Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 11, 1993 TAG: 9310130075
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Now this great horned owl cannot fly or catch its food, but it is alive, thanks to the two women who started Roanoke Wildlife Rescue.
Edie Anderson and Dorothy Runion, both trained wildlife specialists, share their basements, backyards, and sometimes bathtubs, with injured and orphaned wild animals brought to them by game wardens, veterinarians and, mostly, by people like you and your parents. They never charge for their services.
Each year, they treat more than 400 animals, and that number is rising. Recently they both left their other jobs to devote all of their time to what they enjoy most - animal rehabilitation and wildlife education. Although they are not paid yet for what they do, they hope that will happen in the near future through grants (money) from the government and business sponsors.
Their life's work has become nursing these creatures back to health, retraining them to survive in the wild, and releasing them to their natural homes, if possible.
Their patients range from owls, hawks, crows and songbirds to opossums, beavers, bats, foxes, deer, rabbits, squirrels, snakes and turtles - any mammals, reptiles or raptors (birds of prey) that appear at their doorsteps. No poisonous snakes, please; and no raccoons or skunks (they are the two top carriers of rabies).
Both women have treatment centers and habitats for several different species at their homes. After deciding what injuries an animal has, they treat them, make them warm and comfortable, and help them feel secure. You can't put a songbird in a cage next to a hawk, for example. In the wild, hawks eat songbirds.
A few hours later or the next day or even week, more injuries might appear. Sometimes, animals must be put to sleep. "The hardest part of this job is making the decision that an animal can't be saved," Runion said.
Once the animals heal, rehabilitation starts - they need to get used to temperature changes, learn to hunt for their food and find a group to join, if they are social animals, like squirrels.
Predators (animals that eat others), such as foxes and raptors, sometimes go to "mouse school," where they learn to catch their own live food again. Their final exam is being able to feed themselves every day for a week. If they pass, they can be released; if they fail, they try again at a later time or it may be decided that they can never be released.
"Nature doesn't abandon," Anderson said when talking about orphaned animals. "When people find baby animals alone, their parents are often out searching for food." She suggested waiting 12 hours before removing an animal and bringing it to them as orphaned.
"Most animals are truly orphaned because something has happened to the parent," she said. Most injuries to animals occur from cars, attacks by dogs or cats, or from the animal being stranded or orphaned. Man also causes some injuries, both from illegal hunting and trapping and from abusing the environment - dumping harmful wastes into creeks and streams animals use for water, and tossing out garbage carelessly. And put away your BB guns: Shooting doves and other birds out of season is not legal.
Many of the animals brought to Roanoke Wildlife Rescue are near death because the people who found them tried to treat them, thinking it couldn't be all that different from taking care of a baby. The truth is, food for humans is not food for animals, and can often be fatal to an animal struggling for life.
Anderson and Runion keep only five or six "unreleasable" animals a year. Some go to other rehabilitation centers, nature preserves or zoos. Those they keep are trained for wildlife education programs, traveling to schools, science clubs and classes, and naturalist groups.
Some of their current "pets" include Mikey, a chipmunk blinded by a cat bite (cat bites are usually fatal to small animals, but may affect humans only slightly because of our much larger size.); a crow named "Fozzie" whose broken leg did not heal properly and who can undo the door latches on its cage ("Crows are smart; owls are brilliant," Anderson said); a black snake named Fred, found in a Christmas tree when it was very young; and a screech owl named Maggie whose wing did not mend correctly.
As for Trapper, great horned owls are rarely trainable, but Anderson and Runion are doing well in preparing him for school visits so that students can get a close-up view of this rarely seen and magnificent bird of prey.
For more information on Roanoke Wildlife Rescue (a licensed, non-profit organization) its programs, and its wish list for donations and supplies, call Edie Anderson, director, (703) 772-2677, or Dorothy Runion, assistant director, (703) 989-3798.
by CNB