In my debut novel, Who Is Mackie Spence? several characters represent professionals or volunteers in the field of wild animal rehabilitation. Interviews in upcoming blog posts will be with real people who work hundreds of hours every year at wildlife rehab shelters. But first, I offer two samples of shelter activities from Mackie Spence.

In the first excerpt, three characters, Mrs. Vartan, Dru, and Jeremy volunteer at the Olympic Wildlife Shelter. Jeremy, the story’s lead character, narrates:

It’s four o’clock and we still have more cleanup. Mrs. Vartan motions us over to the front desk. “The Large Flight Cage didn’t get cleaned this morning. They were short a volunteer and just ran out of time. Jeremy, would you handle that?” she asks.

I nod because I like being in the big cage with Number 26. Cleanup includes removing bird droppings and food scraps that haven’t been eaten. Those can be almost anything. Like the hair or bones of dead, thawed chicks, rats, mice—whatever has been sent to the wildlife shelter. Though we breed mice for food, sometimes there isn’t enough, and our director, Gabe Hawes, purchases “frozen dinners.” We have an old microwave for defrosting the “dinners” before they are placed in cages for the birds to find. I remember watching in horror when a new volunteer took her warmed sandwich from the animal warming microwave to eat. Whoa! We have another microwave for our own food!

Mrs. Vartan continues. “Dru, let’s transfer the new dry feed from the bags into the bins. Then we’ll check the boxed donations that came in yesterday.” The gifts will include old towels, linens, and bandaging items that people have dropped off.

With my hood and goggles in place, I approach the Large Flight Cage quietly. Afternoon is down time for Number 26. Eagles sleep at night, but are most active in the morning, when they usually hunt. Since Number 26 has been with us for about six months, she knows our schedule for cleaning this cage. If she wanted to, she could get territorial and come after me, but she never has before. A part of me wants to believe that she understands how much we’ve been trying to help her. Or maybe she doesn’t and only tolerates us because of her weakened state. . . .  With two centers of focus, eagles can see both forward and out to the sides of their eyes at the same time. When an eagle hunts, it spots small animals on the ground up to one and a half miles away. There is no way that anyone could sneak in and surprise Number 26.

In a second except, Jeremy and Mackie, the story’s other leading character, make volunteer rounds at the shelter:

We’ve saved the best for last: Diana, our resident Barred Owl. Strix varia. She came to the shelter during its first year of operation and has been a star teaching assistant ever since. With a damaged right wing, Diana can’t fly, but she accompanies our wildlife director on field trips to schools and speaking events. My favorite at the shelter, Diana has spooky, glass-brown eyes and dark, striped markings running vertically on her chest feathers. Her call pattern to other owls in the surrounding woods is a cadence of eight hoots, in groups of four.

I have a gutted, defrosted mouse for her, a top pick on any owl’s menu. As we approach, Diana gives a low hoo-hoo. She knows her dinnertime, and it makes me happy to see her reaction to the food. Tonight, however, she doesn’t put on a show of lifting her wings to remind me of her superior size. After Mackie appears, Diana becomes quiet and lowers her eyes.

I leave the mouse near her on a feeding dish and clean up the smelly owl pellets under her perch. If they aren’t removed daily, oh gach! The stench can get bad fast. I scoop and bag the waste, and Mackie and I exit through the door.

*****

Wildlife shelters throughout the world are places of healing. My next post will begin a series of Question & Answer sessions with professionals and volunteers who enable the daily rehabilitation of wild animals and their return to native habitat. – Lin Kaymer

Note:  All blog photos courtesy of and copyrighted by wildlife photographer Dottie Tison.

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