Wildlife Center of Virginia Blog

Rehabilitation Rewards: A Look Back

It’s a bit surreal to think that my wildlife rehabilitation internship at the Wildlife Center of Virginia has come to a close. I’ve had the most amazing and educating year, full of unique and gratifying experiences. I’ve treasured all moments, large and small, from releasing our Black Bear yearlings to giving fledgling Carolina Chickadees a bath. I’ve gotten to train and guide numerous externs through their rehabilitation externships and watched as they went from being skeptical around small raptors to fearlessly catching a Bald Eagle.

As One Door Closes, Another Opens

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with, and join the dance” - Alan Watts

Change has been a major theme in my life as of late. My family moved from New Jersey to Virginia this past summer and I attended my first year at Virginia Tech as a communication major. I knew I wanted to get involved with the local community and ideally work with wildlife; I wanted to find my niche here.

Through Austin's Eyes

There are many things about my job as an office manager that I am grateful for: being a small part of the wonderful work that the Wildlife Center does, the amazing people I work with, and sharing an office with Randy. 

Spring in ICU

After two months of my 12-week rehabilitation externship had come and gone, I felt like I had mastered most tasks. Then I blinked, and spring was entering the Wildlife Center. Suddenly there were baby bunnies, opossums, and squirrels in our ICU and we were skipping lunches to make sure all feedings were kept on schedule.

Underground Neighbors

There is likely a venomous creature lurking around in your backyard and you may not even know it. [Cue the shark music.] Worse, even if you saw it, you might mistake it for the wrong animal. Your identification mistake would cost you precious seconds, just time enough for the wild beast to rush on you, back you into a corner and then … oh, wait, we’ll come back to that at the end of this blog.

Lessons Learned

Once I fully grasped what the Wildlife Center of Virginia was really all about, I realized that I would be spending eight weeks in one of the best places in the world … in a place where there is so much support and inspiration to learn new things and a place where I could push myself to be a better person and teacher.

A Journey Home

As a young child, my dreams were always filled with me flying over rooftops and trees … soaring endlessly. Wishing I was a bird, I would flap my arms and run as fast as I could for takeoff. For some reason, I always had to hold my breath to be able to fly. I never could figure that out, but the sensation of flying was worth all the breath in the world. Upon waking, I could almost imagine what it felt like to fly and think birds must have a wonderful life.

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