ORANGE BEACH — There was a problem as residents interested in volunteering at the Orange Beach Wildlife and Rehabilitation Center gathered in the dog trot of the facility's main building.

Not enough chairs. It was a welcome site to workers at the center.

"We ended up having a pretty big turnout compared to what we initially expected," Wildlife Rehab Specialist Brendan Paquin said. "We had a little over 60 people come out. We knew that there was going to be a lot of interest in this first orientation given. We definitely ended up having more people coming out than we had initially planned for."

If you don't like critters, it's mostly mundane work. Volunteers will sweep, mop, do some laundry, wipe down surfaces, refill soap and latex glove dispensers, etc.

"It's not the most glorious work, but is the majority of what we do here and is crucial to the well-being of the animals in our care," Paquin said. "While our volunteers are crucial in helping us in our normal daily tasks, we want our volunteers to really understand what we do and why we do it to help further our communities' understanding of wildlife rehabilitation as a whole."

But volunteers can look forward to seeing those critters as staffers do the hands-on work of rehab, feeding and even treatment of the patients.

"We want our volunteers to experience the exciting part of wildlife rehabilitation as well," Paquin said. "We encourage volunteers to watch as we triage new intakes and make sure they are included when we release animals to get them more involved."

Volunteers will also be trained on how to mix up food for animals at various stages of age like the "nursery" with a large numbers of squirrels, possums and a variety of birds. The center also treats bald eagles, osprey and hawks — two injured hawks are currently recovering at the center — as well as mammals and reptiles found orphaned or in distress by citizens.

"We have officially crossed over 1,000 wildlife patients admitted in 2026," the center posted on its Facebook page. "For reference, we admitted 866 patients for the entirety of 2025. We are seeing a nearly 70% increase in admissions from our previous busiest year."

Making volunteers from the community who lend a hand to busy staffers even more important to the center's mission.

"Volunteers are incredibly important to how we operate and how we plan to continue to grow as a center and program," Paquin said. "Having volunteers doing boots-on-the-ground work in the center allows those interested to get a look at how much work goes into wildlife rehabilitation, while also experiencing how rewarding it is to see these animals recover and grow."

It's all geared to getting babies grown or other animals recovered from injuries or other diseases back out into nature.

"Our mission and goal at the center is purely to be able to help as many animals as possible return to the wild to help our environment and ecosystems thrive," Paquin said. "Having volunteers helps the individual animals get the care that they need while allowing the center to operate in ways we do not have the time and resources to without their help."

Paquin then hopes the volunteer force will spread the word about the good works done at the center.

"They learn more about what wildlife rehabilitation can offer to the community and can help spread the word to those who might be unaware of wildlife rehabilitation and what we do as a center," Paquin said. "The more people understand the importance of wildlife rehabilitation, the more we can do for the animals, which is our ultimate goal."