From Rescue to Release
Follow a Wildlife Patient’s Journey
Choose a wildlife patient, scan its QR code, and follow its journey through intake, triage, treatment, recovery, and release. Each fictional case is inspired by the real animals cared for by A.E.R.O. wildlife rehabilitators.
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stuffed patient + rehab supplies
Five Steps, One Wildlife Journey
Every patient journey follows the same path a real rehabilitation case takes — from the moment an animal is found to the day it returns to the wild.
Choose Your Patient
Participants receive or select a stuffed native wildlife patient — such as a fox, turtle, squirrel, opossum, raccoon, or songbird.
Scan the QR Code
A tag attached to the stuffed animal opens the patient’s digital case file.
Complete Intake & Triage
Participants learn how rehabilitators examine an animal, identify urgent concerns, and decide what care is needed.
Follow Treatment & Recovery
Visitors watch videos, review treatment updates, and learn how the patient is prepared to return to the wild.
Celebrate the Release
The journey ends with a release video, case outcome, and conservation lesson.
Meet the Wildlife Patients
Each stuffed animal represents a species commonly treated by wildlife rehabilitators. Add or remove cards below as your patient roster grows.
Big Brown Bat
Eptesicus fuscusMeet Echo — a real patient who came to A.E.R.O. after an outdoor cat attack injured his wing.
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Red Fox
Vulpes vulpesA curious, adaptable hunter often found near roadsides, fields, and backyards.
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Eastern Box Turtle
Terrapene carolina carolinaA slow-moving, long-lived native turtle that often needs help safely crossing roads.
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Eastern Gray Squirrel
Sciurus carolinensisAn agile tree-dweller and one of the most common patients seen in spring and fall.
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Virginia Opossum
Didelphis virginianaNorth America’s only marsupial, and a helpful ally in controlling ticks and pests.
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Raccoon
Procyon lotorA clever, dexterous forager that adapts well to both wild and neighborhood habitats.
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Native Songbird
Small, feathered patients that often arrive after window strikes or storm damage.
Echo’s Journey: A Big Brown Bat
A complete, interactive case built from Echo’s real intake, treatment, and release with A.E.R.O.
Meet Echo
Species: Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) • Case type: Real A.E.R.O. rehabilitation case
Intake: Echo Arrives
Wildlife intake is the very first step in rehabilitation. A trained staff member or volunteer records where and how the animal was found, checks for immediate life-threatening problems, and gets the patient into a warm, quiet, low-stress space before any exam begins.
The finder who brought Echo in reported that an outdoor cat had caught him. He couldn’t fly and had a visible injury to his wing — signs that he needed prompt professional care.
Echo’s intake exam: the team gently extends the wing to check the full extent of the injury.
Triage: What Does Echo Need First?
Triage is where the rehabilitation team quickly identifies the most urgent problems and decides what has to happen first. Here’s what the team observed:
- A hole in the wing membrane from the cat attack
- Unable to fly
- Quiet and guarded, but alert
- Grip and legs otherwise normal
- High risk of infection — cat bites carry bacteria that are especially dangerous for small wildlife
A close look at the wing injury from the cat attack — the kind of detail the team checks for during triage.
A cat attack caused Echo’s wing injury. What should the rehabilitation team address first?
Diagnosis
After the initial exam and a closer look at his bloodwork, the rehabilitation team reached a diagnosis for Echo:
- Puncture and tear wound to the wing membrane (patagium)
- No broken bones detected
- Elevated infection risk from cat saliva bacteria
- Stable enough to begin treatment
A blood sample viewed under the microscope — part of how the team checks for infection and confirms a patient is stable for treatment.
Treatment
Echo’s treatment plan focused on closing the wound, fighting off infection, and keeping him comfortable:
- Wound cleaning — gently clearing and disinfecting the torn wing membrane
- Pain management — keeping Echo comfortable during healing
- Antibiotics — treating the infection risk from the cat attack
- Wing closure & wound care — helping the membrane knit back together
- Quiet housing — a low-stress space away from noise and handling
- Nutritional support — mealworms to keep his strength up while he heals
- Follow-up examinations — regular checks on how the wing is healing
A follow-up exam during treatment, checking Echo’s overall condition as the wing heals.
Rehabilitation: Weekly Progress
Once the wing wound closed, Echo still needed to rebuild flight muscle before he could go home. Here’s how his recovery progressed:
Week 2: Echo eating a mealworm on his own — an early sign his strength was returning.
Recovery progress
Watch Echo take flight again — one of his first flight trials before going home.
Echo Returns Home
Big brown bats know their local roosts and feeding areas well, so whenever possible, they’re returned to the exact area where they were found — never relocated somewhere unfamiliar.
What Participants Learn
Native Wildlife Identification
Recognizing the animals that share our neighborhoods and habitats.
Safe Responses to Injured Wildlife
What to do — and not do — when encountering an animal in distress.
Rescue vs. Intake vs. Rehabilitation
Understanding the distinct steps in caring for a wild patient.
Basic Triage & Decision-Making
How rehabilitators prioritize care based on an animal’s condition.
Why Licensed Rehabilitators Matter
The training and legal responsibility behind wildlife medical care.
Habitat Protection & Coexistence
Living alongside wildlife in ways that keep both people and animals safe.
Compassion & Stewardship
Building empathy and responsibility toward the natural world.
Career Awareness
Introducing science, veterinary, and conservation career paths.
Program Uses
“From Rescue to Release” is flexible enough to adapt to many settings and audiences.
Bring the Program to Your School or Group
A.E.R.O. can tailor a wildlife patient program to fit your group’s size, age range, and setting. Programs may include:
- One or more stuffed wildlife patients
- QR-coded patient tags
- Intake and treatment videos
- Printable worksheets
- Discussion questions
- Educator guides
- Completion certificates
- An optional live or virtual presentation by A.E.R.O.
Have questions first? Call the wildlife hotline or email A.E.R.O. — see the footer for contact details.
Help Create the Next Wildlife Patient
Your support helps A.E.R.O. bring this program to more schools, scout troops, and community groups.
- Stuffed animals
- QR-code tags
- Educational video production
- Printed activity materials
- Wildlife rehabilitation supplies
- School & community outreach
Frequently Asked Questions
Some cases, like Echo the Big Brown Bat, are real A.E.R.O. patients shared for education. Others are fictional characters inspired by real rehabilitation experiences and reviewed by A.E.R.O. staff for accuracy. Each case notes whether it’s real or fictional.
Yes. Cases are written to be honest but age-appropriate, focusing on care, teamwork, and recovery rather than graphic detail.
Yes. Groups can request a preferred species when booking a program, subject to availability.
This depends on the program package selected. Some formats provide one patient per participant; others use shared classroom or group sets.
Yes. The QR-coded digital case files allow participants to complete a patient journey independently, with or without an A.E.R.O. presenter.
Most journeys take 20–40 minutes, depending on how much time participants spend on each stage.
Yes. Language, detail level, and discussion questions can be adjusted for early childhood through adult groups.
Yes. Businesses and community partners can sponsor patients or classroom programs — see the Support A.E.R.O. section above.
No. The program teaches awareness and safe response, but children never handle live wildlife as part of this activity. Real wildlife care is performed only by licensed rehabilitators.
Contact the A.E.R.O. wildlife hotline listed in the footer of this page for guidance on injured or orphaned wildlife.
Every Wildlife Patient Has a Story
Through the journey of one stuffed animal patient, participants discover the skill, teamwork, compassion, and time required to return a wild animal to its natural home.