The Wildlife Center of Virginia, based in Waynesboro, didn't have as many patients last year as in years past.

It admitted more than 1,000 birds and 2,300 animals total, but that's down about five percent from 2009.

Wildlife officials say the decrease isn't because fewer animals are getting hurt. It's because of the hard winter in 2010, which meant fewer humans were out and about finding them.

"People were not able to get out and poke around. They weren't driving very much and the animals that were weakened or injured during that harsh, harsh weather, honestly, probably didn't survive," explains the center's president, Ed Clark.

Clark says the hard winter meant fewer squirrels were around in spring, but with plenty of acorns to go around, he says nature has already bridged that gap.

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