"We started it on a farm that my wife and I lease from her parents, a converted horse barn. What started off to be a hobby took on a life of its own," Clark said, explaining that the non-profit Wildlife Center of Virginia, now located outside of Waynesboro, has seen phenomenal growth since then.

The first year it opened, the Center took in 125 to 150 animals. These days, the average is closer to 2500 annually.

"Almost every animal coming to our door has suffered either directly or indirectly from human activity. That includes everything from the ignorant behavior of well-motivated people picking up baby animals thinking them to be orphans to the malicious wounding and deliberate poisoning of wildlife," Clark said.

"But the leading cause of injury coming in here is house cats and the damage our pets do to wildlife is certainly the most frequently seen injury to wildlife. One in five injured animals coming in here has been attacked by a cat and another one in five has been hit by a car."

The Center treats just about every species of wildlife, and its patients are a testimony to the region's diversity of wildlife.

"We used to have elk and buffalo here in the Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia. Places like Elkton and Buffalo Gap are named for the animals that once lived there. But we still have literally hundreds of species that call the Valley and western Virginia home -- certainly everything from black bear and whitetail deer to bobcats and foxes," Clark said.

"With our bird population we have an incredible diversity of birds that change with the seasons because western Virginia is one of the main migratory routes north and south for birds. So we have birds that winter in the tropics that migrate right through western Virginia on their way to Canada where they will nest in the springtime and spend their summers," he continued.

"Afton Mountain is one of the most densely visited hawk migration points in all of North America. There have been days when thousands and thousands of hawks have been counted in a single day crossing Afton Mountain."

Clark said that living with such diversity of wildlife is an opportunity as well as a responsibility.

"There are many things people living in rural communities can do to make their homes or their property more hospitable to local wildlife... attracting wildlife to your property enhances the ambiance of living in an area, but it can also bring many benefits," he said.

Clark suggested doing simple things like feeding the birds in a safe environment (away from cats and hazardous lawn chemicals) and putting up bird houses. He said that people can also plan their yard and property in a way that is beneficial not only to the animals but to themselves since naturalized plantings are usually low maintenance.

"A lot of people are embracing the concept of landscaping for wildlife and there's all kinds of information available on that," he said.