The Portland Press Herald / The Maine Sunday Telegram

Rescue ME

The Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick uses social networking to bolster its work helping ailing and abandoned animals.

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Visitors watch as York Animal Control Officer Tom Porter releases a barred owl back into the wild on April 21 at First Parish Cemetery in York. Porter found the injured raptor in the cemetery in November 2009. It was nursed back to health by the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick.

Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

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A peregrin falcon that was nursed at the Center for Wildlife.

Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

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CENTER FOR WILDLIFE IN CAPE NEDDICK

5,000: The number of calls about injured animals the center takes in annually

1,600: The number of animals rehabilitated each year

680: The number of mammals on average the center takes in to help

200: The number of squirrels on average the center helps

150: The number of species the center helps

126: The number of towns the center has taken animals from in Maine and New Hampshire

24: The number of years the center for Wildlife has been in existence

10:

The number of college interns working at the center this summer

MORE INFORMATION

TO LEARN MORE, go to www.yorkcenterforwildlife.org.

TO GET UPDATES on when animals will be released, search for the Center for Wildlife on Facebook.

DEIRDRE FLEMING

Staff Writer

ORK - It might have been the wind or some dust that put a tear on Tom Porter's cheek, but after he released the barred owl he had found injured five months earlier, he was visibly moved.

He was standing at the First Parish Cemetery in York after Laura Dehler of the Center for Wildlife had passed him the rehabilitated barred owl to release back into the wild.

"I got a call on November 29 that it was in the rose bushes. And that's where I found him. So I got to return him. The center is a godsend for us," said Porter, York's animal control officer.

The 24-year-old Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick has a full-time staff of six and an annual budget of $400,000 for the work of rehabilitating the 1,600 animals that are brought in annually.

That work will continue no matter what, but today those at the center are struggling against tough economic times as well as old misconceptions.

The good news for the center's staff today is they also are finding new ways to connect with the public, and to help the public connect with wildlife, which helps bring attention to the center.

Executive Director Karen McElmurry said for years a common perception has been that the nonprofit received state funds, and that the work of healing injured animals came cheap.

Neither is true.

"The thing we hear over and over is, 'Oh, you must get money from the state.' We do not get a penny. We have to raise money for everything. Taking care of animals is very costly," McElmurry said.

Medication, formulas, food and electricity can run up large bills, she said. On average, it costs the center $175 per animal to rehabilitate it and return it to the wild.

Porcupines, squirrels, possums, woodchucks and rabbits are common guests, and work at the center is never slow.

Some 30 to 40 squirrels were brought in this spring, and the usual number of owls showed up.

However, this summer for the first time, 10 college interns will be on hand to help with the nonstop work of instructing the public on how to handle injured animals and to help heal those brought to the center.

Brenna Morris, a senior at the University of New Hampshire, interned at the center last summer and returns this spring to volunteer her time once a week.

"It's so chaotic and crazy. There are squirrels and birds coming in every day, and people answering calls. My favorite are the owls," Morris said.

Every day center rehabilitator McElmurry and five staff members answer calls and guide the public in wildlife care. Sometimes it's best to leave an injured or infant animal or bird, but teaching people how and when to do this is not simple.

"Sharing knowledge is a huge part of what we do," said Dehler, the center's development director. "One of the most wonderful aspects of dealing with this work is hearing attitudes change. You know a person had an experience with wildlife and it's nice when you help them come to a good solution for the animal (like leaving it, instead of picking it up and moving it.)"

McElmurry, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for 20 years, has seen the center grow since it moved to its private enclave beside Mount Agamenticus 14 years ago. And she doesn't expect tough economic times to hinder that growth.

"We've survived on a lot less than we are now," McElmurry said.

However, she also said the center is fortunate that during the hard economic times more people want to volunteer. And the center has found new ways through social networking to connect with the public even more.

Historically the Center for Wildlife allowed those who found an injured animal to release it where it was found whenever possible. That's easier now in the era of Facebook.

Friends and fans of the center now can know in an instant about a release, which is often decided at the last minute due to weather.

When Dehler came to First Parish Cemetery to release the barred owl two weeks ago, a small crowd waited patiently for her. It was the first such showing for a release that was broadcast via Facebook. And the post went out only days earlier.

Porter not only got to release the barred he found, he did so before a rapt audience of owl fans.

"It's wonderful we have somewhere to bring animals. The public calls about a seagull with a wing off -- it's good to bring it somewhere," Porter said. "People figure we kill it. But the center doesn't. And if they have to, they feed it to other wildlife there. It is used full circle."

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com