Did you know there are hundreds of animal rescue organizations that are always looking for crocheted, knitted, or sewn items? Learn how to crochet for animal rescue and make a difference just using some yarn and your crochet hooks. This covers a super easy and useful idea: crochet bird nests.
And guess what, the animals don’t care if the colors look “cute”, whether it’s made with the newest style of yarn, or if the pattern looks a little funky.
The animals will absolutely appreciate, use, and love what you make for them. No questions asked. Because, animals are just amazing. 🙂
Don’t know how to crochet, but want to learn? Hop over to the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Crochet. This will break down the basics of what you need to learn, in what order, and link you directly to some great resources.
Be the “silver lining”
The truth is, I never thought about crocheting for this reason – I didn’t even know it was ‘a thing’. That was, until the horrible wildfires struck Australia.
Hours after the news of the terrible fires spread across the globe, something happened that I’ve never seen before.
Crocheters, knitters, and sewers from all over the world volunteered to make and ship thousands of items to Australia, in effort to help injured and displaced animals that survived the fires.
An Australia-based rescue group called The Animal Rescue Craft Guild posted on their Facebook page, sharing their need for various items to help the affected wildlife. They asked for crochet bird nests, joey pouches, koala mittens, and hanging bags for kangaroos amongst a few other items.
To set the scene, the Animal Rescue Craft Guild Facebook group had ~1,000 volunteers when it started in 2018. Literally overnight, an outpouring of support came in, and that facebook group was growing by thousands every hour. Thousands upon thousands of crafters jumped right in and started making the requested items and shipped them off (sometimes even to their local hubs – which is what happened in the US to help offset the shipping costs).
The Australian rescue group actually became so inundated with items that they had to ask everyone to pause shipping them while they took stock! How crazy is that?!
It was a silver lining if I’ve ever seen one! The heart-wrenching devastation brought people together to help animals and people they’d never even meet.
I think it’s safe to say, many people had their eyes opened to crocheting for this new reason. Hopefully this will become more and more popular! I think that might be the case, since as of February 2020, the Animal Rescue Craft Guild Facebook group has 233,000 members!!
5 reasons why you should crochet for animal rescue
Reason #1: No judgement
The animals do not care if their nest or blanket is made with the yarn that was handed down to you 8 years ago.
Or if the colors don’t look “cute”.
Or if you missed 1 stitch on the 7th row.
It does not matter! Anything you can crochet and donate will be awesome.
Reason 2: Not everyone has the knowledge & skills to do this
As a crocheter, you may take for granted the skills and knowledge you possess. But guess what… most people do not know how to crochet.
But you do. Use your awesome skills!
Reason #3: It’s a crochet stash-buster
This is the perfect opportunity to use up the yarn for which you just couldn’t find the perfect project. It also gives you something to make with those piles of yarn-ends that you’ve been saving at the bottom of your “Work in Progress (WIP) bag”. Or, more accurately, bags.
The more yarn you clean out, the more room for new yarn in your life. (happy dance!)
Reason #4: Experiment with patterns
Use this opportunity to try out a pattern that you haven’t worked on before. If it doesn’t turn out how you envisioned, that’s okay. Like I said, you can still donate it, and it will bring just as much comfort to the animals.
Your project can serve as a dry run to see if you want to use that pattern again, tweak it a bit, or try something else totally new.
Reason #5: You are helping!!!
Whether these animals are severely injured, displaced, or lonely, these items are requested for a reason – the animals need them. The animal rescue centers won’t ask for donations for something they won’t actually put to good use.
Making and donating these blankets, nests, wraps, etc will allow you to make a difference in the world. Even if you think it’s a small impact, that’s better than no impact!
How can I help?
If this sounds interesting and you would like to try to crochet a bird nest or any other item for animal rescue centers, here are some organizations to check out:
- Animal Rescue Craft Guild – here is their Facebook group
- Relief Crafters of America – here is their Facebook group
- Comfort for critters – Facebook group or their main website https://www.comfortforcritters.org/
Looking to make a more local impact? Google local animal rescue centers in your area. You may be surprised that some already might have a blurb on their website asking for these sorts of donations. If not, give them a call or email to see if they’re interested in some free donations! Chances are, they will welcome any assistance, but if not, no harm done.
What can I make?
Each organization will share the specific items they are in need of, as well as specific details to note. For example, depending in the item, they won’t want super fuzzy yarn, as the animals can chew on it and choke.
Many organizations actually provide the free crochet patterns you can use, dimensions of the item, and which yarn fiber/content you can or can’t use (this is important, as there can be health reasons why certain materials are requested or avoided).
The requested items will vary depending on the Animal rescue group, but here are some examples:
- Crochet bird nests
- Cat beds and dog beds
- Bat wraps
- Joey pouches
- Hanging bags (used for possums, wallabies, sugar gliders, and kangaroos)
- Blankets
Other useful crochet references
I really hope you enjoyed learning about how crochet can be used for animal rescue!
A huge thank you to the FNQ Exotic Haven for the adorable photos of the birds sitting in the bird nests! Pictured are 2 bush stone-curlews siting in a crocheted nest. They rescued these birds, as they were found with no parents 🙁 And a general thank you to them – and all the animal rescue centers out there – for the work you do. You are all AMAZINGLY AWESOME, keep up the great work!
FNQ Exotic Haven is a locally owned and operated shelter based in Cairns, Australia. They offer rescue services for native wildlife, including bats, reptiles, macropods, possums/gliders, wombats and birds. For more information, check them out at https://www.fnqehaven.com/
As always, thanks for following along!
Happy crocheting,
Jennifer
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I have 3 birds nests (1 knitted and 2 crocheted) that I would like to donate. Can you send me an address on where to send them?
Hi Karen, that’s great!! 🙂 Not sure where you live – have a look on the National Audubon Society website and see if you have one close to you – or you can just ship to the nearest one!
Thanks, I will do that.