The strange green snake had been hanging from a tree in her
front yard for days, and finally, the old woman called her
local wildlife rehabilitator. Someone had to come out and
remove it, she insisted. She was sure there was something
wrong with it.
"Have you checked to see if it's still alive?" Robyn
asked.
She knew it was very unusual for a snake to stay in a tree for
several days.
"Yes, it's alive. It hissed at me when I poked it with
a
broom," the old lady reported.
A few hours later, Robyn's assistant returned with the
tree-loving reptile - a member of the rubber snake species
commonly found among small, mischievous children. The lady was
relieved but somewhat embarrassed. Robyn, an experienced
wildlife rehabilitator, wasn't surprised at the odd turn of
events. The public, it seems, often has difficulty correctly
identifying wildlife in trouble, though most can at least
distinguish between the animate and the inanimate.
A more serious problem is the trouble many well-meaning people
have in determining if a baby animal is really an orphan or
abandoned by its parents. Every rehabber has had fawns, baby
birds, and bunnies brought in unnecessarily because worried
humans mistakenly thought they were abandoned.
Many people still believe the old wive's tale that birds won't
go near a baby that's been handled by a human. In fact, most
birds have a very poor sense of smell and probably can't
detect human scent on their offspring who've been carefully
returned to their nest after falling out. Mother deer
frequently leave the kids alone for long periods of time while
they forage for food. Rabbit moms feed their young at dawn and
dusk and my leave them alone most of the day. Instead of
immediately scooping up the "orphans" you should watch
the
nest - at a distance so you won't scare the mother away - for
a day or so.
Young animals' best chance for survival is always to be raised
by its natural mother. Injured animals will probably never be
able to survive on their own, though, and those that are
unreleasable are often incorporated into educational programs
to inform the public about wildlife and the work of
rehabilitation centers. But releasing animals back into their
natural environments is always the prime mission of all
wildlife rehabilitators.
Wildlife rehabilitators come in all sizes and shapes. An
Arizona rehabber tells the story of a 10-year-old boy who
found a fallen nest with an egg in it. The egg hatched during
the day, and the boy's mother called the rehab center to find
out what to do. It was late at night and the hatchling
couldn't be brought in till morning. The volunteer told her to
keep the baby warm and described how baby doves feed right out
of the parents' mouths.
It wasn't until the next evening that the boy called again
to
ask about bringing over the bird. Miraculously, it had
survived thanks to the boy's creative "mothering." He
had
filled a toy Jaws shark with oatmeal and the baby dove
instinctively put his head into the Jaws mouth.
Another rehabber described how her pet poodle, who'd always
wanted pups of her own, too charge of an orphaned bunny,
keeping the tiny baby clean and warm and trying, dutifully to
"nurse" it. The bunny thrived on the poodle's TLC and
was
later released when it was old enough to fend for itself.
Two apparently successful, if somewhat unorthodox
rehabilitations. At least so far no one's reported any
confused doves terrorizing swimmers in small New England towns
or misguided cottontails sporting a poodle cut.
You May Be A Wildlife Rehabilitator If . . .
Wildlife rehabbing is a 24/7-type job and a good sense of
humor may be one of the most essential qualities you need to
keep your sanity. Here's a simple test I found at the Wildlife
Rehabilitation Information Directory's web site to determine
if you're a real rehabber:
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