Photo: Rescued Barred Owlet, Jill Spohn
Jill Spohn
Do you know what to do if you find an injured wild animal? When ASNV receives calls about injured or orphaned birds, we refer the calls to the Wildlife Rescue League (WRL), a non-profit organization operating in Northern Virginia that is dedicated to providing care for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife, with the intent of releasing them back into their native habitat.
Rescued Barred Owlet, Jill Spohn
If you find an animal that you believe is orphaned or in distress, first check WRL’s Animal Help Tips page to help determine whether to call WRL. WRL has a network of partner veterinarians and permitted wildlife rehabilitators, along with other volunteers who answer the helpline (703-440-0800) and transport wildlife. When a call comes into the helpline, a volunteer takes the call and assesses the situation, sometimes providing advice on reuniting orphans with parents or, at other times, locating care for an injured animal or resolving a wildlife conflict. If an animal does need help, the typical first step is to have the caller, often the person who found the animal, transport it to a wildlife veterinarian for assessment.
If the prognosis is good, the helpline volunteer then looks for a rehabilitator that works with that type of animal. The helpline volunteer then arranges for a volunteer transporter to pick up the animal and drive it to the available rehabilitator. Rehabilitators are permitted by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. There are various categories of permits, including for apprentices and care providers. It typically takes years to become trained and permitted at the highest level. Rehabilitators are not funded in any way by the state, but do accept donations. A volunteer transporter does not need an individual permit but has to operate under the authority of a permitted organization or hospital.
I am a volunteer Ambassador with the ASNV’s Audubon at Home Program, and I also volunteer with WRL as a transporter. Another organization in the area that I work with is Animal Education and Rescue Organization (AERO), founded by Olivia LoBalbo. In cases where someone who has found an animal needs assistance in capturing it for transport, I have worked with Mark Khosravi with the K2C Wildlife Encounters organization. There also are several specialized wildlife centers in Virginia. The closest one to Northern Virginia is the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Boyce, VA, a wildlife teaching hospital.
A spoiler alert here: for those of you who despise Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) because they sometimes eat ducklings (as do raptors), I suggest you read no further. If you are willing to accept that these fearsome turtles are part of our natural environment in Northern Virginia and want to know what a volunteer transporter does, please read on.
During a recent WRL transport shift, I took a snapper from the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center to where it had been found, along Russell Road on the Quantico Marine Corp Base (QMCB). The entire operation took almost six hours. The Wildlife Center veterinarian put the turtle’s large box into my car and pointed out the release location written on top. All turtles must be released where they were found. I could read some of the words, but not all. I asked how to release the turtle, ever mindful of the snapper’s big, powerful bite. The veterinarian suggested tilting the box slowly and letting the turtle adjust. She assured me that when the turtle saw freedom it would move in that direction and not turn around to bite me!
After driving 170 miles through several hair-raising thunderstorm cells, I arrived with the turtle at the QMBC commissary gate. After giving up my driver’s license, returning to the visitor center for a pass and back to the gate again, it was finally time to release the turtle—but where? QMBC is huge. I asked for hints on the release location, and the guards deciphered the words on the box as the Raymond Davis Center (RDC). Although they were in charge of security, they did not ask me to open the box so they could verify its contents. They, too, were aware of the snapper’s reputation.
There was no water body to be seen at the RDC parking lot, but I saw a large body of water south of Russell Road and headed that way. I parked near an embankment leading towards the water. Thankful the rain had stopped, boxed turtle in hand, I walked several hundred yards on a gravel path to find a flat, happy-snapper spot only 20 yards from water. I put on my elbow-length, leather gloves even though the veterinarian assured me my cargo would just break for the water. And it did! Mission accomplished. You can see the evidence from the photos: turtle in the box, turtle on the ground.
Rescued Snapping Turtle, Jill Spohn
Rescued Snapping Turtle released, Jill Spohn
Transporting the Snapping Turtle is just one of my most recent missions. Over the last few years, I have also transported a heron, owls, hawks, osprey, a vulture, crows, many passerines, box turtles, a red-bellied turtle, many snakes, many squirrels, a chipmunk, rabbits, raccoons, and even mice.
I find volunteering to assist injured wildlife very rewarding. I have met wonderful people who give their time, energy, and financial resources to provide wildlife a second chance within our shared habitats and dwindling natural areas. If you are interested in volunteering or donating, please go to https://www.wildliferescueleague.org/ or https://aeroanimalrescue.org/.