{"id":548430,"date":"2026-03-20T06:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548430\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T06:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T06:23:08","slug":"muskrat-rescued-from-moose-jaw-street-puts-spotlight-on-wildlife-volunteers-in-moose-jaw-discovermoosejaw-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548430\/","title":{"rendered":"Muskrat rescued from Moose Jaw street puts spotlight on wildlife volunteers in Moose Jaw – DiscoverMooseJaw.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

A frightened muskrat found hiding under a car on a busy Moose Jaw street is back in the wild after a successful rescue, thanks to local volunteers with the Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan\u00a0(WRSOS)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Far from home: an unusual rescue in the city\u00a0<\/p>\n

The muskrat was discovered Friday under a vehicle on Athabasca Street, far from any nearby water, prompting concern from residents who tried to gently guide it to safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, the animal retreated further under the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0know what was going on with him, and he was\u00a0literally terrified. It took him a little bit of time to relax,\u00a0eat\u00a0and calm down before he was released,\u201d said\u00a0executive director Bonnie Dell. \u201cWe think he might have been chased by a dog or something,\u00a0because\u00a0there was no open water around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the call came in, a local rescue volunteer responded and safely\u00a0contained\u00a0the animal. It was then placed in a quiet environment to recover from the stress of being in a busy urban setting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At first, its\u00a0behaviour\u00a0raised concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very, very quiet at first, which concerned us,\u201d Dell said.\u00a0\u201cWe thought that\u00a0maybe he\u00a0was sick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

By\u00a0the\u00a0next morning, the muskrat had rebounded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOvernight he ate and made a nice little bed for himself\u2026 and by morning he was quite defensive against rescuers, so we knew he could be released.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A return to safety\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rescuers then worked with wildlife rehabilitation partners to\u00a0identify\u00a0a suitable release location nearby. Warmer weather helped\u00a0open up\u00a0local water, creating the right conditions for release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The muskrat was returned to a wetland area within about a\u00a0kilometre\u00a0of where it was found.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to be careful where we released him because he would have had a cache of food somewhere to get through the winter,\u201d Dell explained. \u201cWe\u00a0don’t\u00a0ever want to take them out of their territories because they know where\u00a0it’s\u00a0safe.\u00a0They have shelter, they know where to find food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moose Jaw among busiest areas for wildlife calls\u00a0<\/p>\n

The call is one of many coming from the Moose Jaw area, which has become a hotspot for wildlife incidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has\u00a0become\u00a0our third busiest place for calls after Saskatoon and Regina,\u201d Dell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dell noted that Moose Jaw hosts a\u00a0rather large\u00a0urban wildlife population,\u00a0attributed in no small part to the\u00a0Wakamow\u00a0River area and the connection to the Qu\u2019Appelle Valley on the city\u2019s east side.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys have a lot of wildlife there, a lot of urban wildlife as well,\u201d said Dell, adding that Moose Jaw is the provincial\u00a0hotspot for skunk calls. \u201cWe have a\u00a0really good\u00a0team of volunteers in Moose Jaw, so\u00a0we’re\u00a0very lucky, and that\u00a0you’re\u00a0so close to Regina, so we can quickly get animals into\u00a0the\u00a0(Salthaven\u00a0West\u00a0Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre),\u00a0which is great.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WRSOS also works closely with local partners, including the Moose Jaw Animal Clinic, to ensure rescued wildlife\u00a0are able to\u00a0return to their natural habitats in a quick and safe manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read More:<\/p>\n

Spring recruitment window now open\u00a0<\/p>\n

With spring approaching \u2014 the busiest time of year for wildlife calls \u2014 the organization is now in its annual recruitment period.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only onboard rescue volunteers in the month of March,\u201d Dell said. \u201cIt\u2019s a one-month window to apply to be a volunteer, and then we would do the rescue training in April.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With demand for their services constantly increasing, the group is eager to welcome new members to its Moose Jaw team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said many volunteers stay involved long-term, with some remaining with the organization for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dell added that while rescue training is done in a limited window in the spring, transport volunteers, who help move animals between locations, are accepted year-round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rescuers brace for spring surge\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Wildlife Rescue Society responds to calls across Saskatchewan every day of the year, relying on trained volunteers and partners to help injured or displaced animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here every day,\u00a0365 days\u00a0a year,\u201d Dell said, adding that with warmer temperatures arriving, that demand is expected to increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are bracing ourselves for impact right now as the weather warms up.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

How residents can get involved\u00a0<\/p>\n

If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0interested in becoming a part of the WRSOS rescue team, the window to do so is\u00a0closing\u00a0at the end of the month. Visit their website for more information about the organization<\/a>, to apply to volunteer, and donate to help save\u00a0wildlife throughout the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For regular updates on the animals rescued by the WRSOS, check out their social media pages<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A frightened muskrat found hiding under a car on a busy Moose Jaw street is back in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-548430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}