Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990 TAG: 9005170673
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: B LACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
It was moving day.
Like a scene from Noah's Ark, small mammals and birds - sick, injured or orphaned - sat in twos or threes peering from their cages, waiting for transport to their new home in Montgomery County.
The center, which serves Southwestern Virginia, received an eviction notice in March. It vacated the Blacksburg property Sunday, relocating to a six-acre site about 21 miles away between Riner and Pilot.
Although the move started two weeks ago, the animals were the last to go.
Volunteers and board members worked into the night all weekend moving cages, pens and shelters. With carriers loaned by the Virginia Tech veterinary school, about 200 animals were boxed up for the last part of the move.
Waiting on the porch were permanent residents Buzzie and Bartholomew, the turkey vultures; Bubba Lou and Balthazar, the black vultures; Patty, a disabled opossum; owls named Giles, Jefferson and Audrey, who have various injuries; and Reggie the squirrel.
An animal or bird with a name is a permanent resident that cannot be released into the wild, usually because of a debilitating injury. It is used instead for educational purposes at schools or to serve as a foster parent for orphaned young.
Barn owls, turtles, red-tail hawks - one of which lost a wing to a barbed-wire fence - baby mallard ducks, broad-wing hawks, great horned owls and more than 20 baby opossums orphaned after their mothers were hit by vehicles, occupied some 60 carriers, cages and aquariums.
And there were blind birds, wingless owls and disoriented pigeons - heartbreaking injuries that are no easier to look upon in an animal than in a person, and ones that make us vividly aware of how much damage is caused by human intervention in nature.
"Luckily this center exists to take care of them," said one volunteer. "Otherwise, who would take care of the wildlife?"
There were eight vehicles on Sunday and about 25 people cleaning, packing, holding frightened animals and moving supplies.
"It looks like a Grateful Dead concert," Mickey Fizer of Blacksburg said of some volunteers in tie-dyed clothing like that favored by fans of the rock music group.
Fizer carried furniture and animals in his truck, loading and unloading by himself because "help is needed and I'm here to help."
"Everyone has been putting in a lot of work," said center director and founder Rose Norris. "It's been hard, but it's going to be exactly what we need when we're finished."
Norris is pleased and relieved about the new site. It is 10 miles south of Christiansburg and off Virginia 8.
"We were getting desperate," she said of the May 17 deadline to move. But Christiansburg resident and Virginia Tech employee Roy K. Clark saved the day.
He leased part of his 65-acre property and a newly constructed duplex to the center, which will house not only the wildlife, but a two-bedroom apartment where Norris will live.
Cages, books, incubators, clothes and medical supplies were already at the site, which is fully operational.
Volunteer Richard Reynolds and board member Larry Booth were staking out some land for a deer pen and Blacksburg resident Ralph Carroll donated use of his flatbed truck to haul 28-foot owl shelters. "There was a subtantial amount to move," Booth said. "We were lucky to have so much good help."
Materials are still needed to complete construction of the center's interior. Such items as drywall, finishing materials, toilet facilities, cabinets and appliances need to be donated.
With assistance to injured or sick wildlife increasing from fewer than 200 in 1986 to more than 700 in 1989, it's critical that the supplies and equipment get put into place as soon as possible.
"And we need to get volunteers who are committed," said Melanie Reynolds, a regular volunteer and trainer. "We'd like to have the center staffed 24 hours a day."
As clouds began to depart Sunday and caravans moved the wildlife to their new home - an area surrounded by mountains and woods - the excitement of a new venture lifted spirits.
"We're really doing a good thing here," said Melanie Reynolds. "And now we know we can do it for a long, long time."
GETTING TO THE CENTER: From Interstate 81 take Exit 36 and head south on Virginia 8. Go east on Virginia 616 past Riner. Follow Virginia 616, which merges into Virginia 601, for 3 3/4 miles to the center. The new phone number is 381-0426.
by CNB