Wildlife rehab centers staying busy educating residents

North Park Wildlife Rehabilitation/Courtesy photo
Last week, a Colorado resident called North Park Wildlife Rehabilitation in Walden asking for advice and possible rescue of four fox kits because the mama fox had a broken leg.
With her 27 years of experience running the wildlife rehab center in Jackson County, Deb McLachlan advised the caller to wait and watch a bit longer. The resident learned the papa fox was bringing food to the mama and the four kits. Despite the leg injury, likely to leave the mother fox with a limp, letting the fox family stay on its natural path was the best outcome for the longevity of the kits, McLachlan said.
In April, an elderly man near Oak Creek called for advice about a family of raccoons that had been living in a tree that was cut down on his property. The caller said the mama raccoon was scared off by the tree work, and he was worried about the five young raccoon kits.
McLachlan advised the resident to leave the raccoon kits in a warm box near the tree. As the resident watched through the night, the mama raccoon came back and had collected each kit, one at a time, by 4:30 a.m.
“Every spring we receive calls about ‘orphaned’ wildlife, particularly raccoons, when in actuality often they don’t need to be orphaned,” McLachlan said. “Here is a prime example that we have fostered by simply asking that the mom be able to retrieve her young.”
McLachlan said despite the dedicated work of licensed rehabilitation centers in Colorado, “we are a poor second to Mother Nature.”
“If you find yourself in a similar situation, know that the mom wants her babies back and will work through the night carrying each to safety,” she said. “All we need to do is help her out a little.”

North Park Wildlife Rehabilitation is one of several centers in Northwest Colorado licensed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Although CPW staff may be available to answer questions and provide direction, the busy state agency focuses on wildlife management, not rehabilitation.
So, nonprofit wildlife rehab centers play a crucial role when young animals are actually orphaned when their mother is killed or an animal is injured by a vehicle, barbed wire or domestic dogs and cats.
Often the centers receive after-hours calls and must provide education or make a timely plan to meet a caller for drop-off of a seriously hurt animal.
Through the years, the nonprofit facility in Walden has helped some 60 types of birds, ranging from hummingbirds to raptors, and is licensed to help injured mammals. The center rehabs some 50 animals a year, McLachlan said, but skunks and bats are not accepted.
With the abundance of spring births of wild animals — which sometimes appears in a house crawl space, attic, under a deck or even inside an unused vehicle — McLachlan often advises citizens to get a flashlight and thoroughly check for babies in the space.
Before a mother animal can give birth in the space, humans should thoroughly seal all entrance holes. If the mother animal has already given birth, the human families likely need to be patient and learn to coexist for a while, McLachlan noted.
First, call for information and advice before attempting to touch any possibly injured or truly orphaned wild animals.
Volunteers are needed to transport injured animals to rehab centers.
Landowners are needed to volunteer their property as a location for releases of rehabilitated animals.
Learn more through Colorado Parks and Wildlife at CPW.state.co.us/dont-rescue-young-wildlife and CPW.state.co.us/wildlife-rehabilitation-licenses.
Contact regional wildlife rehabilitation centers at: Psswf.org, Bornfreerehab.org and Facebook.com/northparkwildliferehab.
The Walden facility is busier than usual this spring after the semi-retirement in January of longtime Routt County wildlife rehabilitator Tracy Bye at Born Free Wildlife Rehabilitation. Through her 32 years in wildlife rehab, Bye helped an estimated 4,000 animals from six counties and in Wyoming. Bye said her top rehabbed birds have been raptors, songbirds, waterfowl and red-tailed hawks, and the top rehabbed mammals include raccoons and chipmunks. Now, Bye is cutting back to only accept raptors.
Another regional, licensed wildlife rehabilitation center is the Pauline S. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation that has been operated since 1980 by Nanci Limbaugh. The center in Garfield County is licensed for all species including threatened and endangered wildlife and specializes in mountain lions, black bears and bobcats.
Limbaugh encouraged residents to check her center’s website at psswf.org under the section, “I’ve found a …” to learn about various types of common animals found on the Western Slope before interfering with an animal.
“Almost everything we get in is human-caused,” Limbaugh noted, particularly advising residents not to “kidnap” fawns because the mother doe is coming back. Fawns are well-camouflaged and have little odor, which helps the fawns hide from predators while the doe forages and checks on her young when safe.
Dr. Lee Mehring at Steamboat Veterinary Hospital, a clinic that donates time for triage treatment of injured wildlife, stressed that untrained individuals should not rescue wild animals without first calling CPW, a wildlife center or a veterinarian for advice. Wild animals also may carry diseases that can spread to domestic pets or humans or other wildlife, Mehring said.
“When in doubt, make a phone call versus intervening,” said Mehring, who said 24 hours is a good timeframe to wait to see if young animals are moved or tended to by their parents.
In addition to educating over-enthusiastic would-be rescuers, McLachlan notes other current challenges, such as raptors that become sick after eating carcasses killed by lead ammunition. Funding for food and utilities are always a concern for nonprofit rehab centers, and the Walden center is assisted via funds earned by 22 West Cabins rentals on the family’s 400-acre property.
Releasing wild animals after rehab in a safe place can be stressful, especially as the population in Colorado grows, McLachlan said. The best rule of thumb is to release rehabbed animals within 10 miles of where they were found. The centers have a growing need for landowners to offer their properties for release locations. Ideal locations have water and trees and are away from highways or main roads.




To reach Suzie Romig, call 970-871-4205 or email sromig@SteamboatPilot.com.

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