OKAY, I'VE LEFT A MESSAGE, NOW WHAT? If you have left a message on our answering machine and are are checking out our website in the meantime, here are some tips. If your computer phone line is the number you are awaiting a call back on, please hurry and clear the line! We will try three or four times to call you back, but if the line remains continually busy, we will go on to other things (such as other calls and feeding patients) and it could delay a return call to you by several hours by the time we are able to try again! We triage calls, so if you have an animal hit by a car, on the brink of life and death, that call will be returned before someone checking on the status of a patient they brought us a couple days ago. In other words, we return the calls in the order of how critical they are (and we make that determination since everyone believes their situation needs to be handled right now!) Calls are typically returned within 30 minutes (sometimes much faster). However, depending on how many other calls we have and how crucial they are, it could be longer. If it is a matter of life and death and you do not receive a return call quickly, you can always call the wildlife hospital at the Asheboro Zoo at 336-879-764 4or Kindra Mammone with CLAWS at (919) 619-0776. They can give you temporary advice until you hear back from us. We return calls between 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The first 12 years of our operation, we returned calls 24 hours a day.  Health reasons prevent us from doing so now.  However, you are never left without assistance at any time day or night.  After we close our phones down for the night, emergency numbers and instructions are on the recorder.  We are very fortunate now to have an after-hours veterinarian in our county willing to treat wildlife.  Dr. Melissa Beagle's hospital is in the Alamance Plaza on Alamance Road (the same plaza where the DMV is).  Her building has a large red cross over the door.  You can't miss it. If you choose to leave a message after hours rather than contacting one of the emergency numbers, please keep in mind it does not necessarily mean your call will be returned at precisely 8:30 am. We begin returning calls at that time. It is unlikely yours will be the only one we have to make. Occasionally, we return after hours calls that night, depending on the circumstances and the time. There is absolutely no guarantee, however, and in most cases we do not check the machine until morning. To give the animal the best chance of survival and recovery, we recommend seeking help for him immediately and not waiting until morning. Not only are you prolonging the animal's suffering, but the chances for survival are lessened for every hour that passes. Dr. Beagle does not charge for assisting wildlife, so there is no reason not to get the help you need after hours. As stated on our message, our phone number is permanently blocked. If you have Caller ID and your phone is set up to automatically reject numbers marked Private or Blocked, we will have no way of calling you back unless you turn off that feature by dialing *87. This will allow our call to come through. (We CANNOT unblock our number.) If you aren't sure, go ahead and dial *87. If you don't have that feature, it won't do anything. However, if you do have it and don't realize it, it will allow us to get through. Privacy Director is different than a phone block and cannot be turned off with *87.  You should have instructions with your phone on how to turn it off and on.  If you don't turn it off, we can (and will) still return the call, but it is a tedious and lengthy process to get through.  Some Privacy Directors are set up such that we can leave a message if there is no answer, but a surprising number are not.  If your system does not allow a message to be left after going through that entire process, it will become your responsibility to call us back.  I wish we had time to keep calling and go through the lengthy procedure, but we have hungry patients waiting! If you are calling long distance, when we return the call, we will kindly ask you to call us right back.  Every penny counts! One other courtesy we ask of you.  When we do return your call, unless you are expecting a call from a physician or hospital, please do not keep putting us on hold while you answer Call Waiting.  We are professionals doing this work for no pay.  We want to help you and we want to help the wild animal in need.  While on the phone with you, we will give you our full attention and ask that you do the same for us. While waiting for our call, keep the animal warm, somewhere quiet (away from human type noises such as people talking, the television, radio, etc.), and resist the urge to continually check on him. Each time he sees you, it stresses him even further. Do not give the animal anything to eat or drink until you have talked to a wildlife specialist. If you feel the animal will die without something, you can administer rehydrating fluids to a mammal (do NOT put fluids in a bird's mouth!) as long as the animal can swallow. Many animals that come in are dehydrated so fluids will be helpful. Do not give milk or milk products and do not give plain water. Be prepared when we call to be asked a lot of questions. Since we cannot see the animal, it is the only way we can ascertain the species, what type injuries it has, if it is in need of help or can be returned to the parents, etc. The questions may seem extensive, but they are necessary for the well-being of the animal. Depending on the species and circumstances, you may be asked to do a simple, rudimentary exam on the patient, or you might be asked to get the animal in a box for you to transport to us. Please note that your willingness to do so is at your own risk. We cannot be responsible if you are injured in any way. We will, of course, advise you on the best way to avoid further injury to the animal and to avoid you getting hurt as well, but anything can happen. If you do not hear back from us in a reasonable period of time, please call again and leave another message in case your previous message did not record. Our answering machine is voice-activated, so if you speak too softly, it may not record (also, if you leave long pauses, the machine will cut off). Other reasons you may not hear from us are: you forgot to leave your phone number (that happens a lot), you forgot to leave an area code (to return long distance or toll calls, we need your area code!); or you have a Caller ID block on your phone and we literally cannot get through. We return ALL calls...therefore, if we do not return yours, it means one of the above has happened.