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Wildlife Center stays busy

January 16, 2010 12:36 am

By RUSTY DENNEN

One day last spring, Ed Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, released a rehabilitated bald eagle at Caledon Natural Area.

The majestic bird of prey had been found injured in early April at the King George Landfill. It was rescued and nursed back to health at the center in Waynesboro.

Its return to freedom in a patch of woods at Caledon weeks later was one milestone in a busy year for the wildlife center, which treated 2,534 animals in 2009--the most since 2004.

The King George eagle was among 40 bald eagles treated last year--a record.

Jeff Cooper, a non-game biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisher- ies, caught the bird and drove it to Waynesboro. Veterinarians worked for hours to remove tar it had picked up while scavenging at the landfill.

"That was about as ratty a bird as we've seen," Clark said at the time.

Tar was not the only problem. A blood test showed evidence of pesticide poisoning.

The immature bird, which had not yet developed its distinctive white head and tail feathers, was given fluids, pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs. As its condition improved, it was moved to exercise pens outside.

Each year, the wildlife center treats a menagerie of injured, ill or orphaned creatures.

Among the 2009 tally were common backyard denizens, including 280 Eastern cottontail rabbits, 252 opossums, 210 gray squirrels and 107 robins.

And more unusual ones:

Several black bear cubs, orphaned when their mothers were struck and killed by vehicles

Four great horned owl babies, nurtured by Mama G'Ho, a resident owl and surrogate mother at the center

A pied-billed grebe that had swallowed an angler's hook, line and sinker.

Nineteen of the "patients" had been shot--two crows, two bald eagles, a Canada goose, a raccoon, two red foxes, four red-tailed hawks, a tufted titmouse and six vultures.

Highways also take their toll. Animals are hit or run over while scavenging on roadkill.

The wildlife center's aim is to "treat and release," though some animals don't survive or must be euthanized. Some that recover but can't be sent back into the wild become permanent center residents and wildlife ambassadors at schools.

Animals from 92 Virginia counties and municipalities were brought to the center last year. Most were dropped off by those who found them. Others are rescued by animal control officers, federal, state and local game officials, and humane societies.

Clark said more than 300 animals--about one in eight--should never have wound up at the center in the first place.

"People are well-meaning when they see something they perceive as a threat" to a wild animal "and they want to help. We want people to care," he said in an interview this week, "but not if their involvement becomes a problem."

An example is a young bird or rabbit captured in a yard.

People who find such an animal, Clark said, should call a local wildlife rehabilitator or the center first.

"Many times, people will show up at our front door and we'll tell them to put the animal right back where they found it," Clark said.

He noted that while the center's numbers were up last year, they are below peak numbers during the 1990s.

He attributes that to more trained wildlife rehabilitators treating animals locally.

Land development is a growing threat.

"We are finding more and more cases where animals are being squeezed into shrinking habitats."

That's part of the reason that injuries to eagles are up. While Virginia's eagle population is growing, especially along portions of the lower Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, "They're being forced to compete for [dwindling] nesting space."

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com