Research and Education

 **Ignorance of the Law Is Not a Defense**

You are watching videos online of adorable raccoons, opossums, and squirrels being silly and their "owners" enjoying themselves and you think, "I need that in my life!"  Before you even think about going outside and kidnapping one of these creatures, research your local laws!  Every state has different rules and regulations when it comes to Wildlife, and it is your responsibility to know what you are doing.  If anything can be learned from Peanut's story, it's DO NOT BREAK THE LAW.

I am not familiar with other states, but in Iowa you may only be in possession of wildlife if you have a license.  There are several types of licenses that you can get, and they are governed by the Iowa DNR.  I never set out to do any of this.  I just enjoyed watching the animals in my yard.  When the Piglet situation happened, I tried to do the right thing.  Unfortunately, it turns out squirrels in Central Iowa do not have much help.  They are generally sentenced to death just due to lack of volunteers, resources and time in our local Rehabilitation Centers.  As a caring citizen just trying to do the right thing, I was horrified to hear this.  Now that I have been learning, though I am not condoning this, I do understand a little more.  Unless a rehabilitation facility has a full-time grant writer, wildlife rehabilitators do what they do out of the kindness of their own heart, the money out of their own wallets and the donation of their personal time and life.

After I was contacted about another baby squirrel and another and another, I started to looking into becoming a rehabber myself.  I am disabled, home almost all the time and hardly sleep, it's the perfect pairing!  There is so much more to it than bottle feeding babies, though.  I hadn't set out to pour thousands of dollars (social security does not make one rich) and transform my house and yard! 

Unfortunately some of the local rehabilitation centers are *elitist* if I had to choose a term.  You would think a facility run by mostly volunteers would be thrilled to take on more volunteers, but I found that also wasn't the case around here.  One facility, the same that told me to kill Piglet, told me that in order to volunteer with them I would be required to serve 3 hours a week, at their facility (which happens to be on the 2nd floor with no disability access) and I would be required to get a pre-rabies vaccination.  After being disabled by an antibiotic, I asked if these shots contained fluroquinolones.  She told me she had no idea what was in them, but her husband did become disabled after taking the shots.  She told me I could research it myself and then take a long thought about what I'm wanting to do, like maybe a year or so and then I could get back to her. I was disheartened to say the least.

I reached out to several rehabs outside of my area and found very supportive people who were more like-minded with me and their opinion was save them!  One of the women I talked to put me in contact with her mentor.  I told her my entire story, about becoming disabled, starting the Squirrel Garden outside, finding and saving Piglet and the bad experiences I had here.  It was fate!  Not only was she a former medical dr, she was disabled later in life like me and she was even familiar with my condition and what happened to me!  She gave me several resources to begin studying and told me when I have my facilities ready, get the DNR to sign off on them and she will sign off to be my mentor to get my apprentice license.  She suggested I take the Basic Wildlife Rehabilitation Course offered through the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC).

This journey has been so much more than bottle feeding those babies, but for me, it will be worth it!  I started studying all of the resources she provided me.  I checked with the local government to check on zoning laws.  I checked the building laws for the outdoor enclosure.  I looked at all the legal requirements for getting licensed.  I signed up for the class.  And began bleeding money.  I started fundraising to help with the expenses but have only raised a small fraction of what we have spent.  I was warned by many of the rehabbers I interviewed, this is an expensive "business," and they weren't kidding!

The class I took was a 6 day online course and it was an overwhelming amount of information!  We had to learn triage, intermuscular injections, administering subcutaneous fluids how to do intake exams.  The course teaches Ethics of Wildlife Rehabilitation, you learn the history of how the rules and regulations came about.  It covers birds, mammals and amphibians, everything from natural habitats, food and water needs, medical issues... As I said it was overwhelming!  I see now why they recommend you have a Vet Tech degree to do this work.  I honestly left the final exam sure that I had failed!  But, I didn't!  I received my certification!

Armed with my new knowledge, I continued planning the facilities.  Unfortunately, being disabled, a lot of the work has to be done by others and luckily my husband is a carpenter.  The outside enclosure has to meet the standards.  We are building a double door entry, 6 feet by 8 feet enclosure.  The wire mesh has to go 12 inches below ground to keep predators from digging under to get in.  The inside facility, we are walling off a living room we don't use, it has to have all new wiring to support the electronics we have to have inside.  I have built an incubator, and we have several graduated sized cages to meet the needs of growing babies.  There has to be a medical exam area for intake and triage, a food prep station with their own refrigerator because you cannot keep their food with people food and of course a feeding station.  I had to create a policies and procedures manual and all of the required forms.  I have to find a wildlife licensed veterinarian who will agree to work with me.  If you kidnap those babies yourself, it is illegal for a veterinarian to help you should a medical emergency arise, another reason to do the right thing!

A less determined person would have given up as soon as they started looking into this.  I do not share my story to scare anyone from getting involved.  There are so many things you can do as an animal lover, that do not involve turning your life and home upside down or breaking the law!

If you love animals and want to help you can:

• Donate to a cause or facility whose values you support.
• Volunteer your time.  Not every facility you come in contact with will turn you away.  There are many things an untrained person can do to help.  There is cleaning and laundry that will always need to be done.  They may need support with their website or designing brochures.  They may need help with fundraising or just getting the word out.
• Educate yourself.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying animals in nature.  Watch them in their natural habitat, as it brings so much joy.  Put out a squirrel feeder, put up squirrel nesting boxes, watch videos online like the Squirrel Garden (not kidnappers who are exploiting wildlife for their own internet fame!)  When I started the Squirrel Garden, I researched nutrition and foods to grow for them.  You could grow some fruits and vegetables in your garden or yard for them to enjoy.

There are so many ways to enjoy these animals without breaking the laws or putting yourself in danger (Raccoons are a Rabies Vector Species) or even putting your own pets in danger by bringing something dangerous home with you (animal, parasite, zoonotic disease)!