The Wildlife Intake Center (WIC) Internship provides hands-on experience in the Gold Country Wildlife Rescue (GCWR) clinic working with injured and orphaned wildlife. Interns learn basic animal caretaking procedures, medical protocols, and in-depth species identification and natural histories. Interns will work alongside staff and other volunteers/interns to complete all tasks associated with animal rehabilitation. Interns will primarily work in the WIC helping with cage cleaning, animal feeding, medication distribution and other daily tasks. Some duties, however, may include animal pick-ups from vets, or special projects as needs arise.
Interns are expected to work at least 16 hours per week for a total minimum commitment of 200+ hours. Interns are also required to attend training sessions, provided by GCWR, during their internship.
Internship Location: Auburn, CA
Start/End Date: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and admitted based on preset orientation dates. However, the best time to intern with us is during our busy baby season. Anytime from March through October we received our largest amount of animal intakes. During these months interns get to see and work with the largest variety of species.
Orientations are typically held February, April, June, and August. Additional orientations are held as needed. Dates can be flexible depending on intern availability and seasonal needs. If interested in a specific timeframe, please contact volunteers@goldcountrywildliferescue.org for additional information.
Salary: Unpaid
Minimum Age Requirement: 18+ years
Minimum Time Commitment: At least 16 hours per week, for a minimum total of 200+ hours over the course of the internship session.
Housing/Transportation: No housing or transportation is provided to interns by GCWR. All housing and transportation arrangements are the responsibility of the intern.
Intern Duties:
Medical Care Assistance: Work alongside staff members in animal medical examinations, preparing and administering medications, tracking medications per individual patient, and administering treatments (such as physical therapy, wing wraps, and leg splints).
Food Prep: Interns will be responsible for making and distributing liquid and solid foods for all species of wildlife that comes through the WIC for care. Finch and Sparrow Diet, and Exact are examples of some of the liquid foods that may be necessary during each internship session. Other examples of food prep include mixing appropriate seed dishes, offering and caring for meal worms, cleaning and distributing appropriate fruits, vegetables
and other miscellaneous diet ingredients.
Cleanliness and Maintenance: As an animal caretaker, interns (along with all staff and volunteers) are responsible for maintaining a clean working environment and ensuring our patients are kept in a clean habitat. Some examples of daily chores include laundry, washing dishes, sweeping floors, replacing enclosure liners, caring for lab equipment, and performing facility repairs.
Records: Interns are responsible for keeping accurate animal records on intake, medication, and feeding sheets. Intake sheets will keep up to date progress of an individual patient’s history in GCWR’s care. Medication sheets track an individual’s medication history. Such examples might include: pain management, parasite treatment, or infection treatment. Feeding sheets track an individual’s daily routine. From how often an enclosure is replenished with fresh water or additional food trays, to the exact amount of liquid food a specific animal is fed each hour over the course of that animal’s care at GCWR.
Hands-on experience: Interns will be expected to learn various animal handling and feeding techniques in order to care for wildlife patients properly. Physically handling these animals is a crucial part of this position but is never done without consideration and caution. There is no “cuddling” in this organization and every task performed on behalf of GCWR is done with the ultimate goal of releasing injured and orphaned wildlife back into their natural habitats.
Qualifications:
Required:
Desired: