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Welcome to episode seventy of Get Out
Alive, a biweekly podcast about in law

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tacks, how to avoid them,
and why they happen. I'm your host,

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Ashley, and before we get into
today's episode, there are two new

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expert survivalist patrons. I need to
shout out so thank you so much to

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Tyler, who happens to be our
one hundredth patron, which is crazy and

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super exciting. Thank you and Christy, thank you both so much for joining

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us. And you can join us
too at patreon dot com. Slash get

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a live podcast where you can get
bonus episodes, video recordings of some episodes

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when we have them, which we
will today, and some other great benefits,

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and you can also follow us there
for free and just see new posts

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every other week that are exclusive to
Patreon, or you get support us for

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free by leaving a five star review
wherever you are listening. Today's episode is

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a special one because we were joined
by Jess, who happens to have made

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her career in wildlfe rehabilitation, which
I know is an animal attacks but I

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swear we will still talk about that
and the dangers of rehabbing wild animals.

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But today's episode is focused a lot
on ways in which wildlife are hurt by

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humans and how we can help rather
than harm, which is kind of the

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theme of the last few episodes and
the next few episodes to come. This

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is a long one, so without
further ado, here is my interview with

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jess So my name is Jessica Anderson
and my pronouns are she, her,

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and I work at the Blue Ridge
Wildlife Center. I'm the rehab program manager

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there. Basically, how I got
there is probably very similar to how anybody

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else gets into the animal care field, which is I was. I went

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to college, I was looking for
internships. I found some animal care internships,

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which one was my first. One
was a sea lion and elephant seal

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or just seal rehabilitation internship in California
at the Marine Mammal Care Center, and

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I was like, I don't know
what rehab is, Let's give it a

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shot. And then I fell in
love with it and just kind of trickled

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from that internship to an apprenticeship in
Texas, and then I spent a year

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in Texas and got a position at
my current facility as a rehab associate back

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in like twenty fifteen and I've been
there ever since and just kind of naturally

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migrated into a management position, which
is nice a little different, but I

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still do most of what I was
doing before as well. So yeah,

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that is super cool that you like, your first, one of your first

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internships is doing rehab and then you're
like, I'll do this forever and it

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actually worked out. That's shocking.
All I knew is that I wanted to

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work with animals, but I didn't
want to be a veterinarian because to me,

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that was a lot of pressure,
Like these are people's family menbers essentially,

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but animals, and I was like, I don't know that I could

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handle life or death situations in that
capacity. And I was literally just googling

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animal care internships and just like looking
at anything like zoos sanctuary work. I

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had no idea rehab was a thing, and I saw some of them and

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was like, oh, I'll just
throw some applications out here, and landed

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that one and was like, oh
my god, you get to help these

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animals and then let them go amazing, and then you don't have them anymore,

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and then you just keep to like
it's just a constant cycle, Like,

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yeah, that's so fresh. And
new and like something different every day.

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So yeah, it was nice.
It was exactly what I was looking

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for without knowing is what I was
looking for. So also, elephant seals

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and seals like that is so that's
so cool. I've never heard of anybody

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else having an internship rehabbing seals.
That's awesome. So it was mostly California

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sea lions and we had a few
elephants seals there. And it's really funny

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because, like you see California sea
lions, they are literally the dogs of

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the seat. Like, yeah,
you go in to clean around them and

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obviously you're not like interacting with them, but they will run up and grab

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your hose drag it into the pool
and now you have to like tug the

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hose away from these sea lions that
think it's a game. Yeah, and

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you're just like this is like you're
very cute. But at the same time,

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I have like six other enclosures that
I have to clean right now,

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like like, good for you,
but please make my job easier. So

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you kind of answered this a little
bit, but did you always want to

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work with wildlife and did you know
that career in what like career and wildlife

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rehab. What's an option before you
got your internship, So I yeah,

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number one, I had no idea
what rehab was before my internship. That

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was just literally luck at the draw, like just Google Animal care and like

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going through and just applying to everything
I knew. I always wanted to work

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with animals of some sort. I
grew up in like right next to a

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state park in Maryland, and like
I grew up riding horses and like going

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on trail rides, and we had
twelve acres in the woods, so we

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would find animals all the time.
And to be fair, like as a

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kid, we definitely did stuff with
wildlife we shouldn't have done, Like tried

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to rescue two baby squirrels after our
neighbor's outdoor cat brought it in, right,

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and like now that I know what
I know, and like looking back,

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I'm like, oh, yeah,
one hundred percent, we murdered those

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squirrels, but like I started it, but like I know about it now

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and like so I can kind of
relate to people who find things that are

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like I want to take care of
it, and I can be like I

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get it, and I one hundred
percent understand where you're coming from. But

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at the same time, like you
do not want to be responsible and then

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find out later that you did all
these things wrong, and like, yeah,

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cause that so. Yeah, I've
always been like more of an animal

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person than a people person. I
think that's what pushed me in that direction.

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But until I really got into it, I had no idea exactly what

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capacity I wanted to work with animals. So yeah, totally. So that

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actually leads perfectly into a question that
we had from a patron. Hannah Gorton

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said, what is the most common
public misconception or misinformation about wildlife that causes

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people to intervene in situations where they
shouldn't Aka the thing that makes you go,

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Hugh, if you hadn't done this, it would be a rehab case.

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And she specifically said asking because I
did this as a kid with birds,

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because people always said, like,
oh, if you touch a bird,

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you can't put it back in the
nest. I literally have that in

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my notes of like what are misconceptions? And the very first one is if

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you touch a wild animal, mom
will come back for it. Yeah,

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and like weirdly enough, birds specifically, which like some birds do have a

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good sense of smell, or like
some sense of smell, but most birds

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aren't relying on that, so like
it kind of just became an old wives

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tale to basically prevent kids from like
picking up animal or birds at least and

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like bringing them home. I think
that's where it started. But then it

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I find that, like in any
aspect where people are trying to like help

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wildlife by making something up, it's
the whole like possums don't get rabies,

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Like, yeah, it was started
as a way to try and protect possums

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or try and protect wildlife, and
then it comes full circle to backfire,

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where then now people are like,
oh, yeah, possums make great pets,

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and like they're dangerous at all and
if they bite you, you shouldn't

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be worried about it. And it's
like we had we've had like rabid possums

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in my state, and there are
obvious cases that you can just literally look

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up on Google that show you positive
of ravse posmes. And so it's just

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funny to me that like these things
start and they're like, oh, we're

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gonna like this will help save animals, and then yeah, full circle comes

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around and now people are just like
abusing that in the same thing of like,

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oh, I have this bird and
I touched it, so like mom

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won't come back for it, and
it's like, no, she doesn't care.

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And then also like if you critically
think about it for a minute,

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you're like, the birds are literally
nesting in your dryer vent or like under

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your porch, so they already smell
like people. Why would you like the

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smell of your hand be any different. So like there's some of that,

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and obviously for some things that does
apply. I don't work with bison,

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so I can't argue against any of
that. But then there's obviously like the

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stories that come out of Yellowstone right
when people are being assholes and getting too

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close to calves and touching calves and
then the parents reject them. So like

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I'm not going to talk about those
animals because I don't have experience with them,

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but specifically like birds, bunnies,
bunnies are a bad one. Like

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bunnies and fawns when people just find
them by themselves and they're like there's no

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mom around, so like they're orphaned, and I'm like, no, you

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leave them alone. Like I had
a woman at my old job call me

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and say I found a fawn and
I walked my entire property and I didn't

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find a single adult deer, so
she's orphaned. And I said, ma'am,

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you know, deer are prese species, so obviously they hear you and

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see you before you see them,
So it doesn't really mean anything if you

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haven't seen any deer, because that's
just them like doing what they do best.

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And she absolutely would refuse to leave
that deer and even threaten to like

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put it down if we wouldn't take
it. This was a Texas people are

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crazy. Granted, peller crazy everywhere, but yeah, like like dedicated and

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committed to helping in but to a
fault, like that's where things so basically

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fonds and buddies. Like when people
find animals that don't have parents around them,

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that doesn't mean that they're orphaned.
There's lots of ways to tell if

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they're orphaned. And I just want
to also highlight that if anybody sees something

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that says like if a fawn's ears
are curled, it's alone in the world.

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That's also a myth. Somebody made
that up that and I don't know

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again, don't know why or or
where it started, but one has no

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basis in like science, or you
know anything factual, Like we've gotten deer

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like fawns in that had their legs
chopped up in a oh my god,

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a bush hog. And those fawns
perfectly straight ears, no curling, very

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obviously dehydrated and in shock and like
just not great. But like if you

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were just looking at the ears,
you'd have no idea, right, So

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that's really obnoxious. So fawns,
bunnies find them by themselves. Generally speaking,

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they're fine, unless they actually have
injuries or wounds or flies all over

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them, or they can't physically stand
up or are lying on their sides.

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Those are all kind of like the
quick You glance at them and you're like,

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okay, that's not a healthy animal. The other one, like what's

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really obnoxious? People like to find
baby turtles and they're like, oh my

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god, they're so vulnerable. I'm
going to keep them for a year or

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multiple years to head start them.
And I don't know what those laws are

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in other states, but in our
state, if somebody takes in a reptile,

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a wild reptile and keeps it for
longer than thirty days, regardless of

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what kind of reptile it is or
what the health of that animal is after

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thirty days, it is considered non
releasable. Oh we get yeah, we

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get a lot of calls in the
spring because people find babies that hatch late

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fall and they keep them all winter, and now they call us to be

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like when's the best time to release
them? And now we have to be

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like never, because you can't do
that. And the reason for that is,

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like it's assumed if you don't have
a permit, you don't know how

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to properly care for them. So
number one, they could have like metabolic

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issues or nutritional problems, or you
aren't properly maintaining hygiene around them. So

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if you have like other reptiles,
you could then be introducing diseases to that

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turtle or frog or snake or whatever
from other sources, and you releasing them

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then endangers that entire local population.
So there's a lot of reasoning behind it,

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and people get really mad, but
I'm like, it's it's there for

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a reason. Yeah, And then
I think the last one, Oh,

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I don't know if it's really a
misconception, but whenever people are like this

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animal came to me because they knew
I would help it, like or like

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it's just a fledgling bird that has
like that has no concept of predators yet,

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and you're just there, like the
disneyfication of wildlife again and full circle,

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like maybe it started to help prove
like have people care about wildlife,

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but now it's it's gone beyond the
line, and now everybody thinks that they're

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snow white and that animals love them
and all this anthropomorphization and then it goes

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bad from there. So and I'm
like, or the animals like starving and

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desperate and literally is just going towards
whatever moves who knows? Like, yeah,

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which one comes up a lot when
we talk about animals that have mange,

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for example, which is I mean
it's a super specific example, but

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like I used to feel calls from
people who are like, oh, well,

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can I bring it into somewhere to
get treated or whatever, and like

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I think it has rabies because it's
coming up to me. I'm like,

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or it's it has mange and it
can't hunt anymore and it's dying and that's

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why it's approaching you, Like it's
not necessarily like trying to get help.

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It's just about to keel over.
Yeah. So yeah, like they're willing

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to risk their lives because this is
the last the only other option that they

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have, right like, like,
oh, something's moving, maybe I'll find

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food around it, or they'll throw
food out, or I can eat it.

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I don't know who knows. Yeah, So before I do have another

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question linked to a possums because we
were talking about a possums for a bit.

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But I do want to ask quickly
about mange because I know a lot

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of people. There's like this online
thing where you can write in somewhere and

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get mange medication and it tells you
leave it out, and so I just

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want to say, like, right
now, if you find an animal with

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mange, what should you do about
it? If anything? So I know

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exactly the website that you're talking about. And number one, I don't know

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how they're like legally up because the
medication that they suggest and that they send

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to you is illegal to use off
label. So it's only intended for the

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use for cows or pigs or you
know, livestock, and so to use

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any to use any medica for wildlife. There's no specific medications for wildlife like

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that's designated for them. It's considered
used off label. And in order to

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use any medications off label, it
has to be specifically prescribed by a veterinarian.

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The other problem with mange is that
the only way that you can for

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sure one hundred percent diagnose an animal
with mange is by getting a skin scrape,

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which obviously this website is not doing. They're just saying, send us

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some pictures and we'll like evaluate it
and then we'll send you some medication that

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you can illegally put out. And
before my little tangent about that is we

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have gotten foxes, because normally it's
foxes or like coyotes that people are concerned.

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We have gotten foxes that have received
so much of that medication because people

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don't know how to dose it properly, that they are poisoned by it and

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then end up getting sick and either
dying. I think we had one that

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we were able to flush it out
of his system in time because he was

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literally like tremoring, having neurologic symptoms. And the person who did it was

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not convinced that it was they're doing. They were like, oh, it's

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a hot day. I think it
was heat exhaustion, and we were like,

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you just told us you put this
entire tube for a whole cow.

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Put an adult cow in multiple hot
dogs. And what do foxes love to

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do? They love to take as
much food as possible, stick it all

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in their mouth, run away,
and eat all of it by themselves.

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That's just what foxes do. So
if you're like, oh, I've got

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five foxes, I'm going to put
five doses out, most likely you're going

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to have one fox getting off five
doses and then that poisons them. So

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I have a lot of beef with
those kinds of because But anyway, long,

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long story short, if you have
an animal that you suspect has nane

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number one, I would call any
local rehabilitator in your area because again they're

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going to have to trap it and
bring it into care because they have to

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get a medication prescribed by a veterinarian, and a veterinarian is not going to

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prescribe it without confirming that it's mange
first, and you have to get a

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skin scrape, and you can't do
that if you don't have the animal in

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hand. The other thing is that
normally animals that are really bad have really

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bad mange right there, super skinny
skin and bones. Even if you were

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to somehow able to put medications out
for that box. Treating the mange does

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not treat the infections, does not
treat their emaciation, does not treat their

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dehydration. And normally these animals are
like by the time you're able to trap

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them, they're normally pretty bad off. They need medical support, they need

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fluids, they need slow refeeding to
prevent refeeding syndrome. So there's a lot

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of complicated things that go into treating
mange, but just putting medication out is

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one illegal and to causes more problems. It's also that medication it's toxic to

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certain breeds of dogs. So if
you have like dogs in the area,

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or you have like dogs yourself in
the yard, or your neighbors have dogs

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and you just have like an open
shared area that those dogs can access,

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you could be poisoning those dogs.
Again, if anything else eats it and

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it's smaller than a fox, and
maybe you did dose it, even if

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you did dose it correctly, if
it's smaller than a fox, then that

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could still have problems for it.
So and then most people think like,

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oh, I put a hot dog
out, I saw a fox come and

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get it, and then the next
fox I saw a couple weeks later was

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like perfect and healthy and beautiful,
and they assume that that's that fox,

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and I'm like, well, most
likely that fox just went off and died

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and then a new fox came in
in the area, because again, how

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are you telling who's who at that
point? So yeah, I mange is

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complicated. The other thing is like, if they're otherwise healthy and it's like

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summer spring, it's warm, there's
not really any need each to intervene unless

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they do look like on Death's Tour, because in the summertime they can get

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over it. They just go through, you know, the mange their body

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as long as it's healthy and they
can eat enough, they will naturally get

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through it if they're well enough,
And it's not a big deal if it's

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warm out because they don't need as
much fur to keep warm. During the

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winter time, it is kind of
a bigger deal, right, because they're

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dealing with harsher temperatures and that kind
of gets on top of everything else.

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But normally, like our recommendation,
just because it is so complicated to like

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put a trap out, make sure
you trap the right box, make sure

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and number one We've had animals come
in that people trapped and like brought to

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us and they didn't have mange.
They just had a heavier flea load than

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normal and they were missing a little
bit of fur at the base of their

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tails. Like, just because they're
missing a little fur does not mean mange.

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And we've had like animals come in
with light or ring, like there's

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so many other things that could cause
for loss that the medicine that people recommend

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giving for mange will not fix.
Yeah, that's my mange rant. If

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you couldn't tell I doot. Yeah. Yeah. And so I have a

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cousin that does wildlife rehab as well, and I know from her stuff that'll

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like almost all of the cases she
has of animals, it's usually foxes or

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coyotes. Like you said, with
mange, it's because they have ingested rat

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poison and the mange is just like
a thing that also happened to happen to

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them. So it's a good point
that, like, well, first of

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all, don't use rat poison.
Oh my god, I could talk about

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that all day long. Don't ever
use rat poison because it bucks up so

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many things. But yeah, like
it's usually something it's usually not just one

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thing happening to the sport animal,
so don't try to medicate it yourself.

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Oh yeah, so before I lose
the apossome tangent. So when I post

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on Patreon, people could ask you
questions, I link to your Twitter,

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and when our patrons breeze so that
they looked at your Twitter and your pin

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00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:11,599
tweet is about a possum vaginas,
and they were like, please say more,

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00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,720
so, please tell us all about
a possum vagina. Okay, well,

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00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:19,400
obviously you're always welcome. Anybody listening
can go to my Twitter. It's

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00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:25,799
my pin tweet and I go into
a deeper dive into this. But basically,

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possums or marsupials in general, they're
not placental mammals, so their gestation

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period is very short versus most regular
placental mammals. So for example, a

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possum is generally only like quote unquote
pregnant for ten to twelve days, which

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is insane to me, Like,
yeah, that's cool. That's a shorter

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time than some people leave like leftovers
in their refrigerator, right, and that's

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like an entire grown creature that now
has to like do things. So possums

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also have two vaginas, And I
will always credit and Hillborn for coining the

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term space portal vagina, because like, I think that's it's the best way

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to kind of describe it. So
you have two vaginas, right, and

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you'd think one of those two vaginas
would be a great exit vagina, but

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the possum said, actually, no, we're not going to do that.

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And basically the connective tissue between the
double vaginas sort of disintegrates, and instead

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of the babies just like crawling out
through one of the vaginas, this third

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00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:40,240
vagina kind of just opens up between
them, and the babies swim out with

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00:22:40,519 --> 00:22:45,279
deciduous claus by the way, like
they have thirteen days, and they have

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claws that they use to swim out
of the vagina, up the fur into

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the pouch, and then they latch
onto the nipple, right, they latch

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on their mouths then reseal shot over
the nipple to basic like seal them on

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00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,240
so they don't fall off because right
mom is walking and they're like on her

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00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,000
belly and hanging down, so they
have to have a way of like hanging

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on and then the claws fall off, so they go through like ten to

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twelve days of going through the whole
process of developing claws just for them to

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fall off after they hook onto the
nibble, and then they like continue developing

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in the pouch, which is essentially
just like an external room. And it's

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00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:37,319
like, why, like what made
this evolve versus like placential mammals who all

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of that development happens internally. But
part of it I think is probably because

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like if something happens resource wise,
like all of a sudden there's a drought,

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00:23:44,759 --> 00:23:48,720
there's not enough food, then they
can literally just pluck them out of

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00:23:48,759 --> 00:23:52,480
their pouch and be like try,
we'll try again next time whatever, Like

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00:23:52,799 --> 00:23:56,599
I don't have time for this,
and I'm like a feminist icon honestly,

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00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,000
marsuppils, oh my god, or
its like you know what, maybe I

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00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,440
only want half of these babies.
Let me just pluck out like five and

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00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,400
then we'll keep the rest. That's
crazy. They do. So they have

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thirteen nipples, so they can have
up to thirteen babies, and so right,

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00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:18,160
it's very rare for us to get
an injured adult mom possaman with all

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00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:25,279
thirteen. She normally only has like
eight or six because either they don't attach.

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And she also, by the way, she's giving birth to like twenty

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00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,680
or more babies, so it's really
a rat race of who gets to the

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00:24:32,759 --> 00:24:37,680
nipples first. And that's assuming they
all do, because like she's probably walking

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00:24:37,799 --> 00:24:42,400
around or she's like up and you
know, she's cleaning her her pouch and

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00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:49,079
basically like licking a pathway to the
pouch for these tiny little like bumblebee sized

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00:24:49,319 --> 00:24:55,519
fetuses to like swim out to it. It's like I could talk about possum

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00:24:55,519 --> 00:25:00,000
physiology forever because it's literally insane when
you look at it. They also create

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00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:06,240
thing is like they haven't Virginia possums
at least have not changed at like developmentally

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00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,519
basically since they got to this like
body design that they're in right now,

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00:25:11,519 --> 00:25:15,559
and that was millions of years ago. They've said, if it ain't broke,

334
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:21,519
don't fix it. Yeah, and
I'm like, okay, like good

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00:25:21,599 --> 00:25:26,039
for you. I guess it's like
thirteen babies twice a yearish anymore. Just

336
00:25:26,079 --> 00:25:29,920
let them go, yeah, and
then they only live for like two to

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00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,640
three years if they're lucky, and
they're like whatever, like I'm not here

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00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,519
for a long time. I'm here
for a good time. But yeah,

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00:25:34,559 --> 00:25:41,279
that's the epitome of lifast die young. Like, oh god, possums are

340
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:45,240
so they're crazy, but they're so
good at it that I can't really be

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00:25:45,319 --> 00:25:48,920
mad. You can't fall to them. Yeah, oh man, crack the

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00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,319
cod So speaking of like, we've
talked about a lot of different species here,

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00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,160
So just to clarify, does the
place that you work at taken like

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00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:02,039
any wild animal or do you guys
specialized and stuff? So, and I

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00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:07,759
think this will lead into another question. We take all native wildlife to our

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00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,599
state, and technically we will take
non native wildlife, but we are very

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00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:18,359
honest and transparent. We do not
rehabilitate and release anything that isn't native.

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00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,000
And that's not only like our policy
even if it wasn't a state law,

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00:26:23,039 --> 00:26:27,799
but it is also a state law
in our rehabilitation conditions that no one in

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00:26:27,839 --> 00:26:33,559
the state can do that. Cool. Yeah, because someone did ask that,

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00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:37,759
which I hadn't even considered that that
was a thing, but let me

352
00:26:37,839 --> 00:26:41,920
find it. Yeah, so patron
Ali Smith and then ask like, how

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00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:47,200
do you guys handle invasive animals?
So do you guys just say we don't

354
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:52,440
accept them or you ship them somewhere
else? So so and this is for

355
00:26:52,759 --> 00:27:00,279
the problem with rehab is that there's
not really one governing like age and see

356
00:27:00,279 --> 00:27:06,640
your body that tells you what the
guidelines are. So every state regulates their

357
00:27:06,839 --> 00:27:12,759
rehabilitators individually, with the exception being
federal regulations. So like, obviously the

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00:27:12,799 --> 00:27:21,400
federal government regulates birds migratory birds that
are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,

359
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,119
and but for states, they can
kind of say whatever they want.

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00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,720
So like, for example, for
my state, they say that we cannot

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00:27:29,079 --> 00:27:36,799
rehabilitate and release or keep captive any
non native or invasive species. So that

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00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:42,319
also includes coyotes in our states.
Oh wow, So yeah, Virginia considers

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00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:48,000
coyotes an invasive species or nuisance species, even though because they didn't originate in

364
00:27:48,079 --> 00:27:53,000
the East Coast. But yeah,
I personally don't agree because I'm like,

365
00:27:53,039 --> 00:27:59,079
well, they're naturally migratory, so
like they were going to expand here with

366
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:03,480
the lack of wolves, and probably
even with wolves maybe, but that's another

367
00:28:03,559 --> 00:28:07,079
story anyway. Yeah, so if
somebody calls us, right and they say,

368
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,200
hey, I have a nest of
starlings, of European starlings, which

369
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,920
are considered invasive and the parents aren't
here, or they were in my dryer

370
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,359
van I can't put them back in
the dryer vent or one fell out.

371
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,039
Whatever. If we always recommend generally, oh my god, I have cat

372
00:28:22,079 --> 00:28:26,640
hair in my mouth, story of
my life. We recommend it generally.

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00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,759
Right, If somebody just calls and
says, I have a bird and it's

374
00:28:29,799 --> 00:28:32,079
out of the nest, what do
I do with it? We go through

375
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:37,039
rensting protocols with them before we even
ask, generally what kind of bird it

376
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,640
is. With some exceptions, right, Chimney swifts are a little different because

377
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:45,519
they nest vertically and there's very specific
things and ways to renest them. But

378
00:28:45,599 --> 00:28:48,119
for the most part, if it's
April and somebody calls us and they're like,

379
00:28:48,119 --> 00:28:51,440
i' have a baby bird, what
should I do? We go through

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00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,359
the hole. Is it injured?
Is it cold? What's it doing?

381
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,039
Is it feathered? Is it naked? Okay, it's naked. It needs

382
00:28:57,079 --> 00:29:00,319
to go back either into its original
nest where if the whole ness came down,

383
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,000
we can renest it now. If
it gets to the point where we

384
00:29:03,039 --> 00:29:06,519
nesting is not possible, or the
animal's injured, or it was in a

385
00:29:06,519 --> 00:29:10,279
cat's mouth, anything like that,
where it cannot go back with its parents.

386
00:29:10,839 --> 00:29:12,759
Then we get into the point where
we say, okay, that animal

387
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:18,440
needs care. Generally, we're also
not at that point asking what kind of

388
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,279
bird do you have, because most
of the time people don't know anyway,

389
00:29:22,359 --> 00:29:26,160
right. They just see a bird
and they're like, oh, it's little

390
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:27,680
and brown. I think it's a
sparrow, or it's a finch, or

391
00:29:29,079 --> 00:29:32,000
they see like the pins coming in
and they're like, it's kind of blue

392
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,880
looking. I think it's a bluebird. And for us, it doesn't really

393
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:37,720
matter because once it gets here,
we'll identify it, and if it's non

394
00:29:37,839 --> 00:29:41,559
native, we do inform them,
like we'll let them know, and we

395
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:45,960
try to let them know too before
they hand. If it sounds something sus

396
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,880
generally speaking European starlings. If somebody
calls us and says, I've got a

397
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:56,200
bird nest in my dryer, event
ninety nine point nine percent of the time

398
00:29:56,599 --> 00:30:00,359
it is a European starling. Somebody
says they found a baby bird that out

399
00:30:00,359 --> 00:30:03,680
from behind a sign of like a
storefront, ninety nine point nine percent of

400
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,000
the time it's a house barrow.
So like there are things that kind of

401
00:30:07,079 --> 00:30:11,920
clue us in and we will try
to inform them ahead of time, like

402
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,680
hey, just letting you know if
this bird is this species. Legally,

403
00:30:15,799 --> 00:30:22,839
by per state law, we cannot
rehabilitate it. But if you leave it

404
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,440
out, the only other thing that's
going to happen is it's going to suffer.

405
00:30:26,319 --> 00:30:29,160
Right, it's just going to like
we can't advise you how to take

406
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:30,440
care of it, and it would
be inappropriate for us to do that.

407
00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:34,079
And like also people don't know how
to feed birds or take care of them,

408
00:30:34,079 --> 00:30:37,640
so they end up all suffering anyway. So our thought is, you

409
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,720
know, you can bring it to
us if there's no other option for it,

410
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,559
and we can at least prevent further
suffering through humane euthanasia. So that's

411
00:30:45,599 --> 00:30:48,279
how we feel about it, and
we're honest about it, like we don't

412
00:30:48,359 --> 00:30:52,599
try to hide it. We don't
say like, oh yeah, we'll take

413
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:56,200
them, and then if people check
in, we're like they're doing so well,

414
00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,079
no worries, like yay, and
meanwhile we're like euthanizing them. But

415
00:31:00,119 --> 00:31:07,000
also it's just against our our our
mission of helping native wildlife, Like why

416
00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:14,440
would we pour resources and time and
effort into animals that are actively negatively impacting

417
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:19,440
native wildlife and diversity in the ecosystem. So I know that like some organizations,

418
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,440
and like in other states, again
the laws are different, Like people

419
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,599
are legally allowed to treat invasive SPECIs
in Texas. I believe when I worked

420
00:31:27,599 --> 00:31:33,039
in Texas, we took a lot
of starlings and house barrows. But that's

421
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:37,000
kind of like their decision, and
I might not agree with it, but

422
00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:41,519
I'm not gonna harass other people.
Like if they want to put resources into

423
00:31:41,519 --> 00:31:45,319
that, and their donors know that
that's what's happening, then you know that's

424
00:31:45,359 --> 00:31:51,839
that's what they're gonna they're gonna fund
and do with their time. So yeah,

425
00:31:52,079 --> 00:31:56,960
so what okay. I actually someone
asked this, what about patrons?

426
00:31:57,039 --> 00:32:00,880
B asked is there a type of
animal that it seems to be the most

427
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:07,759
difficult to rehab successfully and why?
So I did write a little a couple

428
00:32:07,799 --> 00:32:12,240
of options for this. So for
the most common animals that you would see

429
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,839
in rehab that are difficult, I
would say are adult cottontails extremely just yeah,

430
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,480
just because they're a praise species and
they're so stressful, and generally speaking,

431
00:32:24,759 --> 00:32:30,200
you're only getting an adult cotton tail
if something really traumatic happened to them.

432
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,799
They got hit by a car,
they got caught by a dog or

433
00:32:32,799 --> 00:32:38,519
some other predator, hopefully not a
native predator, but any way that they're

434
00:32:38,519 --> 00:32:43,240
coming in right, they've got trauma. They probably have broken bones. Generally

435
00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:46,599
speaking, like if a bunny comes
in, an adult rabbit comes in and

436
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:52,200
they need like surgical intervention, we're
generally saying that's not really going to be

437
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,720
a viable option, mostly because if
you have to put any sort of like

438
00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:00,880
pin in their like and we've tried
it, we've tried it before, and

439
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:02,319
we had a rabbit that we were
like, Okay, it's in a really

440
00:33:02,359 --> 00:33:06,920
good spot. We think we can
manage like them not messing with it,

441
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,440
and she literally pulled the pin out
two days later and refractured it, and

442
00:33:10,759 --> 00:33:16,240
it They are just so stressful we
are trying. We did actually have a

443
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:21,680
recent cottontail adult come in that had
a fracture in her foot, but it

444
00:33:21,759 --> 00:33:24,200
was already partially healed and was in
the process of healing, and it was

445
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,799
in a good spot. We didn't
need to bandage it. She did have

446
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,920
a laceration on her foot that we
did surgically close, but she didn't mess

447
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:37,359
with it and we are are one
of our veterinarians we have two was looking

448
00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:45,119
into like a really good anti like
anxiety and anti stress like medical cocktail essentially.

449
00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:49,079
Oh nice. Yeah. She we
got it to a point where like

450
00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:53,400
she was eating and she was like
popping around like not messing with anything,

451
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:59,279
not in pain. But she ended
up having an issue where the tendon like

452
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:04,880
adhere to the stitches because it's literally
so like when you go over this in

453
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,960
if the tendon's right there, like
you have that issue. And we ended

454
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:15,000
up having to euthanize her just because
that tendon died. But she was doing

455
00:34:15,039 --> 00:34:17,360
well, like she was eating and
like we were looking at and we're like

456
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,519
wow, like this is really working. We're getting through. Like she was

457
00:34:21,559 --> 00:34:23,199
with us for like two and a
half weeks. It was crazy and no

458
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:28,000
problems with it. So I think
moving forward we are going to like give

459
00:34:28,039 --> 00:34:32,079
them more chances depending on the injury. But like anything, that's like a

460
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:36,320
huge praise. We see. Deer
are a big one. Falls are a

461
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:42,559
little bit less of a problem in
terms of like stress levels, but adult

462
00:34:42,599 --> 00:34:46,239
deer in our state, again in
Virginia, we are not allowed to rehabilitate

463
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:50,840
adult deer at all period. I
guess that makes sense. That's a huge

464
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,760
deal, yes, and mostly it's
because of like it's there's a danger factor

465
00:34:54,920 --> 00:35:00,000
in there, like trying to handle
and like transport and deal with an adult

466
00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:06,159
deer is incredibly dangerous for both like
the transporters but also the caregivers. Also,

467
00:35:06,199 --> 00:35:07,280
we have chronic waste and disease in
our states, so that's like a

468
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,480
whole other thing. Oh boy,
I think that because that's not a thing

469
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,079
yet where we are, thankfully,
so yeah boy, yeah, yeah,

470
00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:21,119
it's it's a big issue here.
I don't think fawn's right now. Fawn

471
00:35:21,159 --> 00:35:25,679
rehabilitation is very limited because like there's
different like chronic wasting disease containment zones,

472
00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:31,719
but every year that containment zone gets
bigger. So honestly, I think within

473
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:36,159
like the next ten years, there's
probably not going to be any fawn rehab

474
00:35:36,199 --> 00:35:39,960
in the state, and that might
be a bigger problem for people. But

475
00:35:40,559 --> 00:35:45,199
yeah, deer, and they're super
stressful again too, so like they die

476
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:50,039
of capture myopathy very easily. They
tend to both cottontails and deer tend to

477
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,599
injure themselves further when they're in care. Once they start feeling better, so

478
00:35:54,639 --> 00:36:00,400
you have to sort of balance that
out seek like any shore bird that's very

479
00:36:01,079 --> 00:36:07,719
secretive, so like rails, snipes, anything that, Like obviously their natural

480
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:15,079
behavior relies on them being like hidden. They they're very difficult, mostly because

481
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:19,079
you have them in captivity, so
that's already stressful, but now you also

482
00:36:19,119 --> 00:36:25,920
have to like somehow recreate their natural
foraging environment, which normally is like marshy

483
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,559
mud or dirt that they're like poking
their beaks through with insects and like various

484
00:36:32,039 --> 00:36:36,639
like sometimes crustaceans and stuff like that. So like that's very difficult, not

485
00:36:36,679 --> 00:36:40,719
just in just a recreation portion,
but also like having an enclosure or somewhere

486
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:45,639
in your building or if you're a
home rehamber in your home that is quiet,

487
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:50,800
that is like not going to have
a lot of bustling and movement in

488
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:54,440
them because that stresses them out.
And they are very like if we have

489
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,280
a joke, like for some animals, like if you look at them wrong

490
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:02,719
or like think badly about them,
like they're just so sensitive, which is

491
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,400
crazy. And then yeah, any
specialized birds, like obviously we're not set

492
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:15,079
up for like mostly aquatic birds like
loons or diving birds, anything like that,

493
00:37:15,159 --> 00:37:17,159
Like we we're also inland, so
like we don't really get many of

494
00:37:17,199 --> 00:37:21,960
those, ye, but I'm sure
like other facilities like International Bird Rescue,

495
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,719
they're like fully set up for that
kind of stuff, but it's still you

496
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:30,079
have to replicate those environments, which
can be very expensive and like, yeah,

497
00:37:30,199 --> 00:37:36,480
well if you don't already have that
sort of prepared, Yeah, that's

498
00:37:36,519 --> 00:37:40,559
totally fair. So of course this
is an animal attack podcast, so we

499
00:37:40,679 --> 00:37:45,800
always have to loop back to that. So has there been a time when

500
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,840
you've been attacked by an animal you're
trying to help? But I say that

501
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:52,360
in quotations because like it's not like
a bear running at you in the middle

502
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:53,800
of the woods out of nowhere.
It's like you're usually in a closed space

503
00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:57,760
with an animal. That's hard.
So I guess that's harm loosely, but

504
00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:02,159
yeah, so it's more like like
I put myself in a bad position and

505
00:38:02,199 --> 00:38:07,760
the animal just did exactly what they
should have done. So yeah, I

506
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,440
do, And it's one hundred percent. I tell people the story just to

507
00:38:10,559 --> 00:38:16,639
like show that no matter how long
you've been doing something like, you will

508
00:38:16,679 --> 00:38:22,760
be humbled in some way. And
this one hundred percent my fault, Like

509
00:38:22,119 --> 00:38:25,679
I could have prevented this if I
had taken a minute of extra time,

510
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,599
but I didn't do that. So
basically, we got a call about a

511
00:38:29,639 --> 00:38:32,519
bald eagle being down, but it
was like forty five minutes an hour away

512
00:38:32,559 --> 00:38:37,079
from us, but there was nobody
in between. And with eagles, especially

513
00:38:37,559 --> 00:38:43,480
because they're these large, dangerous birds, like they have huge talents and beaks,

514
00:38:44,159 --> 00:38:47,039
they'll basically get you from both ends, we don't ever really try to

515
00:38:47,119 --> 00:38:51,599
recommend that, like unless the bird
is like really down and somebody can just

516
00:38:51,639 --> 00:38:54,159
like throw a bin and flip it
over, We're like, don't, don't

517
00:38:54,199 --> 00:38:59,719
try anything. So there wasn't really
anywhere else closer for them to go.

518
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,280
So I started grabbing all my stuff. And we had a vettech intern who's

519
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,039
very important in the story, and
I said, hey, do you want

520
00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:10,400
to come with me? I might
need help, and it's just she was

521
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,760
from Colorado, so I was like, it's good for you to see this.

522
00:39:14,199 --> 00:39:16,559
Let's just go do this. And
as I'm trying to get everything super

523
00:39:16,639 --> 00:39:22,039
quickly because I think this was like
mid fall, so I think we still

524
00:39:22,119 --> 00:39:24,239
had some babies, and I'm like
I can't be gone for super long,

525
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:28,320
Like there's stuff that I need to
do, so I'm trying to get everything

526
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,880
together. We get a big crate, we get a net, towels and

527
00:39:32,119 --> 00:39:36,039
vetting and stuff that we can use
to put in the crate and put over

528
00:39:36,119 --> 00:39:42,039
him. And in that process,
normally you grab leather eagle gauntlets, which

529
00:39:42,119 --> 00:39:45,760
come all the way up to like
above your elbow, and I'm looking around

530
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,679
and i don't see them, and
I'm like, i just got to go.

531
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:55,280
So I grab regular what we call
regular raptor gloves, which come down

532
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:58,800
to they're like welding gloves, right, they come down a little bit below

533
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:00,639
your elbow. And I'm like,
it'll be fine. They said he's been

534
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:05,880
down in a ditch for like two
hours. He's probably passed out, Like

535
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:07,519
what, I like, I'm bringing
a net. I probably won't need it.

536
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:12,880
So that was my mistake. So
we drive out there, and sure

537
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:15,480
enough, he's on this back road
literally in a ditch. The guy who

538
00:40:15,559 --> 00:40:17,920
called about him is standing on the
other side of the road. We get

539
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:22,119
out and I'm looking at him and
I'm like, okay, like he's up,

540
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,639
but he's like down on his butt. He's not standing, and so

541
00:40:25,679 --> 00:40:30,280
I'm like, okay, he doesn't
look super mobile. We can probably just

542
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,159
come over and like net him,
throw a towel over him, put him

543
00:40:32,199 --> 00:40:37,480
in the crate, and everything's fine. And so my our vet tech student

544
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:42,559
is carrying the net. I've got
my gloves on and a towel, and

545
00:40:42,639 --> 00:40:45,199
I'm coming over and I'm kind of
bending down close to him, and he

546
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:52,880
starts backing up and behind him is
this huge swath of thorn bushes, and

547
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:58,679
my only thought is like, I
do not want to go digging through thorn

548
00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:01,440
bushes to get this bird out of
here, so I just try to grab

549
00:41:01,519 --> 00:41:06,880
him by his legs before he can
go anywhere else. And I grabbed one

550
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:09,480
of his legs, and his other
legs shot backwards before I could grab it,

551
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:16,360
and then he just went like that
and grabbed my arm literally just above

552
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:22,639
where the gloves stopped. So if
I had been wearing gauntlets, I would

553
00:41:22,639 --> 00:41:27,440
have been protected, but because I
was stupid and cocky, I was like,

554
00:41:27,519 --> 00:41:31,639
I don't need my ego gloves whatever. This again entirely my fault,

555
00:41:31,639 --> 00:41:37,760
and I've learned since then to never
not grab the egle gauntlets. And it's

556
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:42,360
really disappointing because like the scars that
I have are very tiny and like,

557
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,360
oh, they're not cool, Like
I got ripped like you would like I

558
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:50,039
have scars from like when a cat
attacked me, and that's worse than this.

559
00:41:50,679 --> 00:41:53,880
But the crazy part is is I
didn't feel it. Adrenaline is a

560
00:41:53,920 --> 00:42:00,159
hell of a drug. I was
just because he went so right. This

561
00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:06,079
is his talent. His foot,
basically, his halicks, which is the

562
00:42:06,199 --> 00:42:14,519
large hind toe, went fully in
to my arm, and then the last

563
00:42:14,559 --> 00:42:17,639
digit, the fourth digit, went
in around the other side, so he

564
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:24,239
had full grip of my arm.
Sometimes if you lift them up like they're

565
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:29,920
gonna fly off, they will let
go just as a reflex and they'll pull

566
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:34,679
their feet in. He did not
do that. Oh I tried, and

567
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:38,719
so I have his one foot he
has me, and I also have that

568
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:44,000
foot, and I'm like, Cameron, so right, I don't feel it,

569
00:42:44,159 --> 00:42:46,760
but I can see it, and
I'm going The guy is standing across

570
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:50,880
the road. He's looking. He's
like, oh, looks like he's got

571
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:52,800
a hold of you there, and
I'm like, yeah, thank you,

572
00:42:52,199 --> 00:42:57,639
thank you for the observation. I'm
I'm here and I also feel it and

573
00:42:57,679 --> 00:43:01,360
see it. So I'm like,
hey, that text student, I need

574
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:05,159
you to come over here, and
I need you to do something for me.

575
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,440
And she's never seen she's never worked
with an eagle before so far,

576
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,800
like this was just supposed to be
like here's how rescues go. And I

577
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:15,719
was like, this is not how
they know. And I'm like, Okay,

578
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,199
what I'm gonna need you to do? Right, I've got his one

579
00:43:17,199 --> 00:43:20,840
foot, so that's not a problem, and I have his other foot.

580
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:25,960
I need you to literally you have
to pull open their talents, and their

581
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:34,000
talents lock through like an automatic like
tendon locking like system essentially, so when

582
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:38,119
you pull their feet open, it
feels like they're popping because they're popping out

583
00:43:38,159 --> 00:43:43,159
of the like locking mechanisms. I
don't know how to describe it better than

584
00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:46,639
that. Yeah, But so she's
got two talents in me, and I'm

585
00:43:46,679 --> 00:43:50,920
like, do the outside one first, because it's just like the tip of

586
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,519
the talent is in there. She
pulls that one out and that one comes

587
00:43:53,559 --> 00:43:57,679
out, and I'm like, great, Now the foot is like curled into

588
00:43:57,719 --> 00:44:02,159
my arm and I can see the
halex is so far into my arm that

589
00:44:02,199 --> 00:44:07,280
I can like the tip is poking
out from like not fully out, but

590
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:09,880
it's poking up from under my skin, and I'm like, all right,

591
00:44:10,039 --> 00:44:16,320
we have to do this before my
adrenaline wears off because I don't feel anything

592
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:21,239
right now and I don't want to. So I'm like, you're holding a

593
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:25,280
fucking bald eagle. Yes, we
got to go. So I'm describing this

594
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:29,599
her and I'm like, Okay,
don't look at my arm, just look

595
00:44:29,639 --> 00:44:32,719
at the look at the foot,
and I need you to basically like wrench

596
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,960
the halls backwards. And she's like, I don't want to hurt you.

597
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:44,239
I'm like, you're gonna hurt me
if you just leave. I was like,

598
00:44:44,559 --> 00:44:47,760
and the whole time, I'm like
just talking very normally. I'm like,

599
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:52,119
Okay, this is what we're gonna
do. Okay, like I'm going

600
00:44:52,159 --> 00:44:54,159
to describe it to you. You're
doing great, awesome, great, like

601
00:44:54,360 --> 00:45:00,559
no big deal. And so she
finally gets it pulled out. We get

602
00:45:00,639 --> 00:45:05,719
him, We bundle him up,
and I hand him to her after I've

603
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:09,159
like gotten his legs, he'd gotten
his face covered, and we walk over

604
00:45:09,199 --> 00:45:15,360
to the car. I've ripped like
the end of the towel off into basically

605
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:20,000
just like one long little shred and
like tied it like a tourniquet around my

606
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,320
arm because now it's bleeding. And
we get him into the crate and the

607
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:27,199
guy is still standing there and he's
like, so, what's gonna happen.

608
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:29,840
I'm like, you can give us
a call. We can give you and

609
00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:34,360
I'm just like wrapping my arm and
trying to cover it to stop the bleeding.

610
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,159
And I'm like, yeah, just
give us a call and we can

611
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:38,880
give you an update on him,
and you know, I'll be at the

612
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:43,760
hospital. Yeah. So and I'm
like, okay, awesome, great,

613
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:46,119
We get himpacked up, We get
into the car and I drove and I

614
00:45:46,199 --> 00:45:50,920
was like to our vetech student,
I was like, I need you to

615
00:45:51,039 --> 00:45:54,400
drive my car and we're going to
go. The plan was we'd go back

616
00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:58,920
to the hospital like our facility first, drop the ego off, and then

617
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:02,360
somebody would drive me to urgent care. But ten minutes into the drive,

618
00:46:02,519 --> 00:46:09,480
my arm starts like pounding and really
I'm starting to like feel the effects of

619
00:46:09,519 --> 00:46:15,119
having an entire talent inside my arm. And I'm like, you know what,

620
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:19,639
change of plans. There's an urgent
care like twenty minutes from here.

621
00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:22,039
We're going to go there and I'm
gonna call my boss, who at the

622
00:46:22,039 --> 00:46:27,079
time was our only vet. I'm
gonna call her and she's going to meet

623
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:30,840
us there and take the eagle and
take you and no big deal. And

624
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:32,039
she was like, oh my god, it's everything going to be okay.

625
00:46:32,079 --> 00:46:36,199
I was like, it'll be fine, We'll be fine. Like that's my

626
00:46:36,760 --> 00:46:38,599
only thought in my head is like, keep everybody calm, everything will be

627
00:46:38,639 --> 00:46:42,880
fine. We get there, we
fill this stuff out, and thankfully I

628
00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,519
also have like workers comp, so
like I didn't have to pay for anything

629
00:46:45,639 --> 00:46:47,960
I was worried about that I was
going to ask. I was like,

630
00:46:49,119 --> 00:46:52,199
yeah, I called our executive director
and she was like what happened? And

631
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:54,599
I was like, I just need
to know what our workers' comp stuff is

632
00:46:54,599 --> 00:46:58,320
and she was like all right,
I'll email it to you. We get

633
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:00,960
to the urgent care, our vet
meets us there, she takes the ego

634
00:47:01,039 --> 00:47:06,119
and takes the our vettech back to
the hospital and I'm sitting there and of

635
00:47:06,159 --> 00:47:08,840
course, like once the nurses call
me back and I go in the back,

636
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:12,920
like three different people come in and
out and they're like, wait,

637
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:16,679
so what happened to you? Yeah, And I'm like I just need somebody

638
00:47:16,719 --> 00:47:21,159
to flush this out and tell me
if I need like something. I need

639
00:47:21,199 --> 00:47:25,599
antibiotics, I need something to happen
because like talent's disgusting whatever. And thankfully

640
00:47:25,639 --> 00:47:30,920
the doctor who eventually came in and
like flushed it fully out and took a

641
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:32,440
look at it, was like,
oh, you're really lucky because where it

642
00:47:32,679 --> 00:47:37,159
was, he was like, if
it had been like half an inch closer

643
00:47:37,199 --> 00:47:38,920
to like the inside of my arm, he was like, there's a really

644
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:45,320
important nerve that runs down there that
could have caused you to like lose some

645
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:49,559
feeling or function of your hand,
like who knows. And I was like,

646
00:47:50,239 --> 00:47:54,440
great, awesome, So lesson learned. We wear ego gauntlets now,

647
00:47:54,880 --> 00:48:00,400
and I have a very sad like
literally just the tiniest like smaller than a

648
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:05,199
dime, like puncture winging scars on
my arm. So I'm like, that's

649
00:48:05,199 --> 00:48:08,559
not even worth it. The worst
part was that I think he ended up

650
00:48:08,679 --> 00:48:13,519
either needing to be euthanized or I
think he had to be euthanized, and

651
00:48:13,559 --> 00:48:16,039
I was like, we went through
all that was for you to die,

652
00:48:16,079 --> 00:48:20,320
Like I was so mad, I
has to live now, like he has

653
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:24,880
to pay for his crimes. But
I was like, I've advertised blood,

654
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:30,280
sweat and tears for this bird and
then for nothing. But I mean it

655
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:34,440
was his one last hurrah. Was
like, I'm just sticking to this lady

656
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,400
and I'm gonna send it, you
know what, good for him. I

657
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:43,119
can respect that. So, oh
my god. So do you know how

658
00:48:43,199 --> 00:48:46,800
common it is for rehoburs to get
attacked buy things they're trying to help?

659
00:48:47,159 --> 00:48:52,000
I mean so from the people that
I know and like the ree hobbers that

660
00:48:52,039 --> 00:48:58,559
I'm friends with, I don't think
it happens very often, mostly because there

661
00:48:58,599 --> 00:49:05,159
are obviously things that we take into
account, like ppe personal protective equipment like

662
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:10,480
gloves and goggles and things like that. We have had a few issues with,

663
00:49:10,679 --> 00:49:15,599
like adult squirrels that were raised by
people. That's a big one that

664
00:49:15,639 --> 00:49:19,800
we get a lot, just because
people will find a single squirrel, they'll

665
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:22,360
raise it for a year, and
then all of a sudden they're like,

666
00:49:22,519 --> 00:49:28,119
this squirrel is attacking the rest of
my friends and family. I can't keep

667
00:49:28,119 --> 00:49:30,119
it in my house anymore. Here
you go, you guys, take it.

668
00:49:30,679 --> 00:49:35,639
And the problem with that is is
when you raise a baby animal and

669
00:49:35,679 --> 00:49:39,519
they don't ever see or interact with
like other animals of their species, they

670
00:49:39,559 --> 00:49:45,119
don't have a good identity of what
they are. They think that you and

671
00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:47,280
them are the same. The problem
with that is, like, sure,

672
00:49:47,519 --> 00:49:51,840
part of it is, you know, they're going to be friendly towards you.

673
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:57,760
But the other problem is is when
those animals, when those animals experience

674
00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:02,519
you know, aggression, like their
territory or defending their space whatever. Most

675
00:50:02,559 --> 00:50:06,800
wild animals, if they were raised
properly, have a fear of you.

676
00:50:07,039 --> 00:50:09,599
They're not going to risk their lives
because you are a predator to them.

677
00:50:09,679 --> 00:50:13,599
Right, So I'm going to say, oh, I need to defend this

678
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,039
whole cage from you a predator.
They're going to say, no, I'm

679
00:50:16,039 --> 00:50:20,719
going to go hide in my box, and then if they come near me

680
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:22,440
in my box, then I'll defend
myself because I have nowhere else to go.

681
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:27,679
With these animals that are identifying themselves
as people or you know, they

682
00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:32,440
just think we're the same. They
have no fear of that we are predators

683
00:50:32,519 --> 00:50:37,360
or that we can hurt them.
So when they feel threatened or they have

684
00:50:37,519 --> 00:50:42,039
some sort of you know, now
I have to defend my territory. Because

685
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:45,679
they're adults now, they're hit it. They're going through puberty essentially for squirrels

686
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:50,480
or for other species, you know
that comes with a lot of hormone shifts,

687
00:50:51,079 --> 00:50:54,880
and now they're going to take that
out on the things that they think

688
00:50:54,920 --> 00:51:00,360
are them, which is people.
So we've had a bunch of hand human

689
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:06,280
raised squirrels come in and we've given
a few of them chances where we're like,

690
00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:08,280
let's put them out, let's see
what happens. Like sometimes if you

691
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:12,280
get us, if somebody finds a
squirrel and they're too they're old enough,

692
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,280
right, they've been around other squirrels, then it's not as damaging. But

693
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:19,039
it's when they're like, oh,
I found this baby, eyes closed and

694
00:51:19,119 --> 00:51:22,119
all they've known is me and they've
never seen another squirrel in their life.

695
00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:27,559
That's when you have the issue they
will. I've had people come out or

696
00:51:27,559 --> 00:51:30,199
like even volunteers who go out because
we're like, oh, they're not a

697
00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:31,760
problem, they're not doing anything,
and they come in and they're like,

698
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:37,000
she ran up to me and attacked
me and like I was biting. You've

699
00:51:37,039 --> 00:51:43,440
had staff members have to get post
Brady's exposure because I get their mammals right,

700
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:47,079
and they're in outdoor enclosures, so
you never know because they bit and

701
00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:53,599
broke skin and people. I feel
like don't realize how terrifying an adult squirrel

702
00:51:53,800 --> 00:52:00,239
coming at you is considering their teeth
can literally bite through bone, Like yeah,

703
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:05,079
we bite through metal people, like
people's metal siding on their houses,

704
00:52:05,639 --> 00:52:08,639
and that small thing is coming towards
your face, Like that's terrifying to me.

705
00:52:09,199 --> 00:52:14,400
Like yeah, so we get a
lot of squirrels. If they go

706
00:52:14,519 --> 00:52:16,599
through that, they'll attack people.
We've had a few of those over the

707
00:52:16,639 --> 00:52:20,920
last like five or six years.
As far as like hearing other people,

708
00:52:21,119 --> 00:52:25,360
I haven't heard much, Like every
now and again, I see posts where

709
00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:29,960
they're like just a reminder these animals
are dangerous because while I was trying to

710
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:32,079
feed them, they hit me,
and I'm like, I don't know if

711
00:52:32,119 --> 00:52:36,280
I would post about that, but
like okay, like I see it's a

712
00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:44,559
thing. And then there was also
like obviously you see like news articles of

713
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:50,800
non permitted people trying to rehab animals
and then that coming to bite them,

714
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:55,920
mostly deer. Like there's so many, so many articles of man raised a

715
00:52:57,039 --> 00:53:00,719
deer and then it grew up and
god him to death when it running season,

716
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:05,559
And that's the same concept, like
that deer thinks that that guy is

717
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:09,559
another one of him. So he's
gonna he doesn't think it's a risk to

718
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:14,519
attack him because he thinks he's another
deer. God, there's so many of

719
00:53:14,519 --> 00:53:17,239
those, and like that's a huge
problem. But yeah, and like I

720
00:53:17,920 --> 00:53:22,480
think a lot of people assume that
imprinting in birds is like not a real

721
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,199
thing, but it's so is a
real thing. So if you have a

722
00:53:24,239 --> 00:53:29,239
bird that's some like a raptor for
example, that somebody raised, it now

723
00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:34,719
thinks that people are birds. So
you have a snowy owl that thinks that

724
00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:37,639
it's a person, so when you
try to go near it, it will

725
00:53:37,679 --> 00:53:43,519
attack you. And that's like squirrels
are horrifying, but raptors are also so

726
00:53:43,800 --> 00:53:47,159
scary if they're coming at you.
So like, yeah, i I'm not

727
00:53:47,159 --> 00:53:51,639
schrist. We so like there's all
so we also do education, right,

728
00:53:51,679 --> 00:53:58,599
So we have some non release lible
birds, and the only imprinted birds we

729
00:53:58,719 --> 00:54:04,960
have are two vultures and a kestrel, so thankfully not any Like the vultures

730
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:10,159
obviously can cause some issues, but
they're pretty well socialized at this point.

731
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:15,679
And then the kestrel's very small and
he doesn't normally take aggression out on people,

732
00:54:15,719 --> 00:54:17,800
at least hasn't so far knock on
wood. That's good, but there

733
00:54:17,800 --> 00:54:22,719
are like obviously, like when we
talk about you know, good educational animals

734
00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:27,280
and things like that, and you'll
see that kind of around the country as

735
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:30,679
people will have imprinted birds. And
on one hand, you're like, yeah,

736
00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:37,639
like that makes the handling and the
stress around people like so much easier

737
00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:40,280
to deal with because they they're used
to it, like they think that's normal.

738
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,880
But at the same time, the
other part of that coin is like

739
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:49,360
around breeding season or around like yeah, when they would be defending territories,

740
00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:54,760
they are going to exert that behavior
towards you, their trainer, their caregiver.

741
00:54:55,199 --> 00:55:00,519
And to me, having a great
horned owl pissed off that I'm in

742
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:04,960
its enclosure where I need to be, like that is that's scary to me.

743
00:55:05,079 --> 00:55:08,239
And I'm like imprinting like oh yeah, that's that's fun and like that's

744
00:55:08,239 --> 00:55:15,000
a great idea, but also oh
my god, like huh terrifying. There's

745
00:55:15,039 --> 00:55:16,960
there's pros and cons to both,
and I'm like, I don't know,

746
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:22,039
I'd rather have a bird afraid of
me. And then we work through that.

747
00:55:22,239 --> 00:55:25,440
Then they're like, oh, yeah, we're the same. Yeah,

748
00:55:25,599 --> 00:55:29,440
I funny eventure gret horn owl.
Is I work with the great horn owl,

749
00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:31,840
who was like pretty I don't know. I wouldn't say he was necessarily

750
00:55:31,840 --> 00:55:36,760
imprinted on people, but he was
raised from very small around people and he

751
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:39,119
humped my foot and he never attacked
me. But I was like, this

752
00:55:39,159 --> 00:55:45,840
is weird and I don't like it. So this is uncomfortable at least heat

753
00:55:45,360 --> 00:55:51,159
people like That's it's like a like
you don't want that to happen, but

754
00:55:51,199 --> 00:55:53,840
if it does happen, that's kind
of like the sweet spot of having those

755
00:55:53,880 --> 00:56:00,280
animals as education like ambassadors and work
with them every day. But yeah,

756
00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:08,239
it's it's a whole thing, so
very related. Patroon Ali Smith asked,

757
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:13,239
are there specific things rehabbers have to
keep in mind when rehabbing animals to avoid

758
00:56:13,280 --> 00:56:19,480
that animal imprinting or habituation on people. Yes, so obviously, And there's

759
00:56:19,719 --> 00:56:23,119
I feel like there's more than people
anticipate. Like some people are like,

760
00:56:23,199 --> 00:56:28,440
oh, you just like put them
with other animals or with other species of

761
00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:30,840
its kind, And that's a big
one. Is like putting conspecifics together,

762
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:39,079
especially for like songbirds, So songbirds
they are in printing and like learning their

763
00:56:39,119 --> 00:56:44,599
songs and practicing their songs and stuff
like that at a very early age.

764
00:56:45,559 --> 00:56:52,199
So most songbird rehabilitators are going to
try to get their baby birds with other

765
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:54,840
birds of the same species. Right, we have networks, so like I

766
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:59,679
can call another rehab center and be
like, hey, I have a single

767
00:57:00,119 --> 00:57:02,880
eyed vireo and he really needs to
go with somebody. He's a hatchling,

768
00:57:04,039 --> 00:57:06,280
Like, do you guys have any
or we have Actually, we actually have

769
00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:09,559
a Facebook group that we can like
most rehabbers in Virginia are on, so

770
00:57:09,639 --> 00:57:14,119
I just be like, hey,
I've got this vieo, or I've got

771
00:57:14,119 --> 00:57:16,960
this oriole, or I've got a
single otter or something like that. So

772
00:57:17,239 --> 00:57:22,400
we use that a lot for as
a resource to kind of get animals with

773
00:57:22,519 --> 00:57:24,239
others that they need to be with. So that's a big thing that we

774
00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:29,079
do. Also kind of back on
the songbirds, they learn their songs,

775
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:35,840
so we try to get them outside
as soon as like they're possibly able to

776
00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:39,280
go outside and not freeze to death. Thankfully, by the time we're getting

777
00:57:39,280 --> 00:57:43,000
baby birds, it's quite warm in
our area, so they can go out

778
00:57:43,519 --> 00:57:46,960
pretty early and we want them,
especially if they're in our area. We'll

779
00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:51,960
either put them outside so they can
hear their species sing and they have to

780
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:55,679
hear it. They have to practice
it and hear themselves practice it so that

781
00:57:55,679 --> 00:58:00,800
they can compare what they're hearing from
the adult birds to what they're doing,

782
00:58:00,239 --> 00:58:04,280
and that's how they learn their song. They have to have both of those

783
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:07,599
things together. You can't just,
you know, hope that they're going to

784
00:58:07,679 --> 00:58:13,239
make a song and it'll be appropriate. So if you don't have those birds

785
00:58:13,239 --> 00:58:16,719
too, like sometimes we get things
like we don't we have a Kadian fly

786
00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:20,920
catchers in the area, but we
don't have a Kadi and fly catchers in

787
00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:25,719
our woods specifically, So I would
then put my laptop out and have like

788
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:30,440
a Kadi and fly catcher songs playing
kind of on loop. Or if I

789
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:35,119
have a bunch of different songbirds who
aren't in our woods, I'll try to

790
00:58:35,159 --> 00:58:38,400
find a playlist with like various types, or I'll make a playlist and play

791
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:43,039
that on loop so that they can
hear the song. But there are some

792
00:58:43,119 --> 00:58:49,519
problems with like certain birds where there's
like local dialects, like crows crows,

793
00:58:49,559 --> 00:58:52,880
you got to get out and especially
if they're babies, you want to get

794
00:58:52,880 --> 00:58:57,679
them out and like socializing with your
local crows as soon as possible, because

795
00:58:57,719 --> 00:59:01,400
like that's who they're going to be
socializing with. There's also holdline, what

796
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:05,440
do we need to keep in mind? We use mirrors for kids who are

797
00:59:05,440 --> 00:59:07,480
by themselves for a while if we
don't have anybody to put them with,

798
00:59:07,639 --> 00:59:14,519
so that at least they're not seeing
us, they're seeing another one of them.

799
00:59:15,239 --> 00:59:19,840
Or I'm sure you've probably been familiar
working in rehab before, is like

800
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:23,960
for raptors specifically having to like basically
pull on like a full gown or some

801
00:59:24,159 --> 00:59:30,719
sort of costumes so that they don't
see you at all. Vultures are some

802
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:37,079
of the worst imprinters in terms of
like you might not you might not wear

803
00:59:37,119 --> 00:59:40,719
a full mask, and they see
your eyes or they see your body shape

804
00:59:40,800 --> 00:59:44,320
or whatever, and like within a
couple of days they're like, yeah,

805
00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:49,719
that's what I am. Because they're
very spiritual birds, so that that imprinting

806
00:59:49,760 --> 00:59:54,079
and that knowing who they are is
a very important part of their basically like

807
00:59:54,159 --> 00:59:58,719
growing up. What else do we
do? I have all of these notes

808
00:59:58,800 --> 01:00:01,960
making sure we're not talking to animals, just like period. Every so we

809
01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:07,920
take interns and I always have to
like make sure at orientation and even for

810
01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:10,719
volunteers as well. It's be like, we are not a petting zoo,

811
01:00:10,840 --> 01:00:15,440
we are not a sanctuary. Our
purpose is to get these animals back out

812
01:00:15,559 --> 01:00:21,039
as competent individuals, and that includes
like we are not going to baby them.

813
01:00:21,280 --> 01:00:23,400
We're not going to baby talk them. These are not your pets.

814
01:00:23,440 --> 01:00:29,960
Like talking not only can be stressful, but also can detrimentally impact them if

815
01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:32,239
they are babies. Right, they
don't want them getting used to being around

816
01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:37,880
human sounds, if possible, making
sure we're not over handling them, right,

817
01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:42,400
We're not like cuddeling possums and squirrels
and letting them climb all over us.

818
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:46,159
Raccoons especially, I see, Oh, I see a lot of people

819
01:00:46,199 --> 01:00:51,039
do that, and I'm like,
no, the brain works. They're just

820
01:00:51,159 --> 01:00:54,000
waiting all over your clothes. Like, I'm just like, you're not even

821
01:00:54,039 --> 01:00:59,000
wearing gowns. I can't pay that. Yeah, but seeing people like play

822
01:00:59,039 --> 01:01:01,519
with outdoor raccoon or have raccoons as
pets drives me fucking wild, knowing how

823
01:01:02,239 --> 01:01:06,039
I mean, it's not nice to
say raccoons are gross, but they have

824
01:01:06,079 --> 01:01:07,800
a lot of gross stuff that they
can pass to you. Yes, it's

825
01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:13,480
not their fault, but no,
it's the reality of it. So like

826
01:01:14,039 --> 01:01:19,280
once you know you can't, you
can't unknown they you can't unknow raccoon round

827
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:24,480
words. And then obviously, right
like hazing animals, we do have to

828
01:01:24,519 --> 01:01:28,239
do that, and this year we
had to do a little of that.

829
01:01:28,280 --> 01:01:32,920
We had two raccoon kits come in
late and we immediately got them together.

830
01:01:34,199 --> 01:01:37,000
They were on their own, but
there were only two of them, so

831
01:01:37,039 --> 01:01:39,039
they only had each other and then
they had us when we came in and

832
01:01:39,039 --> 01:01:43,559
fed them and cleaned them. Right, so they're outside and all of a

833
01:01:43,599 --> 01:01:46,440
sudden, I'm noticing, like,
you're not running away from me, Why

834
01:01:46,480 --> 01:01:50,800
are you? Why are you trying
to approach me? Like that's not good

835
01:01:50,840 --> 01:01:52,559
for you. And while like on
one hand, I'm like, oh my

836
01:01:52,599 --> 01:01:55,960
god, so cute, very inflordable, so glad that you feel that way,

837
01:01:57,000 --> 01:01:59,639
on the other hand, I'm like, you're gonna get shot by a

838
01:01:59,679 --> 01:02:02,239
farm who if you walk up to
them, they're gonna assume you have rabies.

839
01:02:02,519 --> 01:02:07,599
So we do a lot of eazing
when it's necessary. And that's literally

840
01:02:07,639 --> 01:02:10,039
that could literally just be like you
walk into a cage and you're making a

841
01:02:10,119 --> 01:02:15,000
lot of noise, you're banging around
or if they come out of their normally

842
01:02:15,039 --> 01:02:17,480
sleep in hammocks when they're out our
raccoons or in like a little Heidi hole,

843
01:02:17,960 --> 01:02:22,159
and they should be up and a
way from us the whole time we're

844
01:02:22,199 --> 01:02:24,079
in that cage. If they come
out and start kind of coming near us,

845
01:02:24,360 --> 01:02:27,360
we're gonna make a lot of noise. We're going to bang on the

846
01:02:27,400 --> 01:02:30,280
walls, and we might spray them
a little bit with the hose and be

847
01:02:30,360 --> 01:02:32,000
like, yeah, if you come
near me, that's what you're going to

848
01:02:32,079 --> 01:02:40,400
get. Is kind of negatively,
negatively positively punishing. Yeah, I always

849
01:02:40,440 --> 01:02:45,639
have to remember the plus and minus
what everything means, but particularly associating us

850
01:02:45,639 --> 01:02:51,320
no longer with food and like happy
go fun times, but like we're scary

851
01:02:51,519 --> 01:02:53,559
and we're dangerous and you need to
stay away from us. And by the

852
01:02:53,679 --> 01:02:57,960
end they took off out of their
creates away from us. Oh good,

853
01:02:58,360 --> 01:03:02,599
So it was. It's a heartfelt
too. That also must be so confusing

854
01:03:02,639 --> 01:03:06,280
for them. I'm sure they're like, you're feeding me, but I can't

855
01:03:06,320 --> 01:03:09,480
say thanks, like what the fuck? Thankfully, they do kind of adjust

856
01:03:09,760 --> 01:03:15,880
to like their normal, like their
normal routine in terms of like being awake

857
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:20,320
normally at night, so when we
go out and during the daytime, like

858
01:03:20,840 --> 01:03:24,480
they're mostly sleeping or they're kind of
like cuddled up, they're in their little

859
01:03:24,519 --> 01:03:30,199
like Heidi area because they're kind of
like napping. So like normally that helps

860
01:03:30,239 --> 01:03:32,719
us a little bit, but sometimes
we don't do the raccoons until almost the

861
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:37,119
end of our shift, and by
that point they're like, I'm hungry and

862
01:03:37,159 --> 01:03:40,239
they're looking for food and that's when
they're out, so we sometimes have to

863
01:03:40,719 --> 01:03:45,599
work around that. But yeah,
those are kind of like basically just making

864
01:03:45,599 --> 01:03:50,559
sure that we're trying we're number one, not raising any animals by themselves.

865
01:03:50,880 --> 01:03:52,760
We're networking with others to get them
where they need to be or get them

866
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:57,639
with other animals that they need to
be, or we're you know, hazing

867
01:03:57,679 --> 01:04:01,039
them. We're wearing masks, we're
wearing entire gown get ups. We do

868
01:04:01,119 --> 01:04:05,360
have puppets for some of our raptors, which is nice so that they're focusing

869
01:04:05,400 --> 01:04:10,679
on, like we have a great
horned alt puppet and vulture puppet and stuff

870
01:04:10,679 --> 01:04:14,760
like that. Ice to feed them. Very cool. Yeah, So to

871
01:04:14,840 --> 01:04:18,480
wrap it up, let's get into
the last few fun questions. So our

872
01:04:18,519 --> 01:04:23,440
patron nests said Jess I love following
your content. I must admit your ants

873
01:04:23,440 --> 01:04:27,320
are extremely satisfying. What's the animal
you would absolutely love to take care of,

874
01:04:27,360 --> 01:04:30,199
although we do not wish any of
them harm, just speaking hypothetically,

875
01:04:30,119 --> 01:04:35,239
so I don't know if this is
like native animals I want to take care

876
01:04:35,280 --> 01:04:39,119
of, or just like any animal, I'd like to take care of any

877
01:04:39,119 --> 01:04:44,880
old animal, if it's any animal
I would love to care for. Bearded

878
01:04:44,960 --> 01:04:49,599
vultures number one, because they're endangered, but also just because they're like the

879
01:04:49,840 --> 01:04:55,800
coolest bird I've ever seen in my
life, and like, I like they're

880
01:04:55,960 --> 01:05:01,840
they're huge, and they're so like
metal looking, be so interesting to like

881
01:05:02,559 --> 01:05:08,679
watch their behaviors, and they eat
bones, so to like prepare that and

882
01:05:08,719 --> 01:05:12,519
like watch them perform. Part of
like the best part for me of like

883
01:05:12,559 --> 01:05:17,480
caring for animals is watching them develop
or partake in like their natural behaviors.

884
01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:23,599
So like my my greatest joy is
because I'm a bird person. I like

885
01:05:23,639 --> 01:05:27,559
the mammals too, like, and
raccoons are very satisfying to watch. But

886
01:05:27,880 --> 01:05:32,360
seeing a baby bird for the first
time figure out how to bathe in a

887
01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:38,360
bath, like and they just go
in and they start bathing and they're preening

888
01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:42,760
and they're just fluffed up and like
all wet, but they're having the best

889
01:05:42,800 --> 01:05:47,880
time. Like that just brings me
so much joy to like watch them figure

890
01:05:47,960 --> 01:05:53,679
something out and then that like that's
their normal behavior that they get to do

891
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:56,719
now, and like now they get
to preen and their feathers are gonna be

892
01:05:56,719 --> 01:06:00,480
good quality and like just stuff like
that. So like, yeah, oh,

893
01:06:00,599 --> 01:06:02,519
to be involved and not only like
a really cool bird but also an

894
01:06:02,599 --> 01:06:08,400
endangered bird, that would be awesome. Others I have cared for before that

895
01:06:08,639 --> 01:06:14,280
I really enjoyed Bobcats are very not
I don't know if fun is the right

896
01:06:14,360 --> 01:06:16,840
word, but it's the same concept, Like you get to because they have

897
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:24,599
so much like need for enrichment and
for like proper enclosures, Like enclosure design

898
01:06:24,840 --> 01:06:29,239
is very satisfying for me to do. And like being able to like design

899
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:32,119
something and put something together and then
like watch through a tiny little hole or

900
01:06:32,159 --> 01:06:36,199
a camera when you put them back
and watching them just like play with everything.

901
01:06:36,440 --> 01:06:44,800
It's very good. Yeah, very
oh yeah. Ten out of ten.

902
01:06:45,079 --> 01:06:49,039
Ness also asked except keeping cats inside, which we talk about all the

903
01:06:49,039 --> 01:06:51,719
time on this podcast, and dogs
leased, which we also talk about this

904
01:06:51,800 --> 01:06:56,639
podcast, and call it a wildlife
center when finding an animal in obvious trouble

905
01:06:56,639 --> 01:07:00,079
and not keeping wildlife with pets.
What do people need to know? I

906
01:07:00,079 --> 01:07:03,000
mean nest kind of like hit all
the main the main I was like,

907
01:07:03,119 --> 01:07:08,360
nest, what else? What else
should people do? So that took me

908
01:07:08,400 --> 01:07:12,880
a minute to really think about.
I think one of my biggest things is

909
01:07:13,320 --> 01:07:19,360
convincing people. Number One, birds
don't need bird feeders, Like, yeah,

910
01:07:19,440 --> 01:07:24,840
bird feeders are really nice for people
to like look at and watch birds,

911
01:07:25,320 --> 01:07:28,880
but the food that we're feeding them
through bird feeders is not the food

912
01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:33,960
that they really need or rely on. So trying like letting people know that

913
01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:39,480
birds don't need your bird feeders.
They need native plants and they need habitat

914
01:07:40,039 --> 01:07:43,440
so like. And also bird feeders
spread diseases if you're not cleaning them,

915
01:07:43,519 --> 01:07:46,679
Like I, yeah, I'm a
bird person. I don't even have I

916
01:07:46,679 --> 01:07:51,119
don't have bird feeders because number one, I'm lazy and I don't want to

917
01:07:51,159 --> 01:07:59,280
commit to a weekly cleaning ritual.
And number two also that's expensive. I

918
01:07:59,360 --> 01:08:02,920
work for a non profit. I
can't afford birds seed everybe eat me at

919
01:08:02,920 --> 01:08:08,480
a house and home. So I
would rather write try to plant native plants

920
01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:12,840
a number one, take less maintenance, but also not only provide food in

921
01:08:12,880 --> 01:08:15,840
the winter time when people are concerned
most about feeding birds, they also provide

922
01:08:15,880 --> 01:08:20,199
proper insects, which is what most
birds are feeding their babies in the summer,

923
01:08:20,520 --> 01:08:26,680
even like benches and cardinals that we
see as adults eating primarily seeds in

924
01:08:26,800 --> 01:08:31,319
like fruits during the wintertime or during
the late summer as adults, they're feeding

925
01:08:31,359 --> 01:08:38,359
their babies basically a one percent insect
diet, and those insects need those plants

926
01:08:38,399 --> 01:08:41,319
in order to survive. So yeah, you might get adults through the winter,

927
01:08:41,439 --> 01:08:44,640
but if you're not supporting their babies, then you're not supporting the actual

928
01:08:44,720 --> 01:08:49,359
population. So that's like my soapbox
on bird feeders. Animals that are injured,

929
01:08:49,399 --> 01:08:54,720
ill, orphaned, they don't need
food and water, they need medical

930
01:08:54,840 --> 01:09:00,239
stabilization, which you, as a
normal person without a veterinarian, cannot do.

931
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:03,880
So people always they like the I
don't know why. I think it's

932
01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:11,520
maybe this like weird maternal instinct or
this caring instinct where they find an animal

933
01:09:12,079 --> 01:09:16,199
and regardless of whether it's like a
baby or like a hawk that was hit

934
01:09:16,279 --> 01:09:19,079
by a car, they're like,
I need to feed it. I need

935
01:09:19,079 --> 01:09:23,479
to get it. And it's like
the same the whole concept of like,

936
01:09:23,560 --> 01:09:27,840
well, when an ambulance comes and
picks you up, they don't have hamburgers

937
01:09:27,840 --> 01:09:33,399
and sandwiches on the ambulance because if
you're having a medical crisis or trauma,

938
01:09:33,560 --> 01:09:39,039
feeding you is not the first thing, like stabilizing you is. And that's

939
01:09:39,079 --> 01:09:44,199
the same thing even for orphans who
aren't injured necessarily, or maybe people think

940
01:09:44,239 --> 01:09:47,000
they're not injured. Generally speaking,
you're not finding that orphan right away.

941
01:09:47,079 --> 01:09:53,720
You're finding them hours or days later. So they're probably in some sort of

942
01:09:53,760 --> 01:10:00,760
stage of starvation or they're definitely dehydrated, so trying to feed them or give

943
01:10:00,800 --> 01:10:05,039
them water can actually shut their gut
down even further and cause a lot of

944
01:10:05,039 --> 01:10:10,800
gi problems which can kill them.
Or also people are like, oh my

945
01:10:10,840 --> 01:10:12,800
god, but they're babies, I
need to feed them right now. They

946
01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:16,560
have known training on how to feed
these animals, and even like I have

947
01:10:16,680 --> 01:10:20,680
volunteers, you know, that have
been trained for years, and even we

948
01:10:20,800 --> 01:10:28,119
still occasionally aspirate a squirrel or a
bunny. And if the trained professionals are

949
01:10:28,159 --> 01:10:32,800
still doing it, then the untrained
professionals are definitely doing it, and aspiration

950
01:10:32,960 --> 01:10:38,880
can cause pneumonia, which again can
kill them. So generally speaking, if

951
01:10:38,920 --> 01:10:42,720
you find an injured, ill or
orphaned animal, you just put them in

952
01:10:42,760 --> 01:10:45,920
a box with like some sort of
cloth, hand, towel, t shirt,

953
01:10:46,039 --> 01:10:49,159
whatever in the bottom of it.
Put them on a heating pad on

954
01:10:49,359 --> 01:10:54,159
low in a dark room away from
like noises, pets, kids, whatever.

955
01:10:54,680 --> 01:10:58,640
Don't open the box again to handle
them or anything like that. Don't

956
01:10:58,680 --> 01:11:01,279
give them food or water or try
to feed them, leave them there and

957
01:11:01,319 --> 01:11:05,319
then find a rehabit to take them
to, because doing all of that extra

958
01:11:05,600 --> 01:11:09,880
is just going to stress them out. It's just going like again, feeding

959
01:11:09,880 --> 01:11:14,479
them is not what they need.
They need proper care and at least keeping

960
01:11:14,520 --> 01:11:17,359
them somewhere warm, dark and quiet. They are not using extra energy to

961
01:11:17,399 --> 01:11:21,000
try and stay warm. For most
animals, once it's dark, they're going

962
01:11:21,039 --> 01:11:25,279
to go to sleep or they're gonna
you know, calm down, so that

963
01:11:25,359 --> 01:11:29,520
helps with the stress. And if
they're injured, then if they's somewhere dark

964
01:11:29,520 --> 01:11:31,039
where they're going to be kind of
quiet and they can't move around too much,

965
01:11:31,039 --> 01:11:35,199
they're not going to further hurt themselves
thrashing around or trying to get away

966
01:11:35,199 --> 01:11:39,159
from you when you're like, oh, I just want to like hold it

967
01:11:39,239 --> 01:11:44,720
and pet it and take a video
for my TikTok. So yeah, those

968
01:11:44,760 --> 01:11:48,279
must drive you absolutely nuts. They
drive me nuts. Yeah. I've had

969
01:11:48,279 --> 01:11:53,199
to like ask like my co workers
when they're like, oh my god,

970
01:11:53,239 --> 01:11:55,199
did you see this video? And
I'm like I don't want to see it.

971
01:11:55,439 --> 01:12:00,439
No, I like I can't do
anything about it, and they're not

972
01:12:00,479 --> 01:12:03,880
going to listen to me, and
I'm just gonna be stressed out about it.

973
01:12:03,960 --> 01:12:06,600
So it's fun. Yeah, I
get a lot, Hey do you

974
01:12:06,600 --> 01:12:09,720
want to see this video of someone
with a pet monkey? And I'm like,

975
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:12,720
never, Never do I want to
see that. I don't even want

976
01:12:12,720 --> 01:12:15,960
to know that they have it.
Don't even tell me. Please just pretend

977
01:12:15,119 --> 01:12:18,640
like it doesn't exist for me.
That would be yep, that'd be great.

978
01:12:19,359 --> 01:12:24,479
Yeah. Yeah, And I think
it can also be hard when you're

979
01:12:24,520 --> 01:12:27,840
telling people like the most you can
do for this injured animals put it in

980
01:12:27,920 --> 01:12:30,439
a box and call somebody because they
know, like you're in New Hampshire,

981
01:12:30,439 --> 01:12:32,640
we're pretty small. Like a lot
of rehabbers just do it out of their

982
01:12:32,640 --> 01:12:36,600
houses, so they might not have
the space or funds to take care of

983
01:12:36,640 --> 01:12:42,520
whatever animal you have, So like, maybe this isn't an issue where you

984
01:12:42,560 --> 01:12:45,239
work because you're like a whole facility. But I guess, like, what

985
01:12:45,279 --> 01:12:48,600
do you tell people who they can't
find someone to take the animal, you

986
01:12:48,680 --> 01:12:54,960
just like leave it. It's a
question. Yeah, no, it's a

987
01:12:55,000 --> 01:13:00,239
good question. So we do in
counter that because our neighboring stay West Virginia

988
01:13:00,720 --> 01:13:06,359
does not have rehabilitation at all.
They have who rehab for birds, but

989
01:13:06,399 --> 01:13:12,920
there's only three centers in the entire
state, and technically we can take birds

990
01:13:12,960 --> 01:13:16,399
across state lines, but we can't
take mammals, reptiles, amphibians across state

991
01:13:16,439 --> 01:13:21,119
lines. So if somebody from Charlestown, West Virginia calls us and they say,

992
01:13:21,159 --> 01:13:27,159
hey, my cat attacked this cottontail, what can I do for it?

993
01:13:27,359 --> 01:13:30,760
And we can say, well,
you can bring it to us and

994
01:13:30,800 --> 01:13:35,239
we can euthanize it so that it's
not suffering anymore, or you can put

995
01:13:35,279 --> 01:13:40,640
it back outside, which then most
people don't want to do that, right.

996
01:13:41,560 --> 01:13:45,479
They don't want to knowingly watch an
animal suffer. They want to do

997
01:13:45,520 --> 01:13:49,720
something about it. The other problem
too, is that again the only options

998
01:13:49,760 --> 01:13:55,920
really for those animals for us if
they are actually injured, or they can't

999
01:13:55,960 --> 01:13:59,960
be renested for some reason. Those
are the only options we can legally get

1000
01:14:00,119 --> 01:14:02,399
them, and we're not going Sometimes
people are like, well, if you

1001
01:14:02,439 --> 01:14:05,560
can't take it, can you at
least tell me what to do? And

1002
01:14:05,920 --> 01:14:10,960
number one, we can't do that
because it's against our permit conditions. But

1003
01:14:11,079 --> 01:14:17,399
number two, even if I were
to describe to you in very close detail

1004
01:14:17,760 --> 01:14:23,479
about every single thing that you need
to do to care for that animal without

1005
01:14:23,520 --> 01:14:28,960
actually having the hands on experience and
physically doing it, the likelihood of you

1006
01:14:29,119 --> 01:14:35,399
doing all of that correctly just from
verbal or written instruction is very well.

1007
01:14:35,760 --> 01:14:40,640
So most likely that animal is going
to suffer anyway, right, and especially

1008
01:14:40,640 --> 01:14:44,479
if it is an injured animal where
they don't have access to pain medications or

1009
01:14:44,520 --> 01:14:49,800
antibiotics. Like it's the kind of
ethical dilemma of well, are you just

1010
01:14:49,800 --> 01:14:56,520
going to let that animal suffer because
your emotions are not letting you make the

1011
01:14:56,600 --> 01:15:00,640
right decision, or can we at
least help you revent that animal from suffering

1012
01:15:00,680 --> 01:15:04,199
further? It's not and like we
don't like that option, Like we don't

1013
01:15:04,279 --> 01:15:09,800
like that there's no option for them, And we tell people like, if

1014
01:15:09,840 --> 01:15:15,079
you so west Virginia used to have
rehab and then they got rid of it

1015
01:15:15,199 --> 01:15:20,520
because it was too expensive to keep
up with the permit department and have you

1016
01:15:20,560 --> 01:15:27,479
know, animal control officers or game
wardens go out and inspect people's places for

1017
01:15:27,560 --> 01:15:30,760
their permit and stuff like that.
So they just did away with it.

1018
01:15:30,840 --> 01:15:35,239
And even their bird centers that they
have, they don't even regulate them.

1019
01:15:35,520 --> 01:15:40,399
They just say because the federal government
regulates birds, they said, the federal

1020
01:15:40,399 --> 01:15:45,000
government can take care of them.
So they don't allow any new bird rehab

1021
01:15:45,119 --> 01:15:48,920
facilities, but they grandfathered in the
ones that are there. So it is

1022
01:15:49,000 --> 01:15:55,319
really frustrating. And then you get
people who are like doing it underground or

1023
01:15:55,399 --> 01:15:59,640
doing it legally. And we've had
a couple of people bring us things who

1024
01:15:59,640 --> 01:16:01,920
are like, oh, yeah,
I normally do this, like I've taken

1025
01:16:01,960 --> 01:16:06,399
care of like twenty thirty things like
whatever, but like this one just wasn't

1026
01:16:06,399 --> 01:16:10,840
getting any better. And then they
bring us like a bar now who's both

1027
01:16:10,880 --> 01:16:14,960
of their legs were broken and they've
had them for a week, and we're

1028
01:16:15,039 --> 01:16:19,119
just like like, I know that
you think that you're doing something good by

1029
01:16:19,479 --> 01:16:25,640
trying to help, but again,
this animal has had no pain control this

1030
01:16:25,720 --> 01:16:30,760
animal has had no antibiotics, like
and you think that them sitting in a

1031
01:16:30,840 --> 01:16:35,199
crate and you like force feeding them
venison is what's going to help them.

1032
01:16:35,279 --> 01:16:40,239
So like there's a big disconnect there. And again I think, you know,

1033
01:16:40,279 --> 01:16:45,239
people in West Virginia were like,
call your politicians and your local representatives,

1034
01:16:45,239 --> 01:16:48,119
like they're the ones who are going
to put that back on there and

1035
01:16:48,159 --> 01:16:53,600
like buying the budgeting for it potentially, but until then, like those are

1036
01:16:53,640 --> 01:16:56,720
kind of the only the only things
that we can offer for them. And

1037
01:16:56,760 --> 01:17:00,439
most of the time, other than
West Virginia, West Virginia right now is

1038
01:17:00,479 --> 01:17:04,520
the only state that I know of
that does not have otherwise other than birds

1039
01:17:05,119 --> 01:17:09,680
rehabilitation. So most of the time
people are like, there's no rehab near

1040
01:17:09,760 --> 01:17:13,079
me, and it's like, well, did you actually do the research?

1041
01:17:13,199 --> 01:17:16,119
Did you look through the entire website? And just because they're not near you

1042
01:17:16,279 --> 01:17:23,039
doesn't mean that there isn't some sort
of network in place for transporters to help

1043
01:17:23,079 --> 01:17:26,000
get that animal somewhere. So sometimes
people are like, oh, it's an

1044
01:17:26,039 --> 01:17:29,039
hour drive or it's a three hour
drive, and it's like, okay,

1045
01:17:29,399 --> 01:17:33,039
well, now you have to decide
what your priority is. Is your priority

1046
01:17:33,039 --> 01:17:39,720
getting this animal care or is your
priority? You know, maybe you don't

1047
01:17:39,720 --> 01:17:43,439
have gas money for it, and
maybe you don't have you know, the

1048
01:17:43,520 --> 01:17:46,560
money to drive it an hour or
whatever the time because you have to work.

1049
01:17:46,880 --> 01:17:49,199
But then on the same side,
it's like, well, if you

1050
01:17:49,239 --> 01:17:55,640
don't have gas money to drive that
animal, then you definitely don't have formula

1051
01:17:55,720 --> 01:18:01,279
money and cage money and live prey
testing money. You kind of have to

1052
01:18:01,319 --> 01:18:04,680
look at it from both directions,
right, and normally again, I just

1053
01:18:04,720 --> 01:18:09,399
tell people, I'm like, find
the largest facility in your state, even

1054
01:18:09,439 --> 01:18:13,720
if they're four or five hours away
from you, because they're going to know

1055
01:18:14,760 --> 01:18:17,880
what the status of that network is
of transporters. They're going to know who's

1056
01:18:17,880 --> 01:18:23,000
closest to you because maybe they're not
listed. Maybe there are apprentices who aren't

1057
01:18:23,039 --> 01:18:27,319
on the state website yet but can
take things in that are closer to you.

1058
01:18:27,640 --> 01:18:32,960
So there's other options, but unfortunately
my option is never to try and

1059
01:18:33,039 --> 01:18:36,680
like encourage people to care for them
on their own. Because of that.

1060
01:18:40,239 --> 01:18:44,079
Yeah, absolutely, well, thanks
so much for doing this, Jess,

1061
01:18:44,119 --> 01:18:45,800
and for all the good Infin know
we normally talk about animal attacks. We

1062
01:18:45,800 --> 01:18:48,840
did talk about you getting talented by
an eagle, which is crazy, but

1063
01:18:48,920 --> 01:18:55,000
I think it's also important to point
out like what happens when we hurt animals

1064
01:18:55,039 --> 01:18:58,159
and how do we fix that?
So thank you for this. Yeah,

1065
01:18:58,279 --> 01:19:01,920
no, thanks for having me.
This is all I apologize rining long tangents

1066
01:19:02,279 --> 01:19:08,840
and I believe but the point well
cool, Well, yeah, thank you

1067
01:19:08,920 --> 01:19:13,520
for having me, and hopefully people
learn something from this, or at least

1068
01:19:13,600 --> 01:19:17,800
find it funny when people make mistakes, because that's always fun as long as

1069
01:19:17,840 --> 01:19:20,319
we can laugh at our mistakes later
and we can learn from them. I'm

1070
01:19:20,359 --> 01:19:25,359
like, it's fine, it'd be
better if I didn't have to make them,

1071
01:19:25,399 --> 01:19:29,319
but sometimes you do, so sometimes
you have to get tell and buy

1072
01:19:29,319 --> 01:19:30,560
an eagle and then talk about it. It's fine. Then you get a

1073
01:19:30,560 --> 01:19:34,239
little scar and you wish it was
bigger. It would be cooler, ridiculous.

1074
01:19:35,239 --> 01:19:39,479
Where can people find you? On
social media? So you can find

1075
01:19:39,560 --> 01:19:45,800
me pretty much anywhere. Instagram,
Twitter, Blue Sky at Jess in the

1076
01:19:45,880 --> 01:19:50,560
Wild. It's generally I think Twitter
is like Jess underscore in the wild.

1077
01:19:50,760 --> 01:19:55,520
Instagram it's just justs in the wild. That's pretty much me. On TikTok,

1078
01:19:55,600 --> 01:19:58,119
it's just justs in the wild.
And then if you want to follow

1079
01:19:58,760 --> 01:20:02,079
the facility that I work or Blue
Ridge Wildlife Center. You can find us

1080
01:20:02,119 --> 01:20:09,800
on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
TikTok all under Blue Ridge Wildlife Center.

1081
01:20:09,840 --> 01:20:13,640
It should come up if you just
type it in the search that fantastic follow.

1082
01:20:13,800 --> 01:20:18,239
I love their content, It's so
good. It's a group effort.

1083
01:20:18,359 --> 01:20:25,239
All of our hospital staff are involved, so I'll let everybody know that they

1084
01:20:25,239 --> 01:20:30,840
are much appreciated. That was my
interview with Jess and I hope you all

1085
01:20:30,920 --> 01:20:33,920
enjoyed. And if you came away
from that conversation wanting to get involved in

1086
01:20:33,920 --> 01:20:38,439
wildlife rehab, I figured I would
end this episode by listing off a few

1087
01:20:38,479 --> 01:20:41,720
ways that you could help. So
even if you don't have a background in

1088
01:20:41,760 --> 01:20:45,359
wildlife rehab or just in wildlife sciences
in general, you can still help by

1089
01:20:45,399 --> 01:20:47,960
volunteering your time. And I actually
spent my morning on the day that I'm

1090
01:20:47,960 --> 01:20:53,439
recording this volunteering at a center that
has a rehab and some non releasable animals.

1091
01:20:53,920 --> 01:20:57,079
And it's not always glamorous work,
but every bit of effort helps,

1092
01:20:57,199 --> 01:21:00,319
especially in the spring and summer when
there are a lot of wild baby in

1093
01:21:00,359 --> 01:21:03,279
need of care. So check out
your local rehabilitation centers, and if you

1094
01:21:03,319 --> 01:21:06,680
don't know of any, try reaching
out to your state Wildlife department because they

1095
01:21:06,720 --> 01:21:11,640
will have a list of licensed rehabbers
in your state. And if you can't

1096
01:21:11,640 --> 01:21:15,399
donate your time, you can also
help by donating food or checking local wildlife

1097
01:21:15,439 --> 01:21:18,199
rehab center wish lists. Many of
them have Amazon wish lists for example,

1098
01:21:18,239 --> 01:21:21,119
and you can just help by sending
the supplies that they need, or of

1099
01:21:21,119 --> 01:21:26,479
course by donating money. Thank you
all so much for listening to episode seventy

1100
01:21:26,479 --> 01:21:29,359
of Get It Alive. You can
check out the episode description for ways to

1101
01:21:29,399 --> 01:21:32,079
find Jess on social media and you
can find all of our social media links

1102
01:21:32,079 --> 01:21:35,000
there as well. And if you
liked this episode, please take a few

1103
01:21:35,039 --> 01:21:40,399
minutes to leave us a five star
review wherever you are listening. Thank you

1104
01:21:40,439 --> 01:21:43,920
so much Josh Walsh for making their
inter music and Jesse Walsh for the audio

1105
01:21:43,960 --> 01:21:47,319
and video editing. And we'll be
back in two weeks with another fantastic guest.

1106
01:21:47,359 --> 01:21:50,399
And I'm so excited for you all
to hear that conversation, so thank you