Giving wildlife a second chance!

Walden’s Puddle is proud to be the only professionally staffed wildlife rehabilitation and education facility in Middle Tennessee.  We are located on 14 rolling acres in northwest Davidson County in Joelton, TN – just outside of Nashville. With each passing year, the demand for our services grows. Last year, we admitted more than 1,700 animals into our facility.   Should you find an injured or orphaned wild animal, we invite you to call our Wildlife Hotline at (615) 299-9938.

Walden’s Puddle was created in 1989 as a home-based rehabilitation center. In 1991, Walden’s Puddle was incorporated and established as
a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

The mid 90’s saw Walden’s Puddle searching for a new home and it wasn’t long before the perfect site was found: a 14.5 acre tract of rolling hills with a natural spring fed creek and a small residence in Joelton, Tennessee. Located within Metro-Davidson County, the property was close enough to Nashville to be a very short drive, but distant enough from the hubbub of the city; Joelton was the perfect location.

Vicky has moved on to other ventures, but what she began continues to grow.   Today Walden’s Puddle may still be found on this same beautiful stretch of land, but our building has grown a bit.

The facility is a converted home. Downstairs is dedicated to various functions: a mammal room, bird room, exam/emergency room, nursery, kitchen/diet prep room and more. Upstairs houses our administrative offices: Executive director, Animal Care Manager and Educational Outreach Coordinator, as well as the Admission Lobby and Educational Animal Exhibits.

Outdoors you will find the Acclimation Enclosures and Aviaries for rehabbed animals to acclimate to environmental conditions before release. We also have Educational Animal Exhibits for our resident non-releasable animals.

To provide care to sick, injured and orphaned native Tennessee wildlife and to provide educational experiences to the community, allowing for a greater understanding and appreciation of wildlife.

Making Tracks for Wildlife 5K/Race Results
4/23/2007
It was a busy Earth Day celebration for the staff, volunteers and critters of Walden's Puddle!  We were all up before sunrise preparing for our second annual Making Tracks for Wildlife 5K ...

Happenings 2007 & Making Tracks for Wildlife 5K
3/2/2007
2007 has been relatively calm so far here at the Puddle.  Mild winter weather has been advantageous to animals and has kept us from becoming snowed in…or out… of our Center, well more than onc...

Happy Holidays!
12/22/2006 Wildlife Update!
As another year draws to a close, we pause for a moment to reflect on the year past.  Successes: there were many, such as the first year using the new fawn corral and the numerous first ye...

Walden's Puddle on Animal Planet!
12/11/2006
Tune in Monday, December 11 at 7pm or 10 pm or Tuesday, December 12 at 2 am or 1 pm central to Animal Planet network's show "Backyard Habitat."  Walden's Puddle will appear i...

Winter Wildlife
12/11/2006
Greetings! Welcome to another Wildlife Update.As the days become shorter and colder, we are reminded that winter is onlya few weeks away. Granted, here at Walden's Puddle, winter me...

Thanksgiving Turkeys!
11/29/2006
With Thanksgiving being celebrated tomorrow, we decided to focus on thebird that makes us all go gobble, gobble!  Yes, as well as the Butterball,Tennessee is home to the Wild Turkey, whic...

Say What?
10/2/2006 Wildlife Update!
Walden's Puddle - "Giving Wildlife a Second Chance" Greetings!  Welcome to another Wildlife Update!Here at Walden’s Puddle we are still receiving a steady flow of fall<b...

Steve Irwin: a wildlife warrior
9/26/2006 Wildlife Update!
September 13, 2006 As most of you probably already know, wildlife lost a true friend this past week.  Steve Irwin, a.k.a the Crocodile Hunter, was killed last Monday by a sti...

The Eagles have landed!
9/26/2006
August 30, 2006 Exciting things have been happening at the Puddle this summer. Despite the heat, we have been fortunate enough to have several Boy Scouts do their service projects, to...

And an osprey in a pear tree...
9/26/2006 Wildlife Update!
August 16, 2006 Greetings! Welcome to another Wildlife Update. Two weeks ago, we began to receive our second batch of baby squirrels. Every year Walden’s Puddle will receive two ...

Walden's in the news, wildlife & global warming
9/26/2006 Wildlife Update!
August 2, 2006 Greetings! Welcome to another Wildlife Update. As the familiar story goes, we are still extremely busy here at the Puddle. Most of us would say we are close to pull...

Reptiles & Amphibians Matter Too
7/6/2006
Summer has arrived in Tennessee, and this means Walden’s Puddle is at the peak of our season. Warmer weather means that more and more animals are active and unfortunately that means more and more ca...

No events are scheduled at this time. Please check back soon!

Found an injured or orphaned animal?
Call our Wildlife Hotline at(615)-299-9938

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OUR GOAL:
The goal at Walden’s
Puddle is to return as many wild animals as possible to nature. No animal is turned away as long as we have adequate funds. We are
not species-specific, instead choosing to assist all wild
animals in need.