Our Services
The best of care, locally
PROWLS is a “full-service” rescue and rehabilitation operation, from contact to release.
From a simple handover of a finch in a box, to a complex rescue that takes planning and daring physical feats, we do it all!
We help diverse species!
In addition to our many in-house avian patients, PROWLS also works with deer, raccoons, squirrels, alligator lizards, beavers, muskrats, bobcats and even bears!
Patient care is the very core of our operation, and all your donations go directly to feeding and housing our local injured and orphaned wildlife.
Visit our social feeds to see exactly what we do day-to-day, and to learn about our patients.
Meet our patients
What we do
On any day of the year, we…
… Operate a 24/7 emergency phone line for wildlife in distress.
… Plan and execute safe captures of injured wild animals of many species.
… Perform medical procedures and specialized diet preparation.
… Construct, maintain and clean habitats and enclosures for patients at all stages of healing.
… Release wild animals back into their local habitat and monitor for reintegration.
… Connect with and transport wildlife to the facility best suited to their recovery.
… Provide educational resources, mentorship and learning opportunities about local wildlife for our community.
… Work with local biologists, naturalists, organizations and conservation services to promote learning, connections, research and local knowledge networks.
… Conduct outreach for new members, donations and volunteers.
PROWLS in Action!
Oct 2020 – PROWLS came to the aid of a great horned owl whoo had become entangled in a Canadian flag. The rescue quickly became a community effort! Many thanks to the PR Fire Department and the City of Powell River!
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
July 2020 – This wonderful mature bald eagle had got into a fight with another eagle. After receiving medical attention at PROWLS, it was transported with Pacific Coastal Airlines to OWL. Once recovered, it was flown back to Powell River and released at the same spot it was found, in Scuttle Bay.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
June 2020 – These baby crows fell from their nest and were too young to survive on their own. Check out their full journey, from rescue, to rehabilitation to release.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
March 2020 – This eagle was injured while fighting with another eagle over salmon while our photographer Michelle Pennell was on a stroll along the seawalk! After receiving the best of care for a pierced crop, it was released at Grief Point.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Nov 2019 – Check out this collection of action shots from a release of a barred owl by PROWLS!
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Aug 2019 – This sweet young woodpecker flew into a window and had a concussion. After rest and TLC at PROWLS, it was healthy and ready to be released back where it came from.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
July 2019 – This momma goose was found at Haywire Bay with fishing line wrapped around her leg, just a short time after we picked up her gosling. Powell River Orphaned Wildlife was able to make well and release back to its home on the lake.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Oct 2020 – PROWLS came to the aid of a great horned owl whoo had become entangled in a Canadian flag. The rescue quickly became a community effort! Many thanks to the PR Fire Department and the City of Powell River!
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
July 2020 – This wonderful mature bald eagle had got into a fight with another eagle. After receiving medical attention at PROWLS, it was transported with Pacific Coastal Airlines to OWL. Once recovered, it was flown back to Powell River and released at the same spot it was found, in Scuttle Bay.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
June 2020 – These baby crows fell from their nest and were too young to survive on their own. Check out their full journey, from rescue, to rehabilitation to release.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
March 2020 – This eagle was injured while fighting with another eagle over salmon while our photographer Michelle Pennell was on a stroll along the seawalk! After receiving the best of care for a pierced crop, it was released at Grief Point.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Nov 2019 – Check out this collection of action shots from a release of a barred owl by PROWLS!
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Aug 2019 – This sweet young woodpecker flew into a window and had a concussion. After rest and TLC at PROWLS, it was healthy and ready to be released back where it came from.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
July 2019 – This momma goose was found at Haywire Bay with fishing line wrapped around her leg, just a short time after we picked up her gosling. Powell River Orphaned Wildlife was able to make well and release back to its home on the lake.
Courtesy of our awesome photographer and volunteer, Michelle Pennell.
Safe capture of wildlife
Capturing wildlife can be as simple as carefully scooping up a nestling for transport to PROWLS, but in many cases it requires the services of professionals — us!
Wild animals experience distress when in close proximity to humans, and can cause serious disease and injury.
PROWLS volunteers are trained and prepared to follow best practices for capturing and transporting injured wildlife, and to use methods that help ensure the most minimally distressing and most safe options are taken to safeguard the well-being of a wild patient during this extremely stressful moment.
Medical treatment
Our patients often arrive at PROWLS in states of distress and with a variety of unique injuries that require medical intervention for recovery to take place.
Tending to baby animals, splinting broken wings, de-oiling waterfowl, assessing and monitoring head injuries, cleaning and bandaging wounds, administering antibiotics, preparing animals for transport to another facility, and providing humane euthanization when needed are just some examples of the most common medical treatments we offer in our tiny facility.
PROWLS has the ongoing kind and generous support of Westview Veterinary Hospital, where Dr. Barnes and his team provide the best possible medical care to our injured wild patients.
Specialized diets and habitats
Did you know that baby birds need to be fed every 15 minutes? Not to mention young hummingbirds, who require nourishment every 8-10 minutes! Each species of wild patient requires a specific diet and unique habitat to ensure their recovery. In addition to pellet feeds and baby formulas, our volunteers prepare diets from various seeds, insects, fruit, eggs, nectar, fish, mice and quail. We are planning for our patient’s average grocery bill for the year to be in excess of $10,000 this year!
When not busy feeding the animals, our volunteers can be found washing and replacing bedding, sterilizing carriers, repairing custom-built flight cages and foraging for local greenery to keep our patients feeling protected and at-home in all stages of rehabilitation.
Rehabilitative care and release
Once our patients are out of ICU, their journey towards release begins. PROWLS takes a science-based approach to rehabilitation, and human interaction is kept to a minimum while we ensure our patients are able to have mobility and the ability to feed and protect themselves post-treatment.
We provide ongoing monitoring, specialized enclosures, and various challenges to ensure our patients have re-learned the skills they need to survive in the wild. Whenever possible, we integrate them with other similar species with whom they would normally share their habitat for company.
When we have assessed that they seem well enough to release, we make every effort to return our wild patients to the location they were first found, or to an environment we know is suitable for them to thrive and connect with other animals of their species, and sometimes their own family!
Education and outreach
PROWLS aims to provide engaging resources about the ways we can protect wildlife at home, at school, at work and in our day-to-day lives, to help all generations foster respect and wonder for the biodiversity that surrounds us here.
In the context of continued growth and development in our coastal region, the need for this learning has never been greater! Check out our education and outreach page to see how PROWLS is connecting with our community.
PROWLS works with several coastal biologists and conservationists and, as we increase our capacity and scope, we plan to offer an interpretive centre, workshops and much more.
