Sponsor An Animal Ambassador

 

Sponsor an Educational Animal

 

Sponsor the care of an educational animal for a year. Sponsorship pays for their food, handling, housekeeping, and enclosure maintenance. For sponsorships with Nickerson, Up Up and Garv, you will also get a meet-and-greet at your selected venue with your host animal! Know that your donation changes the life of an animal all year long. (Our animals can have more than one sponsor!)

 

Meet Our Educational Animals

Meet Tortilla the Musk Turtle

Wild Care’s newest Animal Ambassador is a cute little Musk Turtle named Tortilla. Tortilla was found as a hatchling and kept as a pet. She was fed well but never swam other than in a bowl of water. When we placed her into the water of an aquarium at Wild Care, she did not know what to do! We had to give her a 1/2 inch of water at a time in order to get her to swim. She gets food as enrichment in water to teach her how to be a turtle. (Since she was kept as a pet for 3-4years, she is unable to survive in the wild and cannot be released.)

Musk Turtles live in freshwater rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and swamps. These unique turtles are small in size averaging 3-5’’ long, and walk on the bottom of streams or ponds instead of swimming like other turtles. They will also omit an odor when threatened earning them the nickname “stinkpot”.

Thank you to Chris McLaughlin for her sponsorship of Tortilla in 2025! Chris sent us this sweet and thoughtful message to share… “If we all took a moment to think of our time here and what we’d like our legacy to be, what matters most is that I left here better than I found it. I cared for the lives around us that so many don’t see. Tortilla is a life interrupted and healing that one wound, one life at a time, makes such a difference in the scheme of all living things. Be kind. Especially to those who can’t ask us for help.”

 

Would you like to sponsor Tortilla’s care in 2026?

Email Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care Executive Director, to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship. sellis@wildcarecapecod.org.

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Meet Terry the Eastern Painted Turtle

Terry came to Wild Care in November of 2022. He is a male Eastern Painted Turtle with vibrant coloring. He was surrendered by a family that could no longer care for him. He cannot be released into the wild because he is habituated to people. He is doing very well, and is currently getting used to a new diet of live food and fresh greens. He will become one of our Animal Ambassadors, and part of our education outreach program teaching people about the importance of turtles in our environment, and why they should remain wild.

Thank you to Monica Smith for her sponsorship of the care of Terry in 2024.

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Would you like to sponsor Terry’s care in 2026?
Annual sponsorship is $300.

 

 

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Meet GARV the Eastern Box Turtle

GARV (short for “Garvey”) is an Eastern Box Turtle. He is over 25 years old, and is Wild Care’s first Educational Ambassador! GARV was brought to us in the winter of 2015. The turtle had been kept as a pet (illegal in the state of Massachusetts), and was tossed out into the snow while his caretaker was away.

GARV has been traveling all over Cape Cod – from classrooms, to Wild Care’s various events, to the Blessing of the Animals at Dennis Union Church, etc. He was even featured on public television, courtesy of the Cape Cod Community Media Center. This wonderful turtle has been teaching young and old alike about the natural history and value Eastern Box Turtles bring to Cape Cod, and warming peoples hearts along the way. ♥️

SPONSORS:

THANK YOU to Tom O’Connell for his 2025 sponsorship of the care of Garv, our Eastern Box Turtle Animal Ambassador. This sponsorship is made in loving memory of Tom’s wife Laura Runkel who loved Garv. Laura was a beloved Wild Care Volunteer. She is missed by all of us here at Wild Care. We are honored and grateful for this sponsorship in her name.

THANK YOU to John Garvey for Garv’s annual sponsorship since 2017! Thank you and your wonderful team at Garvey Communication Associates Inc., for your love of turtles, your kindness and support of Wild Care, and sponsorship of Garv for 2025! We are so grateful for John Garvey, that we named Garv after him.

Sponsorship this year is in loving memory of James Garvey. James loved the Cape, and the work of Wild Care was very important to him.

(Care includes: Food, daily handling and exercise, housekeeping and cleaning, and a bodyguard at events.)

P.O. Box 15294 1500 Main Street, 20th Floor Springfield, MA 01115 Phone: (413) 736-2245 | Fax: (413) 736-2247 www.gcaionline.com

Would you like to sponsor GARV’s care in 2026?
There’s enough love to go around! Annual sponsorship is $750.

Email Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care Executive Director, to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship! sellis@wildcarecapecod.org

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Meet Nickerson the Eastern Screech Owl

Nickerson was brought to us as an owlet, when her nesting tree was cut down in Nickerson State Park (unbeknownst to the trimmers). The owlets were in bad shape and a reunion with their parents was not possible. Nickerson suffered an eye injury when the tree fell. She and her siblings were rehabilitated at Wild Care. Her siblings were released, but it was quickly determined that Nickerson was blind in one eye and was not fit for release. Being a young bird, Nickerson was a great candidate to become an educational animal, providing us the opportunity to teach the Cape Cod community about the importance of Eastern Screech Owls to our ecosystems, and why tree felling during spring and summer months hurts wildlife. In 2017, Wild Care acquired a federal permit to keep Nickerson as our educational owl ambassador. She’s been out-and-about ever since. Find her at Wild Care events, local events, schools and more. We hope you’ve had a chance to meet this delightfully charming owl. You’ll be seeing more of her this year.

Thank you to Jill and Alan MacDonald for their kind and generous sponsorship of Nickerson an Eastern Screech Owl for 2025! Jill is a member of the Nickerson family and Wild Care is very dear to her.

 

Would you like to sponsor Nickerson’s care in 2026?
Sponsorship is $1,000.

Email Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care Executive Director, to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship! sellis@wildcarecapecod.org

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Meet “Up Up” the Eastern Screech Owl

Up Up came to us on April 29, 2017 as an owlet. He was displaced from his nest when his nesting tree was cut down. He was found on the ground and brought to Wild Care. No other owlets were found. Sadly, he had a wing droop and a fractured wing. A wildlife veterinarian deemed him non-releasable due to the fracture (he is not capable of survival in the wild due to the injury). Being a young owl, we thought he would make a great candidate for an educational animal-teaching people about how they can minimize impacts on wildlife (don’t trim trees until winter), and why owls are an important part of our ecosystem. Up Up is a bundle of beauty, joy and energy.

Up Up is truly a great educational ambassador, and we are blessed to have him as part of our team here at Wild Care.

Thank you to Beach Road Muscular Therapy for the generous 2024 sponsorship of Nickerson, Wild Care’s Animal Ambassador Eastern Screech Owl! Nationally certified and licensed massage therapist Jennifer Budryk has been mountain biking in Nickerson State Park for 40 years, and hopes to bring awareness of the importance of having tree work done before nesting and baby season.

Beach Road Muscular Therapy

 

Would you like to sponsor Up Up’s care in 2026?
Annual sponsorship is $1,000.

Email Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care Executive Director, to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship! sellis@wildcarecapecod.org

 

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Meet Mallory the Mallard

In the summer of 2021, we received a group of orphaned Mallard ducklings from the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Massachusetts. All the ducklings were fostered at Wild Care by Ilean, our resident foster Mallard and Educational Ambassador (see above). They were all eventually released, except for one special duckling. Mallory.

Mallory has a spinal deformity which prevents her from being released in the wild. She lives very happily at Wild Care with Ilean. She will live here permanently and play an important role in fostering orphaned ducklings next Spring and Summer. This will also give Ilean a much needed break from mom duties!

We would like to thank our wonderful Board member and long-time Clinic Volunteer, Jody Rice-Hines for generously sponsoring the care of Mallory in 2025! Our previous duck Ilean was very bonded with Jody, And now she and Mallory also have a special bond. She enriches Mallory’s life with every visit with pool swims, and built an outdoor day pen for her. Jody is our duck whisperer.

 

 

Would you like to sponsor Mallory’s care in 2026? Sponsorship is $500.

Email Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care Executive Director, to learn more about the benefits of sponsorship. sellis@wildcarecapecod.org

 

 

Printable Brochure Educational Animal Brochure Sponsorship

Online Form for Wild Care Education Presentation