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Callous Acts Can Turn Spring's Magic Tragic
 Wild
Lives: Callous Acts Can Turn Spring's Magic Tragic
by Lynn Cuny, Founder & Executive Director,
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Spring's arrival is hard to miss here at Wildlife
Rescue. The phones buzz wildly with news of mothers and babies
and the often-preventable tragedies that tear their tender
lives apart. The rooms of the clinic fill with hundreds of
minute opossums, squirrels, and raccoons, many of whose tiny
eyes have yet to open. The lives of these young charges rest
on their own determination for life and the patience and tender
care offered by our staff and volunteers.
Yes, the renewal trumpeted by our celebrated
bluebonnets and Mexican redbuds is replicated in the animal
kingdom, too. It is nature's way — and this is her generous
season.
Sadly, humans are not always equally generous.
One clear example of this was the thoughtless resident who
should have known better when he laid out his trap earlier
this month seeking to terminate what life he could. When the
door snapped shut on the mother gray fox he should have known
the meaning of her rounded middle. Although these incredible
creatures do devour their share of rabbits, rats, and mice,
a fox this pregnant can be hard to miss.
 The
trapper turned the animal into a local animal control facility
to have the mother killed. He obviously didn't consider the
pups or the abandoned male left behind (foxes are monogamous,
mating for life). However, something inside the officer who
received the fox rebelled on seeing that swollen, sheltering
middle. Our phone rang. And within a few days, the foxes were
born here at our sanctuary in Kendalia.
This time of year, traffic accidents, trapping,
and poisons devastate not only the lives you see. Often, there
is a litter or nest just paces away where resounding suffering
is sure to follow. How else would we explain the hundreds
of opossums already crowding our clinic? But devastating errors
are sometimes made at the other end of the spectrum, as well.
Well-meaning, but uninformed residents, often
"rescue" young animals who are perfectly capable
of making it on their own. They may find a fawn seemingly
abandoned in a field, or a fledgling bird fluttering about
on the ground. Each of these cases is completely normal. It
often takes fledging birds a couple days to come to terms
with the challenge of taking to the air. Fawns require so
much from their mothers that the does must forage night and
day to produce food for their newborns. Wildlife mothers are
devoted to their young and you can bet they are close by watching
every time you tread near their youngster.
Remember, a baby's best chance of survival
is being reunited with the mother, though there are times
that a helping hand is needed.
Sometimes it is simply a matter of putting
a still-pink nestling back in her nest. It is not true that
momma birds will reject their young if they have been handled,
so don't worry about this popular fallacy. Also, if an animal
is obviously wounded and in danger from fire ants or some
predator (your cat or dog included), they will need your assistance.
Wearing thick gloves, place the animal in a box and keep him
warm. Call Wildlife Rescue for assistance as soon as possible.
 In
the case of the gray fox mother, we set her out in an open
enclosure with her litter, hoping that given enough time and
privacy she would relocate her young and continue to give
them the nurturing they so desperately need. Obviously traumatized,
she instead ran off not to return. It is now the responsibility
of our staff to do what they can to make this matter right
— a tragedy that never should have been.
We know that Life does not always triumph.
We understand death as part of nature, too. Sadly, too many
people don't ever ask themselves what their responsibility
is to the wild lives we share this earth with. It would stun
them to be told that the Golden Rule applies to all of our
relatives — not just the human variety.
This baby season is a perfect time to ask
yourself how you will choose to live amongst the wildlife
who are your neighbors and who deserve your respect. As the
dominant species on the planet, the way humans live affects
all life everywhere. The celebration of Spring this year need
not be marred by the callous acts of a few.
Upon deep reflection, you may decide quite
suddenly that your purpose is to live with an open hand and
an open heart to the life surging around you. Or the realization
may settle in more slowly, as the colors and songs of the
season weave their way among us. However it comes, the sense
of connection it brings is guaranteed to put a thrill in your
heart to last a lifetime.
About the Author
Lynn Cuny is the founder and director of Wildlife
Rescue & Rehabilitation in Kendalia, Texas. She is the
author of two books, Through
Animals' Eyes and Through
Animals' Eyes, Again. Her monthly column "Wild
Lives" examines animal issues and the intricacies of
human-wildlife relationships.
About Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation (WRR)
(www.wildlife-rescue.org)
was founded in 1977 in San Antonio by Lynn Cuny. Our mission
is to provide rescue, rehabilitation, and release of orphaned,
injured, and displaced wildlife, and provide sanctuary with
dignity for non-releasable and non-native wild animals who
have been the victims of the exotic pet trade, rescued from
roadside zoos, or used in research. Today WRR volunteers and
staff annually receive 5,000–6,000 animals at our 187-acre
sanctuary outside Kendalia, Texas. Over 600 wild and farmed
animals make their permanent home at WRR.
Contact Information
For more information about Wildlife Rescue
& Rehabilitation's sanctuary operations or educational
programs visit www.wildlife-rescue.org
or contact Education & Advocacy Coordinator Gregory Harman
at education@wildlife-rescue.org
or (830) 336-2725.
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