01/24/2023
🦊 Long-winded but a good reminder, stay tuned if able… In my 20’s and 30’s I worked for Larimer Humane Society, moving through multiple positions in animal care, adoption services, advocacy, and education. My favorite part of that career stage was my collaboration with and time spent in Wildkind, a uniquely placed wildlife rehabilitation center located within the shelter.
🦇 Though obsessed with all animals, the time in Wildkind allowed the rare opportunity to be in the energetic field of wild animals, to have encounters with them, and to be of service to them. I was in my joy.
🐿️ I worked with the lead and highly skilled rehabilitator, Bob Nightwalker, and his then young son, Tallon. By elementary school, Tallon knew more about the wild beings we share our world with than most people do in their entire lives. Little Tallon guided me with feeding and handling instructions in the center, and he’d excitedly introduce me to his classroom when I facilitated environment education programs at his elementary school.
🐢 Tallon is all grown up now, and yesterday I got to visit with him for the first time in 15 years. He naturally has devoted his life to the protection and care for animals of his community. He is the executive director for the Northern Colorado Wildlife Center in Ft. Collins, where the mission is to Rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife, and when successful, release those animals back into their natural habitats. The amazing team also provides education on natural history and how to peacefully co-exist with our wild community members.
🦆 Wildlife rehabers (like therapists, I’ll add) prefer to be out if a job. Their hearts want nothing more than all beings to be safe, healthy, and interdependently connected to the whole. But alas, ongoing habitat loss, fear, and ignorance about wildlife endanger both animals and people. Wildlife rehabilitators are the often unknown and unacknowledged people working behind the scenes, making sure we live more harmoniously and safely in biologically diverse communities.
🦉 I invite you to explore any wildlife rehabilitation organizations in your community, and support them however you can. Though the work is protecting animals that technically belong to the state, there is no state funding for their care. Most importantly, help wildlife and rehabers alike by learning more about the wildlife in your local bioregion and how to peacefully live with them. Keep your eyes peeled for animals in trouble, stuck in window wells, hit by car, or being harassed by people. Be their advocate and report to animal control or your local wildlife organization. I too provide education on Colorado wildlife through my organization- Relational Rewilding Nature Guiding. Inquire if you’d like to learn more.
