One of the things that I love best about the New England Wildlife Center is that we are able to reach out to so many different people to educate them about wildlife.  People come from all over, and everyone learns something every day.  Interns are able to learn hands-on what wildlife medicine is, and every visitor to the Center is able to see everything happening first-hand.

In this photograph, Dr. Andrew Cartoceti is operating on a small bird while being assisted by several interns.  In the background, a group of visitors is watching the procedure with Safari Steve from the Center’s hallway which allows visitors to view into all of the medical wards.  This picture encompasses a lot of what the Center is trying to do: educate the public about wildlife while teaching future veterinarians about wildlife medicine, all while improving the lives of injured animals.”

– Sarah Wengert, Animal Caretaker

This juvenile Red-tailed hawk was brought to us last June with permanent damage to its right wing and leg making it unable to fly.  Our trained staff, consisting of Stephanie, Marco and Sarah pictured below, have worked with the bird for 6 long months in order to make him comfortable interacting with humans and trained to sit on a gloved hand.  We are very proud of how well-trained and cooperative our hawk has become, and we are starting to incorporate him into more tours and public demonstrations.  Come by the New England Wildlife Center to say hi and get a chance to see a beautiful wild raptor up close!

 The Center is all about teaching science.  BUT we don’t do it in a classroom. Nor do we emphasize field trips to the Center and its nature trails. INSTEAD, we the adults of the Center, both staff and volunteers, go about the professional business of veterinary medicine and invite kids of all ages to attend.  We then teach from their questions on the spot and about what is relevant to them.  They then model our skills and knwoledge.  Between times  they go looking for frogs and tadpoles.

Dr. Cartoceti and interns are examining a brown bat.

Students from all over the world come to the Center to work and study.  Students come to the Center to gain valuable first hand experience in veterinary medical technology, medicine and natural history.  Our internship program specializes in full-immersion apprentice-style job training to high school and undergraduate students.  Over a hundred, out of eight-hundred, of our interns have gone on to veterinary school and graduate training.  Many gained their first exposure to the field of veterinary medicine  at the Center as volunteers who then went on to be interns at the Center.  Students have come to us from schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Boston University, Boston College, Mt. Ida College, Becker College, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Colby, and the Universities of Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, and so forth. Students who have interned at the Center have represented all-in-all about a hundred colleges and universities.

Many of our student volunteers and interns want to become professionals in the field of veterinary medicine.  Many of our students already have. Becoming a veterinarian or veterinary technician is a complicated process.  The central quality of students on this career path is an unflagging curiosity about animals.  What kinds of animals are you most curious about? What is it about these kinds of animals that you most like?