Wildlife rehabilitation centers want your old Christmas trees

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- The Wisconsin Humane Society's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is in need of about 30 trees at their Milwaukee campus. 

The center uses the old trees to make conditions more natural and comfortable for the animals they are nursing back to health. All they ask is that you take off the lights and ornaments and don't send them any trees with tinsel or artificial snow.

"In our outdoor enclosures, we use these trees as perches and also as ground cover," said Crystal Sharlow-Schaefer of the WI Humane Society. "So we'll stand some of them up how a tree would normally be up, and the birds will often perch in them and we'll lay them on their side so other animals such as opossums can burrow under them. And it just gives them a bigger degree of comfort while in care."

They say a wide range of species enjoy and interact with the trees, including their education ambassador, Iris, the Eastern Screech Owl.

And if you're heading to western Wisconsin in the near future, consider donating your Christmas tree to some big cats.

The Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue and Educational Center in Rock Springs is taking Christmas trees for its large felines. 

You can drop it off at their front gate -- just make sure everything has been taken off of it.