since the April edition, many spring and summer orphans have arrived, all
requiring specialized feedings, care, and housing. Admitted just over the past few months have been 30 fawns, 4 gray foxes, two river otters, countless songbirds, ducklings, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, turtles, squirrels, bobcat, and armadillos. Our volunteers have been running relentlessly day and night on rescue missions, inundated with babies to feed, overloaded with on site chores, and all of us are a bit worn out but with no end in sight. We never get up in the morning saying, "Gee, what will I do today?" Our schedules are preordained except when interrupted by
the emergencies, and, oh, the emergencies occur non-stop. Why do we put ourselves through this taxing and tiring ordeal? We do it for the wild ones, the innocents who require us to save their lives. If we don't carry out this work, there is noone else to do so, and these precious lives will be lost. We can endure aching backs, fatigue, illnesses, and forsaking any time off rather than to face the loss of a life. We salute our volunteers-heroes all!

What I Learned From You By Carol Hardee (03/09)

For endless days, I treated wounds of injured baby fox,
 And never once did he attempt to bite or snap at me.
With patience that I ne'r observed, he tolerated all.
Those golden eyes absorbed the scene of all that he could see.

With every day, the bandages were changed upon his limbs,
Yet in those trying months he kept his calm the whole day through.
Then, finally, the day came when all the hurt was gone.
Oh, baby, dear, pure patience is what I learned from you.

Chocolate colored marsh rabbit bore a gash across his middle,
 And when I saw the damage done, I sadly shook my head.
Then, anyway, I stitched him up for slim chance there might be
 And placed him on a heating pad in softest flannel bed.

The morning burst forth golden rays, but I could feel no joy
 So certain that the rabbit had succumed and would be dead.
When I lifted back the covers, my own gasp was all I heard,
For there was spunky bunny munching carrots in his bed.

A week passed by; his tummy pealed and the stitches I removed.
 Then one month more, I took him out to wooded bramble view
And watched him hop away from me so vibrant, fit, and strong.
Oh, bunny, love, sheer fortitude is what I learned from you.

From each and every wildling that comes to me for care,
 I find a reason to exist, to ease suffering and pain.
They give me strength and solace in their own courageous way,
So this great fight continues on- we win and win again.