European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Convalescent Center for wildlife Byma Yesch associated press Mary Lou Zuccardo Doorn i min waking up every two hours to feed a baby Raccoon she s even willing to Dice Mic Eidi a hungry Owlet but Ihfe Are something a. Ven Tho mod devoid wildlife nurse will nol do one of the Favole goods of the great homed out is Road killed Ricca Idu says that s whore i draw the line i will nol pick up a dead Riceardo is a wild Halo Chabi dilator an unpaid Volun cer licensed toy slalom and cider Al agencies to care for injured or orphaned animals a Natl Hoy Are Well enough to be returned to the wild in sa7-Day-a-week often 16hour-a-Dayjob, Wilh no pay other than occasional donations but Lor Riceardo and a growing number of others who share her vocation in s a consuming passion. Sometimes i gel i Hausted i Iti Ink i can l do any More Riceardo said in an interview at her Home in Glenmont by. A suburb of Albany but then a tulle animal comes along thai s helpless and i know that if i m nol Here Lor him no one will help. And i Gol All fircht up again " her convalescent Center is in the backyard of her Brick House. Tall Oaks and Coda s conceal a walk in Raccoon Cage compleat. With treehouse tire swing and plastic Pool an aviary where injured bad of prey can exercise their a mrs and wire pens of various sizes to shelter squirrels opossums skunks and whatever else arrives in the arms of a concerned citizen. He laundry room doubles As a clinic crowded Wmk cages for the very Young or very ill a bag of sterile Saline dangles Over inc Washer and dryer which serve As a ire Alment Lable a bran filled aquarium Lank seethes with a kill beetles and their larvae the mealworms consumed a Tho Lens of thousands by Riccardo s Lecup tiling songbirds. Of Accardo esl nates she gels about 1.000 Calls a year some limbs pc ple Pijl need advice skunks arc digging up a Lawn ,Coons Are nesting in a Chimney a Cardinal is peeking it a window. She takes in More Ihan 200 animals a year a arc recorded on log Ttiul-t1 to be turned in to the mate department of environmental conservation which licenses rehabilitates she refuses nothing ii a person cares enough to bring it to me no matter what it is. I in do my Besl to save she says i be done English sparrows pigeons nuthatch is. Wootis canucks. Fawns great Blue he on starlings shrews even Field mice there s nothing t won l there Are 450 Licen a Chabi dilators in new Yolk state but Many of them Loul Hie number or Type of animals the Ontl take Riceardo says and most veterinarians won i Volunteer wildlife rehabilitate or Mary Lou Riccardo examines a tatty Raccoon at her Home in ten Mon n. Y. A 30 percent Chance it being to turned to the wild says while who is also a veterinary student. Now a Rood rehab censer can expect to Roeurn Aboul 50 Riceardo recently formed a coalition of rehab Lilavois in the Albany area called wildlife Anil educational network incur Wren Lor Short the organization will Soroc is a Means of sharing resources Anyox Orlise. Seminars held by the Intorn Lional wildlife rehabilitation Council include hands on training in lube feeding calculation of Medicine dosages. Injections administration of subcutaneous thuds find Basic care and feeding the wrong Diel can be deadly meat can kill a Hawk that s too weak to digest in a dehydrated Fawn May die of Diathea if Given cow s milk Riceardo purees mice in a blender to leed baby Hawks. Laler she teaches them to Hunt using live Laboratory mice. Raccoons learn to catch frogs and crayfish in their plastic Pool hic Carijo also brings Home wild grapes Road killed animals and other delicacies you have to introduce them to things they la find in the wild Riceardo has a Low la onto Lorios of amazing recoveries. There was the baby Raccoon found lying in Iho Road emaciated and infested Wilh maggots he apparently had crawled Onlo Iho warm pavement to Ricca Idu Saya he was so defied rated his skin was nist glued to his Skeleton " Bui saw rna Nayed to gel a Needle under Tho skin Loarn Imster Libeu Tancous fluids and Lin Anima survived treat wild animals to Don t knot How Ric Weirdo is a member of inc International wildlife rehabilitation Council a California based organization that trams and certifies cohabit tlaloc s membership in the Council has nearly doubled in the last Lew years to about ,000 individuals and organizations according to Jan White inc Council s executive director and editor of ils quarterly wildlife journal of the estimated 2.000 licensed rehabilitates nationwide the greatest concentrations Are in new York and California while says. That s where the interaction with wildlife ninety percent of the animals brought 1o us Are Here because of Man s inc Florence says Riceardo who also works a i time loading Field trips at a state nature Center South of Albany. A s Troe cutting trapping poisons Pes lodes. Cats dogs cars. To owe these animals a second As the ranks of wildlife have grown so has their expertise. Wildlife rehab Lillion is becoming Mere sophisticated White says it s a lot More science Orier led than it was 15 years ago. Less anecdotal we Havo conferences journals sym Posia. We be developed networks to share information Twenty years ago an animal thai came in had about Young we talled Deer at convalescent Center. Last May someone a Royhl hic Caido a baby red tailed Hawk thai apparently had Lallen out of a Neo it was starving Wilt tube truding and Lender car Iho scrawny Bird grew stint a hut is or jul Leal Filer been weakened or Lack of minerals Wilh the he pol a Falconer hic Ardo replace tin damaged plumage with leathers from a Dean Hawk of the same species a procedure called limping thai Bird is now flying with another Bird a she says. To s my Pride and Joy " Bui her Lavonte Story 13 ital of a common brought to her try an elderly Man two Burn air. An it had Boon shot by a pm Fol i in ils Wing lip nearly severed the Man had scotch la cd the Wing and rushed to Riccards a Moulic "1 had to amputate Hall the she s3id i i fold the Man the Bird would in Vei Fly with half its fun jul feathers gone " but he saw the Man s a i. Nusly and pc acting saw. Aid she d do her Busl All Winter. Ihal bid h
