🧤 Restraint & Physical Exam · 7 min
Reading the animal: the physical exam
Why this matters
Any wild animal a person could catch is almost certainly compromised. The absence of an obvious wound is not evidence of health.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to
- Perform a systematic physical exam using symmetry and observation
- Recognize neurological signs and their differential causes
- Explain why weight, not palpation, is the measure of condition
Always perform a routine physical exam, even when there are no obvious problems. Any wild animal that can be captured easily by a person is most likely in a weak condition, and subtle signs are found only by looking for them.
The simplest rule: bilateral symmetry
The left side should be a mirror image of the right. Anything asymmetrical is a sign of an underlying injury. Work through the animal head to tail comparing sides.
What to observe
- Eyes. Always examine the eyes in suspected head trauma. Pupil size and response to light give clues to brain condition and viability. Bleeding into the chambers of the eye is a common finding after head trauma.
- Breathing pattern. Open mouth breathing and panting suggest hyperthermia and stress, not stability.
- Posture and head position when standing.
- Droppings: color and consistency.
- Hydration (covered in the math unit): skin tent, sunken eyes, mucous membranes. In a bird, sticky, stringy saliva means severe dehydration.
Neurological signs
Circling, head tilt, eyes that quiver or rotate, asymmetrical pupils, staggering, incoordination, difficulty swallowing, and seizures all indicate a central nervous system disorder. The possible causes include trauma, toxins, and disease, and you cannot tell them apart by looking.
Two rules that override curiosity
1. The clinical signs of rabies and distemper are not distinguishable by a rehabilitator. Only laboratory examination can differentiate them. A mammal showing CNS signs should be considered possibly rabid and euthanized, following rabies protocol with your local health department, after confirming whether any human exposure occurred.
2. Any adult wild animal that lets a human approach it closely is most likely sick or injured. Normal healthy wildlife avoids human contact.
Weigh, do not guess
Palpating muscle mass is not as good as weighing the animal. An accurate weight is the starting point for fluid replacement, caloric requirements, drug dosages, and tracking recovery. Small animals are weighed every day or two; larger animals less often. Weight gain is the evidence that your plan is working.
And note: normal body temperature is not 98.6 F for all mammals. It varies by species.
From the field
A woodchuck found beside a road staggers, tilts its head to one side, and has pupils of different sizes. What is the differential? Trauma, toxin ingestion, and disease are all live possibilities, and you cannot separate them by observation. Handle with extreme caution, isolate, and get your cooperating veterinarian involved immediately.
This lesson is part of the NY Wildlife Rehabilitator Exam course. Open it in the course to answer the retrieval checks that go with it, track what you have read, and quiz the whole unit. Lessons, quizzes and the glossary are free.