Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 8, 1990 TAG: 9004060432
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Currently there are a bunch of familiar faces under her care. Many local school children have pet "Buzzy" buzzard, a vulture too domesticated to release into the wild. They have seen what a BB pellet can do to the eyes of a small bird and watched an opossum struggle to move on legs that did not receive proper nutrition in its first few months of life.
A pen with solid walls was recently built to house deer. When the volunteers at the Center hide behind the wall to feed orphaned fawns with bottles, the young deer will not imprint on their human caretakers. The hope is that they will not become domesticated.
A wild animal that grows up with a human family and its pets can be very vulnerable when it comes in contact with people or dogs and cats who are not part of its "family." Many of the permanent residents of the center have had their natural instincts for survival destroyed by well-meaning humans. Norris and her volunteer veterinarians, student vets and others hope to release as many of the injured and orphaned animals as possible back to the wild. They need land in which to teach some of the young to be wild.
Spring is here. A lot of mothers are giving birth and young are beginning to hatch. Soon the center's phone will be ringing off the hook with calls for help. But now the young center is facing one of the challenges of toddlerhood and needs help. The best help would be for someone to donate an isolated building with at least 100 acres that has some trees and some open land. It needs to be within 15 miles of Virginia Tech because many volunteers come from Tech and Ms. Norris works there to help pay the bills at the center as well as her own living expenses. Norris has been known to take a box or two of baby birds to work with her to feed every 20 minutes when she cannot find a volunteer to be at the center. Veterinarians dash out to check on a new arrival at the center and occasionally an emergency dictates zooming an animal to the vet hospital.
A huge stumbling block which the center finally overcame this past year was to get tax-free non-profit status. What the center needs immediately are contributions of funds and land. If the land doesn't have a building, the center could use mobile homes until they could build.
Norris is also looking for a place to rent. However, it would be much more logical for the center to be housed in a permanent location so that improvements could be made with the center's specific needs in mind.
This is a chance to help one of the finest examples of a true volunteer continue her dream. Rose Norris can account for every dollar she takes in donations. She literally uses every cent to pay for things like berries, which is what some of her clients live on; detergent, to keep towels that line the cages clean; and repairs to the freezer, which stores some of the produce and meats from donors or from grocery store sales. Money goes to the care of the animals that are injured or ill.
It has been suggested that the Wildlife Center team up with the Humane Society in the same building. This probably would not work because these wild animals cannot be allowed to get used to the sound of barking dogs. They could not be released if they became used to their mortal enemies.
If the center closes, the Virginia Tech veterinary students would lose the one place, locally, where they can learn about working with a variety of wild animals and birds. Mostly their experience on campus is with domesticated animals. Many fourth-year vet students take 3-week rotations through the New River Wildlife Center. It would be fantastic if a grant could be made to help this wonderful, independent center.
Think where you would take that baby bird you just took out of your cat's mouth. If the center is gone, that bird could die. We only have about 50 days.
I am only associated with the Wildlife Center as a supporter. I have been to the center to get a taste of what an incredible job she and her regular volunteers do. The only thanks they get for their efforts is the knowledge that an animal has a better chance of survival and that the people they teach will be more aware of the delicate balance of nature. The least we can do is to try hard to find the funds and land that this handful of people so desperately need to continue a well established program.
The New River Wildlife Center's address is P.O. Box 10745, Blacksburg, Va. 24060. The phone number is 961-2656.\ Margaret Roston Hagedorn\ Blacksburg
by CNB