Injured or displaced wildlife?
Found an animal that needs help?
Montclair Township Animal Control is your first call for local wildlife — any hour, any day of the year.
Montclair Animal Control
Call for injured, orphaned, or displaced wildlife
862-621-9113Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. — Montclair Animal Control
Other local rescues to call
Animal Control is your first call. These licensed New Jersey rehabilitators can also help — always phone ahead rather than turning up, since capacity and hours vary.
Last Resort Wildlife Refuge
A state-licensed rehabilitation facility that rescues, rehabilitates and releases orphaned, sick and injured wildlife. If you find a fawn, call Last Resort.
The Raptor Trust
One of the country’s leading wild bird rehabilitation centres. Call the infirmary before travelling — intake hours are limited and vary by season.
Wild Baby Rescue Center
Licensed for raccoons, skunks, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks, bats, foxes, coyotes and deer. Call first — they are not always accepting every species.
Franklin Lakes Animal Hospital
Ask for Donna, or for one of the wildlife team members. Please call before bringing in any wild animal.
Do you know a rescue or wildlife rehabilitator you trust? Please let us know — montclairwildlife@gmail.com
Before you intervene
Many animals that look abandoned are not. A doe hides her newborn fawn in tall grass or brush for its first few weeks and returns only a few times a day to nurse, staying away otherwise so her scent doesn’t lead predators to her baby. It looks like abandonment to a passerby, but it’s careful, deliberate parenting.
A fawn found alone in the grass almost never needs rescuing. If you’re unsure, call Animal Control before moving the animal.
Trapping and relocating wildlife is illegal in New Jersey, ineffective, and often fatal for the animal. When in doubt, make the call and let a trained responder assess the situation.
The same is true of young birds. A fledgling on the ground — fully feathered but not yet flying — is usually being fed and watched by its parents nearby, not orphaned. The Raptor Trust keeps clear, step-by-step guidance for telling the difference, and for handling a bird that genuinely does need help.
More guidance coming soon. We’re building out detailed advice for specific situations — window strikes, nestlings on the ground, animals in chimneys and window wells, and how to find a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.