The Ruckus Room Wildlife Rehabilitation

07/25/2026

One of the things rehabbers hear often is "I don't know how you do it! I wouldn't be able to let them go."

The public (you amazing humans) only see a snippet of what we endure as rehabbers. There is blood, sweat, tears, ugly sobbing, laughing while sobbing, stomach churning events, we see things we can't un-see and we feel things we can't un-feel.

We get animals that are injured, sick, orphaned, broken, wounded, abused, scarred, fighting for their lives, clinging to life, losing their lives. We work with blood, urine, f***s, vomit, eye infections, abscesses, lacerations, and other gore.

But in the midst of it all, something beautiful happens.

The dependent orphans learn to eat on their own. The broken leg heals and allows for bearing weight. The eye infection clears up and vision is restored. The wound scabs over. The wing heals. The pain fades.

Then one day, the very animals that we poured our heart, soul, time, money, and energy into are loaded up. The kennels are opened...in that moment, everything we've worked for, everything YOU have supported, comes to fruition.

The bird walks then flies off. The skunk feels fresh grass under his paws and waddles away. The owl spreads his beautiful wings and takes flight. The mama opossum cautiously takes that first step into her second chance. The raccoon climbs the tallest tree.

And...

We walk away. We let go.

Yes, we cry. We worry.

None of it matters because they were never ours to begin with.

07/25/2026

Rest in peace sweet little Twitch. We had high hopes but nature had other plans. Bunnies are so hard. They break your heart from the second they come in. 💔

07/23/2026

OPEN THE VIDEO BY CLICKING ON IT to see Twitch is eating carrots and showing less signs of capture myopathy 🤯🤯🤯. I don’t know how that is possible!!! I am baffled! We are still very much “hands off” with his care and rehabilitation and his prognosis is still VERY guarded. Eastern coattails are extremely difficult to rehab especially coming in at this age with these kinds of injuries. I joke with people that they can quite literally d!e if you look at them wrong. There is a little to that though.


Mute the sound! My camera was being ridiculous.

07/22/2026

Just realized I posted the WRONG camera footage of Twitch earlier 🤣🤣🤣 Anyways…here is the RIGHT STUFF 🤩 He is eating and browsing different native grasses and plants. That’s a good sign! He still is not out of the woods. As long as he improves over the next several days, he will be moved outside to the bunny pre-release enclosure to continue his progress. 🧡 Say a few prayers for him!
(Also, if you are local to us and have chemical free clover growing in your yard, he would LOVE to have some! It must be pesticide, herbicide free)

07/22/2026

This is Twitch. We have given this little eastern cottontail that was captured and injured by a cat a name. He deserves that. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to survive the night. I picked him up for his very kind finder Monday evening. His prognosis is VERY guarded. Cottontails are hard. We will still give him our all. In the meantime, I have the next 2 days off from my paying job and will be working on our newest enclosure by myself since hubby is out of town for work all week. If anyone would like to help me for a couple hours, it would be appreciated!

07/22/2026

🦝 VOLUNTEERS & BUILDING MATERIALS NEEDED! 🛠️💚

The Ruckus Room Wildlife Rehabilitation needs your help!

Our growing group of raccoon kits is getting bigger, stronger, and much more adventurous every day. Before they can return to the wild where they belong, they need a safe pre-release enclosure where they can climb, explore, build strength, practice natural behaviors, and learn to be wild again.

We can’t build it alone!

We’re looking for:

🙋 Volunteers willing to donate a few hours to help us build the enclosure.

🪵 Donations of old lumber from barns, sheds, houses, fences, or other buildings that are being torn down or have already been demolished. The wood doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect—it just needs to be structurally usable and not completely rotted.

🏠 Tin roofing or metal panels (new or used) for shelter and weather protection.

Every board, every sheet of tin, and every helping hand brings these babies one step closer to a successful release back into the wild.

If you have materials to donate, know of a building being torn down, or would like to volunteer your time and muscles, please send us a message! Even sharing this post could connect us with someone who can help.

As always, monetary donations are also greatly appreciated and go directly toward the care of the wildlife in our rehabilitation program.

💚 PayPal: paypal.me/twhitley79
💚 Venmo: -Whitley79
💚 Cash App: $TiffAndJake10

Thank you for believing in our mission and helping us give these incredible wild animals the second chance they deserve. We truly couldn’t do this without our amazing community.

🦝❤️ Rescue. Rehab. Release. Repeat.
– The Ruckus Room Wildlife Rehabilitation

Go to paypal.me/twhitley79 and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

07/21/2026

We don’t like to post about new eastern cottontail intakes this early in the rehab process or if they are injured badly. The reason, no one wants to hear about the loss. Cottontails are SO HARD to rehab when they are healthy and uninjured that’s why many rehabbers will not take cottontails-they have a very high mortality rate.

As heartbreaking as it is, we always give them our all. Prey animals deserve a chance and hold an important place in our ecosystem.

This 3-4 week old male bunny came in last night after being captured by a cat while he was learning to be independent. He is what I call a “hands off” patient. Cat bites and capture myopathy claim so many especially when they come to the rescue at this age.

He was assessed, injuries cleaned, medicated, fed, watered, and placed in a quiet space with a camera. This way I can monitor him without causing additional stress.

Please say some prayers and send him some good vibes. If he survives, he will be released as soon as humanly possible to increase his chances of survival.

If you’d like to throw a few dollars our way, it would be appreciated. We don’t get paid for the work we do to save all of these precious lives.

To help support our page, you can also like, comment, share, and follow us! Every interaction helps! We couldn’t do this without your support 🧡

PayPal: paypal.me/twhitley79
Venmo: -Whitley79
Cash App: $TiffAndJake10

07/15/2026

Play time after deep cleaning the rehab room
We are running low on produce, chicken, and eggs! If you’d like to donate any of these items or funds to purchase, links are below or contact me and I’ll pick up!

Donation options:

PayPal: paypal.me/twhitley79
Venmo: -Whitley79
Cash App: $TiffAndJake10

Wishlist:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/MHLT2LYNBRSE?ref_=wl_share

07/14/2026

SOUND ON! Still haven’t learned to lap, but that’s ok! Rusty will get it figured out before we know it 🦝🦝