Rehabilitation clinic takes in roughly 2,300 wild animals each year
By Jim Totten
Livingston County Daily Press & Argus (Howell)
MARION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — They’ve been bitten, pecked at and pooped on by all sorts of birds and animals, but none of that ruffles the feathers of the volunteers at the Howell Conference and Nature Center.
Instead, they respond with love pecks and soothing voices.
This group feeds, cleans and cares for all types of Michigan wildlife brought in injured or orphaned 365 days a year, including hawks, owls, coyotes, herons, beavers, opossums, turtles and snakes. They nurture these animals so one day they can be returned to the wild. The nonprofit facility is south of Howell in Livingston County’s Marion Township.
Some of the tasks are creepy, like placing frozen rats and mice into bags for daily feedings of hawks and owls.
Yet these volunteers don’t mind. They’re motivated by one thing: love of animals.
“They all seem to have their own personalities,” Glenn Brado told the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.
He started off as an intern at the wildlife rehabilitation clinic in January 2012 after graduating as a zoology major from Michigan State University and stayed on as a volunteer. The Webberville man usually spends six hours volunteering every Sunday.
Brado, who has always had his own pets, said animals don’t always get the help they need.
“I like to help them out as much as possible,” Brado said.
The wildlife rehabilitation clinic takes in roughly 2,300 wild animals each year and tries to get them healthy enough to return to the wild. However, the nature center also has a Wild Wonders Wildlife Park that has a collection of birds, mammals and reptiles that are permanently injured. Members of the permanent collection are used for educational programs.
Hamburg Township resident Maryanne Stanard has volunteered at the facility since 1995. She’s known as the “bird lady” or “bird whisperer.”
“I’ve always liked birds, don’t know what it is,” Stanard said.
She takes care of the baby birds, something she’s done since she was a little girl. However, she’s comfortable around all the birds.
Stanard takes Eddie, a 25-year-old crow at the center, to schools. She talks to Eddie, who responds with a “wa, wa, wa” or a deep sigh.
“I talk to everybody,” Stanard said. “I talk to my dog.”
The nature center wouldn’t be able to run without its volunteers.
Dana DeBenham, director at the facility, said there are 130 volunteers at the center each year.
“They do everything from feeding the animals, bagging mice and rats for the freezer, filling bird feeders and unloading Christmas trees,” DeBenham said.
She said students from Michigan State University and University of Michigan serve as interns. Volunteers and interns are unpaid.
“Their services are just invaluable,” DeBenham said. “Our volunteer force is the backbone of the wildlife program.”
DeBenham said the nature center has the largest raptor rehabilitation clinic in Michigan. It treats hawks, owls, eagles and falcons.
She said these birds must have whole food with fur and bones, which they get in the form of frozen rats and mice.
DeBenham said the frozen rats and mice are delivered in large garbage bags, and volunteers must pick them out and place them in smaller plastic bags for daily feedings.
“That volunteer position might not be suitable for everyone,” she said.
Maxine Biwer, who oversees the rehabilitation clinic, said she usually has five to six volunteers who help each day. The clinic treats 2,300 animals per year.
“We don’t have a dull moment,” Biwer said.
In addition to volunteers providing manpower, Biwer said many of their supplies are donated from local residents or businesses.
She said it’s really great to see how everything comes together.
“We run on like 95 percent volunteer power,” said Biwer, adding the center couldn’t operate without them.
Brado said he’s not afraid to deal with any wild animal, but he also knows the tricks.
He said one must have “a lot of confidence” and always remain calm, even if the animal bites, pecks and sinks in its talons.
Brado said he refrains from reaching or grabbing an animal that doesn’t want to sit. When he recently tried to weigh Go-Go, a black-crowned night heron, she started flapping her wings and flew off. He remained calm.
Brado said the animals are sometimes injured or scared, and quick actions will only get them more riled up.
If one is not confident, Brado said, “I feel the animals can sense that, and they might do something unexpected.”
He talks to the animals.
“I’m not sure it helps them, but it helps me,” he said.
He’s even dealt with a peregrine falcon and great blue heron.
Brado wears welder gloves, which go up to his elbows, when handling squirrels, hawks and owls, but he still gets injured on occasion. A squirrel once bit through the gloves.
This year, he was pecked in his forehead by a great blue heron, which caused blood to come “streaming down my face.”
He cleaned it up and returned to working with the bird.
Stanard wears a mask now after getting clawed in the face by a great horned owl. She had two black eyes from the attack. She said it was her mistake because it was mating season, and the male attacked because there was a female owl in the room.
Stanard “got right back on the horse” and returned to volunteering.
“It’s just one heck of a job, I love it,” she said.
Jill Wallace and her husband, Matt, usually spend six hours at the nature center on Sundays. She cares for animals in the rehabilitation clinic, and he usually goes outside to take care of ducks and seagulls.
“I first started volunteering because I was laid off, so I had the time to help, and then it just stuck — you find out that people at the nature center really appreciate any help you’re able to provide, whether it’s washing the dishes or dealing directly with the animals,” Jill Wallace said. She is an employee of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.
“Scraping animal poo off towels isn’t fun, but it needs to be done, so we do it,” she said.
One thing keeps her going back.
“I just have a love of animals,” she said.
