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Back to nature: Wildlife center aids abandoned, sick animals

Anita Weier  —  6/04/2008 8:43 am

Kaci Sullivan, a 20-year-old artist who lives on the north side of Madison, suddenly found herself caring for three very young, very terrified wild bunnies.

One of the tiny cottontails had somehow fallen into the window of a friend's basement apartment, breaking a leg in the process.

Then Sullivan's sister-in-law told her about two other bunnies whose mother had been hit by a car at a Rocky Rococo's pizzeria on the east side.

A rabbit lover since fourth grade, she took  in all three babies but wasn't sure what to do with them. She called the Department of Natural Resources and was advised to take them to the Four Lakes Wildlife Center, located next to the Dane County Humane Society at 5132 Voges Road, off U.S. 51 just south of the Beltline.

The young woman cared for the bunnies for 2 weeks, feeding them a mixture of romaine lettuce, carrots, spinach and broccoli until she could afford to buy enough $4-per-gallon gas to drive to the center.

On a recent afternoon, the bunnies received a warm welcome at the center, a nonprofit organization located in and around a red barn beside the shelter for domestic animals. The center works in conjunction with the Humane Society and shares some staff.

While the long-established Humane Society is well known as a refuge for abandoned dogs and cats, the center -- which caters to wild animals only -- is still relatively unknown to the public. But it fills a void.

Before the Humane Society and Patrick Comfert of the Madison-Dane County Animal Services division created the center in 2002, there were few services available for wild creatures who became separated from their parents or who were injured or ill. Some work was done at the Humane Society and the Emergency Clinic for Animals, and scattered rehabilitators cared for various species, but limited numbers of animals and species could be served. The center now provides a central location with much more space, specialized staff and trained volunteers.

"There always has been a need for wildlife rehabilitation," said Comfert, the lead animal services worker in the city-county Department of Public Health.

And the need is growing.

"There is more wildlife every year that needs help as the urban area expands, because of human interference or action," Comfert said. "Birds hit windows; animals get hit by cars."

As modern life continues its encroachment into once-wild areas, the chances increase of coming across critters in need.

In Wisconsin, it is illegal to keep almost all wild animals or birds without a permit.

Four Lakes Wildlife Center staff urge people to make sure that the baby birds and animals they think are orphaned are indeed abandoned, because the animals' best chance of survival is in the wild with their parents. Healthy babies are often mistaken for orphans because mothers tend to visit one or two times a day and might stay away if humans are right at the scene.

Those who have questions about what to do about abandoned or injured animals should call the center or the 24-hour Emergency Clinic for Animals. Neither the center nor the clinic picks up wild animals from people's houses, though animal control officers will if an animal is in danger or is a threat to people. Under those circumstances, residents should call police at 255-2345; animal control officers are dispatched from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., though there may be a wait.

Otherwise, residents are usually advised to bring birds or small mammals to the center or emergency clinic, but officials say people should not take risks with large animals, raptors, raccoons or bats.

Enecia Sabroff, office manager for the Emergency Clinic for Animals -- a 24-hour emergency clinic that charges for domestic animals but provides free care for wild animals -- said the clinic is primarily a drop-off point for wildlife during the hours when the center is not open.

"We are limited in space and try not to keep wild animals in this environment any longer than we have to," said Sabroff, adding that the staff work extensively with the Dane County Humane Society to help with the animals' medical needs.

"We are very dependent on many other licensed rehabbers in the area and the wildlife center," she said. "It takes so many people in the community to make things work for these animals. Everyone works together."

The number of animals cared for at the wildlife center has grown substantially since 2002, largely due to the help of interns and volunteers, who total 131 this year. The center is open seven days a week, from late April through September, but center coordinator Kristen Anchor and animal care coordinator Raina Domek hope it will eventually be open year-round.

During the first month of its 2008 season, from late April through late May, the center admitted 290 orphaned, injured or ill animals and birds.

The animals are either released when they are ready, transferred to another rehabilitator or euthanized, said Anchor, 35, who has a bachelor of science degree in fisheries and wildlife biology.

Some also are too badly injured or sick to recover and consequently die at the center.

None of the animals can be adopted as pets, Anchor added. "Our whole mission is to release them to their natural habitat."

In 2007, the center admitted 753 injured, ill and orphaned mammals and birds. Of those, 256 were released into the wild, 148 were transferred to other rehabilitators, 144 died despite care and 81 native species were euthanized because they could not recover enough to survive on their own. Some animals managed to leave a little earlier than anticipated, a category known as "self-release."

Roughly another 100 birds, almost all English sparrows and European starlings, were euthanized because they are regarded as invasive species that threaten native birds.

"Those sparrows will tear the heads off of baby bluebirds and build their nest right on top of the bluebird nest," said Comfert, who noted such tactics make them a predominant species in Madison.

The center's license does not allow it to rehabilitate white-tailed deer because of chronic wasting disease or skunks because of rabies, so they would be euthanized, though none were admitted last year.

Most of the creatures brought into the center are songbirds, ducks, geese and such raptors as owls and hawks. Squirrels, chipmunks, possums and rabbits are also common residents.

Veterinarian Dr. Marcus Gordon of the Fitchburg Veterinary Hospital cares for injured and ill animals at the center without charge. Recent patients included a baby gosling with a fish hook in its beak and a crow whose broken wing was fitted with a pin.

"Our work is hectic and time-consuming but fun and rewarding," said Domek, 20, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor of science degree in zoology. She worked as an intern at the center before being hired as a coordinator.

The birds and mammals are housed at the center in various ways, but all stay in a quarantine room for one day until workers are sure they are not diseased. That's where the three bunnies went, when Sullivan brought them in last Wednesday.

In another room that day, five very young robins were being kept warm and cozy in an incubator and fed ground food on a stir stick. Their meals were a mixture of cat food, avian vitamins, powdered egg whites and chicken baby food.

Three crows of varying ages shared another cage. One was recuperating from a broken leg, and the other two were too young to be on their own.

More than 30 mallard ducklings were sharing a fenced area outdoors but would sleep in a chicken coop at night.

And a baby red-tailed hawk was being fed mouse parts in one of two outdoor flight cages at the center. The hawk was brought in by a man who said he accidentally hit it with his lawn mower after the young bird fell from its nest. The hawk will be released when it is old enough to hunt.

Larger wire cages are located outdoors, where animals and birds move a step closer to being returned to their natural environment. Two young gray squirrels were enjoying exploring their "pre-release" cage, while a house finch and a mourning dove occupied a nearby cage.

"It's definitely a cool thing to be holding a red-tailed hawk in your hand and being one of the sole providers of its care," said Kevin Nelson, 23, of Madison, who volunteered extensively at the center last summer. He now stops in occasionally to help.

A songbird aviary, the squirrel release cage and a raptor flight cage are new to the center this year, thanks to a volunteer carpenter and other volunteers who helped build them.

Other birds and animals are caged inside -- generally two to a cage. Anchor said the animals are housed together because they are social creatures.

"They need to know that animals are like them and that they can't mate with humans," Domek said.

Besides caring for animals and birds, center staff strive to foster understanding and compassion in the community toward wild creatures.

"On the rehab side, we are helping individual animals. But where we can make a larger impact is through education," Anchor said.

"Many people aren't aware of the diversity of the species that can be found right here in Dane County. Helping people understand and appreciate the importance of each species in an ecosystem hopefully will make them think about things like picking up their fishing line when they go home and not mowing their lawn where rabbits or birds are nesting nearby."

FOUR LAKES WILDLIFE CENTER

Hours (late April through September): Open from 7:15 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. seven days a week, with official admitting hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m.

Contact information: Dane County Humane Society at 838-0413, ext. 151 for the Four Lakes Wildlife Center, or the 24-hour Emergency Clinic for Animals, 229 W. Beltline Highway, at 274-7772

Additional information: www.fourlakeswildlifecenter.org

Experts from the center are available to speak to school groups and charitable organizations with presentations tailored to the age and needs of the audience. More information on this aspect of the center is available by e-mailing education@fourlakeswildlifecenter.org.

Volunteers are welcome and are taught how to care for the variety of animals that are brought in. Those who have questions about bringing in an animal or want to volunteer should call 838-0413, ext. 151. Messages left will be returned. Center coordinator Kristen Anchor also is available at ext. 192.

Tax-deductible donations to the center are welcome, and contributors can sponsor various birds and facilities to house them.

Contributions will be used to purchase food, bedding and medical supplies, build cages, purchase cleaning supplies and train volunteers to provide a high level of care.

Anita Weier  —  6/04/2008 8:43 am