandry-internship.html

🌱Just like that, spring is here and we are immersed in babies...of all kinds already! Hundreds of orphan mammals, like this black bear cub, pour through our doors now through September. Our team works tirelessly around the clock to ensure these babies have every chance possible for a second chance in the wild. Your support makes that possible! You can help provide: 🐻formula - we feed out hundreds of pounds per season 🐢feeding supplies - nipples, tubes, and syringes are essential 🦆cozy bedding - babies need to nestle 🐣 insects - the baby birds and bats eat thousands of live insects 🦅second chances - releases after successful rehabilitation is priceless join us today in saving lives with the link in our bio! #wncmountains #westernNC #wildlife #WildlifeRehabilitation #wildlives #Buncombe #Asheville #protectlocalwildlife #GiveWildlifeAChance #SavingWildLives #828isgreat #WNC #westernnorthcarolina #secondchance #WildlifeRehab #RescueRehabReleaseRelate #wildliferescue #ashevillenc #orphans #blackbear #bearcub

It is with heavy hearts we share a heartfelt farewell to our American Toad, Mable. Mabel came to us in August of 2019 after being run over by a bicycle. She had a fractured pelvis, multiple fractures to her mandible and maxilla (the top and bottom of her jaw/mouth), an eye injury, and head trauma. We know that amphibians are truly made of magic, so we made the decision to give her all of the supportive care and time to heal. And healing she did well! Ultimately, Mable healed everything broken in her little body, but her eye injury resulted in the loss of vision and her head trauma never fully recovered, leaving her unable to catch her food without assistance. Resulting in her not being releasable. Mabel became one of our first ambassadors at Appalachian Wild and has spent the last 7 years helping to educate our community on why amphibians are important. She helped hundreds of people fall in love with toads. She was featured on news coverage, the Today show, a multitude of print media, and even graces a few volunteers with stunning tattoo portraits of her adorable face. Mabel was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma last fall that initially affected her bad eye. Our amazing veterinarian worked to remove her eye and our animal care team helped her live her best life the last few months. Mabel declined over the last 2 weeks and we knew it was time to say goodbye. We know it was the right time for Mabel. She lived a long life with us. One that she would not have had the chance for if it wasn’t for our facility. While we do not know her exact age, she was a mature adult when she arrived, so we know that she was at least 10. We have heard many times this past week, “I didn’t know I could be so attached to a toad!”. Well, us too, we were all far more attached to Mabel than we realized and will miss her antics and goofy self at the facility. Thank you for helping make stories like Mabel's possible. You can make a donation in her honor to help future amphibians with the link in bio. #westernNC #wncmountains #828isgreat #SavingWildLives #WildlifeRehabilitation #rescuerehabreleaserelate #GiveWildlifeAChance #Buncombe #Asheville #WNC #westernnorthcarolina