Clinton Township Newsletter

2 2 m a y 2 0 2 4 W W W . C L I N T O N T W P N E W S L E T T E R . C O M Welcome to with Rachel Sprague * C linton ree Questions * From helping chipmunks with broken legs to mothering baby bear cubs, Woodlands Wildlife Refuge is a fantastic resource in our area. Clinton Three Q spoke with Tracy Leaver, founder and Executive Director of the Woodlands Wildlife Refuge in Pittstown, NJ. C 3 Q : W h a t e x a c t l y i s t h e Woodlands Wildlife Refuge? TL: Woodlands Wildlife Refuge is a nonprofit, state-licensed, wildlife rehabilitation facility. O u r m i s s i o n i s t o r e c e i v e , rehabilitate, and return native NJ wildlife to the wild, and to educate the public along the way. We have been working in Hunterdon County for 38 years. How did it get started? Well, I always loved wildlife, and was always helping creatures, and people knew that I would take care of things. Friends would bring me injured animals, and I'd fix them up and send them on their way. Later, I found out about the field of wildlife rehabilitation, and was inspired to get involved. I left my profession at an orthodontic laboratory, and I count myself lucky to be one of those people who have been "found" by the thing they are supposed to be doing. We started in 1986, taking care of two raccoons out of my home, then expanded into the garage, then the backyard, and then moved to property in Pittstown in Alexandria Township, which allowed us to grow. We cared for 2,100 animals last year. Woodlands Wildlife Refuge has five staff members, and we can't do our work without our army of volunteers and interns; anywhere from 30-50 people helping out, depending on the time of year. March through October is our busiest time of the year when we get most of the orphaned animals. We're a really good team. It's incredibly hard work and it can be distressing at times or very bittersweet. Releasing the animals back into the wild makes it all worth it. C3Q: What sort of inhabitants or animal guests do you have? What happens to them? TL: As loss of habitat occurs, the number of human and wildlife encounters increases, and WWR provides care to NJ-native species of mammals and reptiles; everything from raccoons, skunks, opossums, rabbits, woodchucks, foxes, squirrels, coyotes, otters, snakes, and bears. When an animal arrives at our facility, it is thoroughly e x a m i n e d , a n d i t s c o n d i t i o n is determined. We do what is needed for that animal; such as fluids, formula...animals often receive formula which is made to specifically mimic their mother's milk and meet their nutritional needs. They wean onto solid foods, and move into different enclosures. Efforts are made to minimize human imprinting. There are pre-release cages that mimic their environment so that they will be on their own, and that we can observe them with as little human interaction as possible. Wild animals have so much instinct. They know what they have to do. We give them the opportunity to practice, and prepare the animal for eventual release and successful survival in the wild. WWR is a medium-sized rehabilitation facility, but the other rehab centers that we work with closely are the Raptor Trust, Mercer County Wildlife Center, and Cedar Run Wildlife in Medford. We're all taking animals that need care from the entire state. Currently, we have some orphaned bear cubs, five of which are ready to release this spring. They are from two separate litters; their mothers were killed by cars. When they arrived, they were between 4-6 lbs, the weight of a bag of sugar! We cared for them for a year, and now they will be released as well-functioning bears. We're the only facility that does bear rehab in the state; our program has cared for over 100 bears. (It's a great animal to get to know more about! They're goofy! Watch our live cam!) Sometimes we see litters of racoon babies, whose mothers have been killed by construction or trapped and killed, with the babies found afterwards in an attic. We do a lot to educate the public to avoid those sorts of things. We work with NJ bobcats, which are an endangered species. We had a case a couple of years ago where a young bobcat was hit by a car, and had many broken bones, and we partnered with veterinarians to pull the animal through major surgery, and he was released six months later. We often receive generous help from doctors at different l o c a l a n i m a l h o s p i t a l s , who will aid with x-rays, fracture repair, or surgeries. O t h e r g u e s t s h a v e i n c l u d e d river otters (we have otters in NJ!), an occasional coyote, a few beavers over the past few years, and occasionally snakes, even venomous ones. We care for animals, whether they are common or endangered. If they need our assistance, we are happy to assist them. The chipmunk with the broken leg is as important as the bobcat with the broken leg. Someone might ask, "Why bother rehabilitating a squirrel?" Someone cared that that animal was injured, and brought them to us. That's respect. They cared. C3Q: Do your guests return and say "thanks?" And how do they pay their "bill"? TL: They don't come back and say thank you; our thank you is seeing them disappear back into the wild! We don't receive state or federal funding; 95% of our income comes from individual donors. We are so thankful and grateful. We do write some grants, and sometimes we get a behest from a will, which is amazing. We do fundraising events throughout the year. We just had our "Spring for Wildlife" online auction in the spring, and coming up on June 23, we have "Wild Fest" at the Clinton Elks Club, which is a terrific food truck and music festival. It is $10 to get in, there are five bands, and it's a real blast for families, just a really good time! We also provide education programs for clubs, scouts, schools, and other groups, both at our site and off-site. Part of our program is to instill tolerance for our wildlife neighbors, because we are all on top of each other in NJ and have to share the space. It is great to be educated about the habits and habitats of animals outside our backdoor that we live with. We have a variety of webcams; you can watch some of the animals in our care, such as infant red squirrels, or the bear-cam. They are fun to watch; kids are kids, no matter the species! In the fall, we have an annual Open House Community Day on October 6. People can see what we do, and we have lots of environmental exhibits, and some live animals. We have had a few inhabitants who were too habituated to humans, and some of those animals became educational animals in our facility. We have a raccoon, Buddy, who has been here for thirteen years, who was originally somebody's pet. We have some aquatic turtles, and an African turtle named Roomba, who was found on a golf course, ando is about thirty years old and 100 lbs. We love them all. C3Q: What a fantastic program. How can people find you and contact you? What if they have an animal that needs rescue? TL: We are not open to the public; if you need us, call and leave a message (we don't answer the phone), and we'll typically call you back within an hour. We will make sure the animal gets here. During the summer, we have our "Wild Wonders" programs, where families can come and visit. We always have volunteer opportunities for whatever time or effort people want to give, with volunteer orientation dates posted on our website. We also have an Amazon Wishlist for some needs. We can't save everything, but we do our absolute best. C 3 Q : T h a n k y o u , T r a c y ! Hope to see you at Wild Fest on June 23! www.WoodlandsWildlife.org www.facebook.com/WildRehab n Rachel Sprague, a resident of Clinton Township, has a degree in journalism from Rutgers. With her husband Russell, Rachel is raising two young children in the Clinton Township School District. She thinks that Clinton Township is a delightful place to live.

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