As the weather warms, wildlife rescues struggle to accommodate all of the injured and orphaned baby songbirds that arrive at their shelter.
Last month, the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue of Charlotte, North Carolina made a post on their Facebook page requesting people to send in knitted nests for the chicks. And to their delight, thousands responded to their request.
The rescue says that since nesting season is always their busiest time of year, their shelter will often take in as many as 3,000 birds in need of care. However, if the chicks aren’t able to properly mature from the safety of a nest, they will grow up to have splayed legs.
Fortunately their post was shared hundreds of times, and the shelter quickly became flooded with thousands of hand-knitted nests, messages of encouragement, and greeting cards from all over the country.
“We could always use a [few] more and even if we don’t use them, we can send them to other people who we know that does need them,” shelter wildlife rehab specialist Bayleigh MacHaffie told WGRZ.
“It really makes it a personal experience,” she told the news outlet. “It is a huge relief for us to get in these things and I mean you’re helping us. So we would love to be able to sort of see who’s on the other side of this nest and know you’re appreciated.”