2022 Year in Review: Elka Hutcheson, Wildlife Rehabilitation Intern
A year of tiny things!
A year of tiny things!
We followed Amber Buck, the Wildlife Center's Office Manager, during a busy spring day in April.
Caring for sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals in need is often the most visible aspect of our work that the public is able to see and understand. We are a hospital for native wildlife, after all! Equally as important as caring for wildlife, though, is our mission of “teaching the world to care for and care about wildlife and the environment”. One way we’re able to achieve that mission is through professional training opportunities – such as the internship and externship programs offered within the veterinary, rehabilitation, and outreach departments.
As spring approaches, The Wildlife Center of Virginia has created a game (with prizes) to celebrate our pollinator plants across the country! For all fifty states + Puerto Rico, we've created bingo cards featuring commercially-available native vegetation that promotes and supports pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Find your state below, grab some seeds from your local plant nursery, and start gardening!
Prizes
Our patients’ lives are so much more than the way that they end so I try to celebrate each of our patient’s journeys, tragic and untimely though their final destination may often be, because that allows me to appreciate my own journey, all of it, not just happy parts.
One morning in early December, I noticed the bears were very intrigued by something and as I got closer, I saw the opossum scurrying across the yard toward a tree.
I took a couple of steps back to look up, and almost jumped at what I saw: an adult Great Horned Owl looking down at me!
My experience with American Toad #21-2924 was rewarding not only because I learned a lot about treating toads, but also because I was able to participate in every phase of his treatment.
So … for this year’s recollection, I’m going to share my memories of a wonderful, ordinary day in 2021.
As I continue to work with these birds and the rest of the ambassador team, I look forward to further building our relationships of mutual trust, and learning more from all they have to teach me.