Wildlife Rescue Center seeks donations to care for influx of turtles

BALLWIN, Mo. – The Wildlife Rescue Center rehabilitates up to 3,500 wild animals each year. Right now, they're asking for supplies for their injured turtles as winter is right around the corner.

At present, the facility is home to about 40 turtles in need.

"This time of year, we have an influx of injured turtles, box turtles, snapping turtles, and other water turtles that come to us because they've been hit by a car, or they're sick or something else has gone wrong," Kim Rutledge, the executive director of the Wildlife Rescue Center, said.

These turtles don't have enough time to rehabilitate and return to the wild and hibernate. They need a lot of time to acclimate in the wild before they're able to do that.

"So, the ones that we have with us here today will be the ones that we have with us until late spring," Rutledge said. "So that's going to be a number of months and they're going to go through a lot of supplies."

The Wildlife Rescue Center is a non-profit organization that depends solely on donations. They keep a wish list of their needs on Amazon that can be found through their website, mowildlife.org .

When can St. Louis expect to see the first snow this year?

"Right now, at the top of our list are heat bulbs for our turtles and also full spectrum light bulbs, so that we can kind of simulate summer year-round indoors for them to help them heal," Rutledge said.

The center can always use paper towels and other items on the list, such as things needed for feeding and cleaning.

"We definitely rely on the community to help us to get these animals better so that they can return to the wild," Rutledge said.

You can stay up to date with the wildlife rescue center's wish lists on their website and social media .