It’s time to look back on 2024! Check our blog between Christmas and New Year’s for a variety of stories and memories of 2024 from the staff and volunteers of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
August 29, 2024, was a busy day for me – not because I was feeding the 42 baby patients in ICU, not because I was collecting truckloads of browse for our 13 fawns, not because I was doing the husbandry for our 47 reptile patients or caring for our 7 growing Black Bear cubs, and not because I was exercising our 16 outdoor raptor patients. While the other staff members were hard at work caring for all of these patients, I was busy that day releasing four lucky patients who made it through their rehabilitation process and were ready to return to the wild!
As one of the largest wildlife hospitals in Virginia, we often receive the worst of the worst cases. We are often a wild animal's last resort to survive an injury or illness. While this gives our staff pride and responsibility, it also means we witness a lot of deaths at our Center. The unfortunate truth is that most animals do not make it back to the wild – whether from euthanasia or succumbing to their injuries or illnesses. While we do what we can for every patient that comes through our doors, there are cases where nothing can be done. We evaluate every patient on an individual level and make difficult decisions more often than any of us wish we had to.
With that being said, we hold the animals that do make it past the injuries, illnesses, growth, and conditioning, close to our hearts. As a rehabilitator at WCV, our days are unpredictable. Especially in the busy season, when staff and students are at the Center caring for patients from sunup to sundown every day. This means that staff are usually not able to take patients for release since we are leaving the building after dark. Instead, we give the original rescuer of each patient the opportunity to release the animals they brought in. There is nothing greater than seeing an animal who was once injured or orphaned being able to fly, jump, or crawl their way back into the wild world. I believe giving the rescuer this experience helps them build a connection with their wild neighbors and gives them a sense of pride for helping give that animal a second chance at life.
On the rare occasion I am available to take an animal for release, I try to make the most of it, so on August 29, I didn’t opt to release just one animal … I took four! I decided to do this because we had a list of patients needing to be released near Richmond and their rescuers were not available to take them, and I happened to be heading that way on my day off to pick up my mom from the airport.
After loading up the car, we were on our way! The first patient was Virginia Opossum #24-3211, who came to us as a juvenile on August 7, 2024. The opossum’s mom was hit by a car, and she was the only survivor. She came in at an age where she didn’t need formula feeding but was not quite old enough to be on her own. Luckily, the veterinarians did not find any injuries on her intake exam! The opossum quickly moved to one of our outdoor enclosures and started eating and gaining weight until, several weeks later, she was large enough to survive on her own! I released her at a beautiful nature preserve in Charlottesville. It took her a minute to take in her new surroundings and make sure she was safe, but she eventually wandered off to start her new life.
The next patient on this release journey was Box Turtle #24-2814, who came to the Center on July 17, 2024. The turtle was found to have a large abscess on its neck, which required surgery and antibiotics. Some of our reptile patients take months to heal, but this turtle recovered quickly and was ready for release by mid-August. Since this patient is a reptile, it needed to be released exactly where it was found, so I returned the turtle to its nice grassy yard in Mineral, Virginia. A quick look around and away it went.
The third patient of the day was Ratsnake #24-1175, who arrived at our Center on May 6, 2024. Our veterinarians found lesions along the snake's body and retained spectacles, signs of poor shedding. Although this patient took longer than normal, it eventually shed several times and the lesions and retained eye caps all shed off, leaving healthy scales underneath. This snake was a whopping 1.1kg, in excellent body condition, and looked absolutely beautiful with its freshly shed skin. Similar to the box turtle, this patient had to be returned to exactly where it was found – off a nice little neighborhood street in Ashland, Virginia. During the release, the snake took a while to make any movements but after some time, it made its way to a nearby fence and slowly climbed up the side and out of sight.
The final patient on my journey (meanwhile, my mom has arrived and is waiting at the Richmond airport - sorry Mom!) was another Ratsnake, patient #24-3329. The snake came to the Center on August 14, 2024, after being found stuck to a glue trap. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence with small snakes, birds, and mammals that come into our Center, many of which do not make it out of the trap alive. Luckily, this ratsnake only had mild damage to its scales and all it took was one shed to resolve! Snakes will often shed more frequently when there is damage to their scales, so this snake was only in care for two weeks before it started shedding and was ready for release. Whenever we take snakes for transport, we always tie them up in pillowcases because they are such great escape artists. I barely had time to untie the pillowcase before it bolted out so quickly and slithered right into the brush - I’d say it was ready to be back home!
After many hours of driving, returning patients to their homes, and hoping to never see them again, I was finally able to pick up my mom from the airport with a car full of empty boxes. In our field, we often talk about the development of compassion fatigue, and how it’s driven by the many animals that don’t survive their rehabilitation journeys. But days like this serve as a powerful reminder of why I do this work, as well as why I love it. Seeing creatures of various shapes and sizes return to their native habitats, and knowing that’s a product of my team's (and WCV’s) hard work, makes all the hard days worth it in the end. Here’s to more empty boxes and successful patient releases in 2025!
— Mac Stewart, Wildlife Rehabilitation Team Lead