‘They’re basically on death’s door’: SWVA Wildlife Center helping animals during severe weather

ROANOKE, Va. – Heavy rain and cold temperatures can mean deadly conditions for wild animals in southwest Virginia. A local rescue center wants to give them a second chance at life.

The Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke has been taking in a lot of animals with hypothermia, including beavers, groundhogs, and birds that have been drenched with heavy rain that’s hit the region.

“They’re coming in cold, hypothermic and they’re basically on death’s door,” said Hayley Olsen-Hodges, a staff naturalist at the center.

The center posted on Facebook: due to the prolonged rainy and cooler weather we have noticed nearly all animals that are coming in are in worse shape than usual—even healthy adults are coming in soaked and ice cold.