Wildlife Center adjusts to rising admissions

Eagles, bear cubs, song birds and even a treefrog were among the booming number of animals treated at the Wildlife Center of Virginia last year, but staffers said Tuesday that improving work quality means more than numbers.

“We need sufficient numbers in order to have a scope of observation,” said Ed Clark, president of the Waynesboro-based center. “[But] we’re not here just to fix broken patients.”

The center admitted 2,534 animals last year, the most since 2004. The total includes 40 eagles, a record for the 27-year-old facility. The increase coincides with increasing numbers of rescues at other area centers.

Clark said he considers the center a “teaching hospital,” where postgraduate students and interns get hands-on experience. He said the work is increasingly important in monitoring wildlife problems that preface threats to humans.

The center records the types of injuries sustained by animals and follows trends in diseases and parasites. Clark and his staff also are working on a computer system that will help rescue centers share such information.

Winter traditionally is a slow period at the center, but about 25 calls each day still come to Nicole Koiner at the front desk. In the spring, daily call counts rise to more than 100.

“The calls are so diverse,” said Koiner, 25, of Staunton. “You never know. It’s pretty crazy sometimes.”

Last year, the staff treated a bird that had become trapped in landfill asphalt, an eagle struck on Interstate 95, orphaned black bear cubs and 19 animals that had been shot.

Admissions would be even higher without Koiner’s expertise on the phone, said Clark, who described how Koiner frequently gives advice that allows people to immediately return animals to the wild.

Walking through the relatively calm laboratory and recuperation areas Tuesday, Clark explained that last year’s boom was still about a fourth lower than annual admission highs.

“This is the busiest restaurant in Waynesboro,” joked Clark, standing in the kitchen where plastic containers of rabbit pellets and cornmeal and a dozen other foods waited to be served.

A number of educational programs are aimed at lowering the center’s admissions, Clark said.

About one in eight cases last year were animals that did not need care, for example. Clark said many well-intentioned people bring in animals without calling ahead, or hold on to fallacies such as the conventional wisdom that once a baby bird is touched by a human its mother will abandon it.

Not true, Clark said.

Center staffers also have worked to reduce injuries related to human action. Some types have decreased, like gunshot wounds.

Attacks by free-roaming cats, however, are on the rise, Clark said. Last year, 222 animals were brought to the center after cat attacks.

“Eighty percent of [cat attack] patients die,” Clark said.

“We get huge numbers of song birds attacked by cats,” said Vicki Windham, wildlife rehabilitator at the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Clark County.

The staff of three at Blue Ridge has seen a 50 percent increase in animal patients each of the past five years. They treated almost 1,200 animals last year, Windham said.

“We get a lot of rabbits, chipmunks, even a few squirrels ... which takes a pretty brave cat to take on a squirrel,” Windham said. “It’s a huge problem and getting worse.”

Traffic-related accidents also are increasing, as animals are drawn to roads by litter, Clark said. Lead poisoning is increasing too.

Veterinary intern Madis Leivits, 24, of Estonia in Northern Europe, appreciates the diverse challenges the center accepts.

“It’s really nice to have the chance to do all the diagnostics,” he said.

Leivits said he wants to return to Estonia with enough training to run a veterinary clinic. The Wildlife Center’s emphasis on interns getting experience with lab work, daily procedures and a variety of other tasks should be what he needs, Leivits said.