By Claire Massaro
Wildlife rehabilitation is, for most, not something that comes to mind often. For those who work in the field, however, it almost entirely takes over one’s life. I would know – I have spent the last two years working at one. With all of the new people and experiences, it has consumed mine. One shift a week turned into three before the first year was up, and during the busy season I was spending twelve or more hours a week volunteering at Chintimini Wildlife Center here in Corvallis, OR.
As any rehabber will tell you, the work is stressful and complicated. Even as a new and inexperienced volunteer, the lives of hundreds of patients fall on you. The process of taking in an injured animal, assessing its health status, and giving it the proper care it needs with the end goal of release back into the wilderness is a long, difficult process. Even the lowest priority jobs, like washing laundry and dishes, can cause severe complications if allowed to back up. For the most of my first year working there, we had what was unaffectionately yet aptly dubbed Laundry Mountain: several large piles of excessively filthy laundry that laid on the ground next to our spray-off station that alternately soaked up the unending Oregon rainwater and baked in the sun, turning the streaks of guano into a glue-like crust that could not be removed. The idea behind the spray-off station was to remove large chunks of feces and other soilage before moving the laundry to washing machines to aid in the clean-up process. However, Laundry Mountain proved the flaw in the system. When volunteers would avoid this less-than glamorous job, the dirty laundry would accumulate in the grass and become increasingly difficult to clean. After a certain point, the laundry is no longer salvageable and must be thrown out and replaced.
Replacement was only possible when opportunity arose. As a member of the animal care staff at Chintimini, Katie Jackim, says, “we get all of our resources and funding through donations.” Towels, blankets, pillowcases, dishes, and food come from members of the public. This relationship is essential to any rehabber’s job – they bring us donations and patients, and we educate them about animals and the benefits or rehabilitation. A large portion of the information that is made available to the public comes from specific education programs that are usually separate from the clinics of rehab centers. The education center at Chintimini is formally titled the Raptor Education Program, which acts as a different department from the clinic where the animal care work takes place. The REP is comprised of its own volunteer base, with certain people taking over the training of what are called raptor ambassadors. These ambassadors are birds of prey that come in initially as rehab patients, but for some reason are unable to be released into the wild. They have the job of aiding in our public outreach efforts by interacting with the public at a variety of events. While the REP is largely separated from the clinic where rehabilitation occurs, it allows us to spread awareness of our cause. “If our name is out there, people will know who to call,” Katie adds.
audience of visitors. Taken with permission from the Chintimini Wildlife Center Facebook
page.
This relationship is somewhat symbiotic. If the public does not know about the presence of a wildlife rehabilitation center, then they do not know where to take an injured or orphaned animal they may come across. The more people know about rehab, the more animals come in to clinics, and more are released back into the ecosystem. While we may only receive a tiny percentage of animals that are affected by human presence, like those that are hit by cars or caught by pet cats, I view rehabilitation as an attempt to mitigate ecological damage that human activity causes. This is difficult because of how few and far between rehabilitation centers are – in the state of Oregon there are 30 licensed wildlife rehabilitators, many of which are veterinarians and not dedicated wildlife centers. Compare that to the roadkill that can be seen on the I-5 corridor during migration season, and one might wonder what good could actually be done.
Katie shares a similar view to my own. Her four-year career in wildlife rehabilitation is longer than mine, but in comparison to others’ it is just beginning. She says, “Every animal that gets released is an animal that can play its role in the ecosystem once again. Whereas if we weren’t here, ecosystems would lose their members faster and in greater numbers because of human impact.” This is why reintroduction is so important, and is our main goal at Chintimini. All of the public outreach and educational programming we put on would be meaningless without this important aspect. Everything we do is with the aim of eventually releasing the animals that come in, from intake to the last day at the clinic. We ensure they eat a diet appropriate for the species, stay in enclosures that minimize stress and allow them to behave naturally. We give birds time to build up flight muscles by moving them to larger flight cages for pre-release conditioning. And, most importantly, we minimize contact with people to prevent what is known as habituation.
Habituation is the process of an animal getting used to human contact. This could mean associating people with food or losing fear of people. This is particularly common in orphaned wildlife that are raised by people. At rehab centers, we take steps to prevent this so that the animals can behave naturally once they grow up enough to be released. For mammals, this means shortening any necessary contact involved in feeding and cleaning. Many birds, particularly raptors, can grow accustomed to seeing people, so we cut holes in pillowcases and wear them as masks to hide our faces. We often put mirrors in enclosures with baby birds to let them see what members of their own species look like as they grow up. All this and more is what is necessary for a wild animal to grow up without becoming habituated. The effort is worth it, however, when it’s time for release.
rescuing. Taken with permission from the Chintimini Wildlife Center Facebook page.
Unfortunately, wildlife rehabilitators are not the only people that want to take care of injured and orphaned wildlife. I say this is unfortunate because wildlife rehabilitation is a very specialized field that is highly regulated to have the best possible practices. Information necessary for the proper care of wildlife is hard to find, and that is somewhat intentional. This is because attempting to hold and care for wildlife without the proper permits is actually illegal in the state of Oregon, a fact that few people are aware of. Logically, it makes sense; the strict regulation of wildlife rehabilitation allows only the best care to be given to wildlife in need, and prevents animals from getting sick or dying solely because they are not receiving the correct care when they otherwise could easily be treated.
Wildlife centers take great pains to obtain and keep their permits. We have to meet certain requirements outlined by laws that are enforced by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and follow correct protocol on a day-by-day basis. In that way, we can be sure that we are giving the wildlife that come in the best possible chance to be reintroduced to their native homes, provide public outreach, and maintain relationships with other rehab centers and government agencies that are involved in wildlife management.
Wildlife law enforcement is a relationship that Chintimini would not survive without. Other than the fact that they preside over our day-to-day activities, there are other mutual benefits to being in their good books. Law enforcement officers often get calls about injured wildlife from people that are unaware of rehab centers in their area. They then contact us and we either go out and find the animal or the officer brings it in to the clinic (if they are particularly kind-hearted). In addition, rehab centers send information to law enforcement in cases such as someone illegally holding a wild animal, harm to a protected species, or illegal hunting activity. Just last year, Chintimini received calls about two Mallard ducks that had been shot with blow darts. We found out about them because the ducks were seen wandering around a park in Albany, Oregon with the bright orange darts plainly visible to people passing through the park.
One duck had a dart in his thigh, causing problems with walking, running, and swimming. The other was even less fortunate; the dart had penetrated the upper portion of the bird’s bill and gone through its tongue, preventing him from being able to eat. Luckily they were brought in before it was too late and were eventually able to be released. The use of blow darts for hunting within city limits is illegal, and this incident was reported to law enforcement, but the perpetrator was never caught.
Wildlife centers also call in help from law enforcement when they hear of a member of the public attempting to hold and rehab a wild animal. We sometimes get calls from people asking for advice about how to take care of an injured or orphaned animal they came across. We refuse to give them that information, tell them the laws surrounding unpermitted wildlife rehabilitation, and ask that person to bring in the animal, but occasionally one of these calls will need more forceful action. If the person does not believe us when we inform them of the law, or they willfully ignore that law, a rehabber must call in law enforcement to get help on the matter. As they are the ones that uphold the regulations, they need to be involved.
This is one reason why rehabbers consider education an integral part of their practice. By making the public aware of the illegality of keeping wildlife, and how improper care can harm those animals, hopefully fewer animals meet that fate. However, it seems like social media sites like Facebook have the opposite goals. Almost every day, I see a video that is supped to be cute of someone with a pet bird or squirrel that they found “orphaned” (often these orphaned animals are actually just kidnapped) and raised illegally. These animals are almost always habituated. Habituated animals are not considered suitable for release by rehabbers, as they are not taught proper behaviors to survive in the wild, and also are too friendly to people. Animals that are not afraid of people tend to find themselves in dangerous situations more often, because they are not scared off by traffic, people, or pets.
All of this is part of a wildlife rehabilitator’s daily routine, from taking calls about injured wildlife to helping with medical procedures. Rehabilitation encompasses much more than just the care of wildlife. Education, communication, and community outreach are integral parts of the job, from new volunteer to long-term staff member. Through better conversation with the public, rehabbers and outsiders can continue to help and learn from each other. And by sharing what we know, we can all work together to help care for the animals that so many people love.
Castor Magazine 