Raven Ridge Wildlife Center's second annual Baby Wildlife Shower will be bigger and better than the inaugural event, director Tracie Young said.

The baby shower will be held Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Columbia Crossing River Trails Center, 41 Walnut St., Columbia. There is no admission fee, and everyone is welcome.

There will be face painting and a photo booth, crafts, games, food trucks, and a flower truck, as well as merchandise for sale. "We will have lots of neat, unique things," Young said.

Dragon Wings Falconry will bring birds. For a donation, attendees can hold an owl on their gloved hand. Young will bring some of Raven Ridge's wildlife and is also promising a special surprise visitor.

Kids will be able to "adopt" a stuffed animal that comes with a crate, blanket, and certificate of adoption.

Last year's baby shower attracted more than 500 visitors. "We knew some people were going to show up, but we had no idea how many," said Young. "This year is going to be even bigger."

Young will give presentations, telling people what to do and what not to do if they find a baby animal.

Keeping with the baby shower theme, Raven Ridge has a wish list on Amazon, and there will be tables to place gifts on at the shower.

"Baby season is one of our most expensive times of the year, because everything is having babies," Young said. "If a mom skunk gets hit by a car, there might be eight kits, and now we have eight babies we have to bring in. This is the busiest time of the year and the most expensive. Each species has species-specific formulas. That's very costly. Incubators run 24 hours a day."

Raven Ridge Wildlife Center, which is located in Washington Boro, is a registered nonprofit that does not receive any federal, state, or local funding. "We need to find creative ways of getting funding so we can keep doing what we do," said Young. "We can only do it with the community's support."

The center specializes in birds of prey. "We rehabilitate injured, orphaned, and abandoned wildlife," Young said. "Our goal is to get them back out in their environment."

Raven Ridge will celebrate its 10th anniversary in May. It covers 17 counties. "We are also one of 13 centers licensed in the state to work with rabies vector species," said Young. "We rehabilitate raccoons, foxes, skunks, and bats. We also work with waterfowl."

People have driven three hours one way to bring in an injured animal, said Young. The center's 45 volunteers are trained to do everything, which comes in handy in the spring. "When the babies start coming in, we will have three shifts because a lot of these animals need round-the-clock feeding," Young said.

Young was unsure what she was getting into 15 years ago when she was inspired to become involved in wildlife rehabilitation following the Horizon oil spill in April of 2010, which was caused by a drilling rig exploding and sinking in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I wanted to go down and help clean," she said. "I got on the waiting list, and then Horizon called me back and said the only people allowed down there were wildlife rehabilitators. I didn't know what a wildlife rehabilitator was. That kind of got the ball rolling."

Young said Pennsylvania is one of the most difficult states in which to be licensed. She volunteered at a center and worked alongside a rehabilitator to gain firsthand experience prior to taking the necessary exams through the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"It's not for everybody," Young said. "It's seven days a week, 365 days a year. With wildlife emergencies, you're pretty much on call all the time."

She enjoys the unpredictability of the work. "Every day is different," Young said. "You don't know what's coming in. You don't know what challenges will come through our door."

For more information about Raven Ridge Wildlife Center and the baby shower, search for "Raven Ridge Wildlife Center" on Facebook or go to https://ravenridgewildlifecenter.org.