Wildlife Rehabilitation Summer Internship (raccoon care)

Gordon Wildlife is a raccoon-only Class II RVS wildlife rehabilitation, medical and training microcenter located in rural New York State and licensed through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. We have the only permit for medically non-releasable educational raccoons in New York State and provide permanent sanctuary care for numerous non-releasable raccoons with various ailments, in addition to rehabilitating and releasing over 100 wild, orphaned, or injured raccoons per year. Spring and summer are our busy “baby seasons,” and we care for a large number of orphaned raccoons on two campuses, 15 minutes apart.

Although raccoons are our speciality, there are also other species which occasionally make appearances, depending on the year and circumstances. Raccoons are labor intensive to rehabilitate. This is a hands-on and hard working internship experience with many repetitive but nuanced tasks, including, but not limited to: preparing formula and diets, frequent bottle feeding, cleaning cages, choosing and administering enrichment, observing medical cases, monitoring growth and behavior, helping to administer medications and vaccinations, cleaning outdoor enclosures, maintaining trails and helping to design training and outreach materials.

Interns will also assist in decision-making and observation of intakes, and witness the fielding of questions from the public concerning potentially injured or orphaned animals. They will also take photographs and videos of the work process and will participate in creating educational social media content. As time allows, the intern may also contribute to other aspects of the non-profit’s work. As one of very few medical facilities in New York State that will work with raccoons, Gordon Wildlife has access to an on-site veterinarian and we are increasing our veterinary work. We cannot guarantee medical cases will come in, but we typically treat many medical situations over the season.

Interns interested in learning about veterinary work in general would be welcome to shadow at our unrelated domestic animal surgical practice in their free time. Our summer intern will be expected to work alongside our “baby boot camp” interns who rotate in and out in shorter shifts throughout the season. The intern will be responsible for helping to insure a continuum of care and will follow the raccoons closely through every stage of care, from neonate until release, assisting the “bootcampers” as needed. They will also help us to develop our written SOPs and in-house training notes. Dates of full-length internship: May 10 2025- August 10, 2025

Work hours vary depending on the needs of the animals in care at the time. The schedule averages 8 hours a day, five days a week with 2 days off (not necessarily consecutive and not necessarily Sat/Sun). Bi-weekly totals should not exceed 80 hours. A flexible work schedule may be required, which could involve work performed outside of normal work hours including on weekends and/or holidays.