Community Foundation funds new incubators at Oaken Acres

The job of a wildlife rehabilitator is a challenging one but made easier with modern equipment.

In the past, the DeKalb County Community Foundation has funded the purchase of an exam station, an autoclave, and now, two new modern incubators at Oaken Acres Wildlife Center in Sycamore. The incubators are equipped with nebulizers and digital temperature and humidity controls.

Oaken Acres has been using incubators for decades to save the lives of wild orphans that people from DeKalb County rescue and bring to them. From squirrels, raccoons, opossums, foxes and coyotes to nestling birds and ducklings, all newborns need constant and controlled temperature and humidity to increase their rate of survival. These are the most sophisticated units that Oaken Acres has had.

“We are very honored to support Oaken Acres Wildlife Center in the purchase of an incubator to help save the lives of more orphaned and injured wild animals in DeKalb County,” DCCF Grants Director Tiffany McQueen Lewis said in a news release.

“Our support of this organization over the years has helped enable them to better fulfill their mission, and we are proud to be in partnership with such a treasured organization in this county,” Lewis said in the release.

Oaken Acres has cared for more than 25,000 orphaned and injured wild animals since it was founded in 1984 in rural Sycamore. Last year alone, more than 1,300 wild animals made their way to Oaken Acres for help.

For more information about Oaken Acres, visit www.oakenacres.org or follow the center on Facebook.