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Injured animals get a second chance, thanks to Carolina Wildlife Center.
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Kirsten Vaylen helps caretaker Gail Dawson remove a runaway squirrel that crawled up Dawson's shirt during a morning feeding. Operations Coordinator Kelley Warren (far left) and Executive Director Jay Coles (far right) stand at the ready to help if needed.
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Julie McKenzie, director of rehabilitation, prepares to examine an injured barred owl brought to the center for care. Executive Director Jay Coles says the center is seeing an alarming increase in the number of owls, falcons and other raptors injured in collisions with vehicles.
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McKenzie examines the eyes of the owl as Vaylen assists. Seriously injured animals are placed under the care of local veterinarian Cameron Brewer Barkley, who volunteers her time to the center.
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Volunteer Jaini Kinsman carries fresh water to animals in the center's outdoor enclosures. Executive Director Jay Coles calls the center's dedicated volunteers "our greatest asset."
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Crickets top a colorful salad of fruits and vegetables that will be fed to turtles. Next to paid staff, feeding a wide variety of animals is the biggest expense in the center's annual operating budget of $250,000.
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Julie McKenzie, director of rehabilitation, holding Lucy, a white rat snake, and Executive Director Jay Coles lead the team of caretakers at Carolina Wildlife Center. For McKenzie, the purpose of the center is simple: "We give wildlife a second chance."
The first order of business when the day begins at Carolina Wildlife Center in Columbia is to take inventory of the new arrivals.
Midlands residents who find injured or orphaned wildlife drop them off at the front desk during the day or leave them in outside pens after hours. And during the spring and summer months, they often come in droves.
This time of year, the center receives dozens of animals a day—most often birds and squirrels—but the staff takes in all types of wildlife, from turtles whose shells have been cracked under car tires to whole nests of baby possums, plus rabbits, moles, skunks, bats, raccoons, snakes and even the occasional fawn.
New arrivals are evaluated to determine their age, health and nutritional needs. Some need critical veterinary care, and ideally, all need to be put on the path to being released back to their native habitat. For Julie McKenzie, the center’s director of rehabilitation, this often means long days of dedicated but rewarding service.
“Rehabilitating is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year commitment,” she says. “There are no holidays or real time off. What we do requires dedication and deep compassion. It is hard, dirty work. It is stressful, heartbreaking and life-changing.”
Hands-on wildlife care
It’s not unusual for McKenzie, a handful of paid staffers and teams of trained volunteers to work up to 16 hours a day caring for injured wildlife, says Jay Coles, executive director of the center.
“Our staff is on their feet from the time they walk in the door to the time they leave,” he says. “These people care so much. They do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
The caretakers maintain logs of what each of the animals is fed—which can range from specifically tailored baby formulas to acorns or fresh produce—and they document the progress of each animal’s case. During their rehabilitation, animals are often moved through a series of enclosures, from incubators for very young hatchlings, to intermediate indoor cages, to outdoor pre-release enclosures, work that requires many skillful hands.
“Volunteers are our greatest asset,” Coles says.
Generous donors are a close second. On average, it costs the center $62 per animal (mostly for food) to provide care, all of it funded by private donations of money and supplies. Once the center accepts the challenge of rehabilitating an animal, it’s typically a three- to six-month commitment, though some infant creatures may require a full year of care before they can be released.
The center has come a long way since its humble beginnings when a small group of Columbia residents, recognizing a need for wildlife rehabilitation in the area, began taking rescued animals into a garage. That first year, they treated an impressive total of 86 animals. Within five years, the number had grown to 1,000 per year.
Coles says the current location on Bush River Road—the land and building provided by donors—currently treats about 3,500 animals a year. Since the center began, he estimates, they have rescued more than 55,000 animals, representing 200 different species.
The goal of every rescue is to rehabilitate the animals and release them back into the wild, but some animals quickly become accustomed to relying on humans. In some cases, the staff must go to great lengths to prevent this imprinting.
Last fall, the center took in an injured female bobcat that needed to be sheltered through the winter months. To ensure that she wouldn’t imprint on her human caregivers, volunteers and staff built a special enclosure that ensured the bobcat never saw her caretakers. The animal was sedated whenever veterinarians did their work, and staff members even avoided speaking around her pen, lest the bobcat become accustomed to the sound of human voices.
The painstaking work paid off when the bobcat was successfully released in March. “It was a real victory to see her go that day and run off,” Coles says.
Outreach and education
There are occasions when, due to severe disability, animals cannot be released. Such is the case with resident wildlife, including Luna, a one-eyed barn owl. Unable to hunt for food on her own, she now is one of a group of animals the center uses for educational and outreach purposes.
Other animal ambassadors include Lucy, a rat snake who is leucistic (a condition similar to albinism), and Peanut, a possum who imprinted too strongly on his caretakers to be successfully released. These animals often make appearances at fundraising events and school visits.
When Carolina Wildlife Center staff members and volunteers aren’t actively caring for animals, they’re often hard at work getting more people involved in protecting wildlife or organizing habitat-improvement projects. The center also offers a wide array of educational programs for youth groups and civic clubs, including half-day summer programs known as Camp Wild Things.
McKenzie considers this work—raising awareness and helping Midlands residents understand how to coexist with wildlife—just as important as the critical care the center provides.
“We are making a great impact by saving thousands of lives each year and educating people on how to live among wildlife,” she says.
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Carolina Wildlife Center key stats
3,500: Total number of animals treated each year
1,200: Number of songbirds treated a year, the largest category of cases
$62: Average cost of caring for an animal until it can be released
$250,000: Carolina Wildlife Center’s total operating budget for one year
1,700: Square footage of interior space at the center, which is typically filled to capacity in the spring and summer
3 to 6: Average number of months it takes to rehabilitate most animals treated at the center
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How you can help
Volunteers wanted. Volunteers, ages 18 or older, are needed year-round for a variety of caregiving and support roles. Federal regulations require that all volunteers working hands-on with animals must go through orientation and training provided by the center. Junior volunteers can begin at age 15 by helping with support tasks.
Donations gratefully accepted. Monetary contributions are always welcome and are tax-deductible. Under the “Donate” tab at carolinawildlife.org, supporters will find a list of food and supplies that are needed year-round. The organization also maintains a wish list on amazon.com.
Get social. For regular updates on new arrivals, fundraisers, public events and other “wild” goings-on, visit Facebook.
Get in touch. For more information, or to report an injured animal, contact
the center at (803) 772-3994 or visit carolinawildlife.org. Injured animals can be brought to the center at 5551 Bush River Road, Columbia.