Learn about the very busiest time of year for Wildlife Center staff, students, and volunteers -- baby season! Spring is a time for new life; many species of wild animals are giving birth or laying eggs and caring for young throughout much of the spring. It's also the time of year when people are more active; as the warm weather approaches, humans spend more time in their yards and gardens and in the great outdoors. This increased activity of both humans and wild animals can put us all in more direct contact with one another. There are a number of misinformation and misconceptions about young wild animals; learn from the Wildlife Center staff how to best help young animals stay in the wild with their parents. UNTAMED looks at the wild and often perilous world of wildlife, as seen through the eyes of the patients of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, a non-profit teaching and research hospital for native wildlife.

Learn about one of the biggest impacts that humans have on their environment—Litter. It isn’t just an aesthetic problem; it has serious impacts on habitats, wildlife health, as well as human health and safety. The consequences of even small acts of littering can be far-reaching and long-lasting. Join the Wildlife Center staff and watershed conservation authorities to learn more about the problems litter can pose, as well as a variety of ways that you can help reduce litter.

Students build small-sized prototypes of mountain rescue litters rescue baskets for use in hard-to-get-to places, such as mountainous terrain to evacuate an injured person (modeled by a potato) from the backcountry. Groups design their litters within constraints: they must be stable, lightweight, low-cost, portable and quick to assemble. Students demonstrate their designs in a timed test during which they assemble the litter and transport the rescued person (potato) over a set distance.

 Water is the great architect of Earth and a defining factor for the location and movement of life on this planet. Without water, our world would look very different; without the watersheds which capture, coalesce, move, and recycle water throughout a natural system, human and wildlife habitats would not be the same. Freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes are some of the most heavily utilized and pressured natural systems on the planet; these critical habitats have taken the brunt of negative human actions for years. Now, more than ever, we must learn to safeguard our watersheds for the protection of all life that depends on them.For more information and classroom activities, please visit The Wildlife Center of Virginia and VPM UNTAMED websites.