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By Pat Carafano
|  Imagine a sudden early morning phone call for emergency rescue of a very large bird with a broken wing or two tiny fallen baby birds too young to fly back to the nest. Imagine it happening 10 times a day, year-round. Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue wildlife rehabilitators in the greater El Paso area took in 3,700 such animals in 2009.
Josie Karam, 66, lives her daily life with her heart open to these calls.
“They feel pain and fear,” she said, “and they need our intervention. My intakes are averaging anywhere from 10 to 20 per day.”
A Certified Wildlife Rehabilitator since 2000, Karam explained that most wild creatures’ injuries are caused by impacts with cars, buildings, windows, dogs, pools, poisons, feral and pet cats, loss of habitat and other threats.
“If we truly are the superior beings on this planet, it is our obligation to care for the animals and not ignore their need of us,” Karam says.
This El Paso native, absent only for her education at Webster University in St. Louis, currently works with about 15 other rehabilitators who share her love of wildlife and the responsibility of caring for them. Together they form the Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue.
From skunks to herons
Karam’s upper valley home currently houses about 70 temporary wildlife visitors. As leader and trainer, Karam is certified by Texas Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife. She is subject to inspections by the state and federal agencies and required to maintain a strict log of intakes, injuries and disposition of each bird or mammal, and turn in these reports to both agencies annually.
Karam emphasized that other volunteers “do not have to be certified if they are working directly at my facility. I can list them as sub-permitees if they will be doing intakes or caregiving of wildlife at their homes.”
Lil Harris at age 77 recently took a class with Karam and “just liked the idea of rescuing.” She had been finding birds in need in her yard.
“It is so fulfilling!” said Jane Mooberry, 58, who derives calm and serenity from wildlife volunteering after teaching primary grades. Having done similar animal rescue in Nebraska, Mooberry recalls a baby skunk which “nibbled on my toes” and a huge Rock Crest Night Heron as two of her memorable challenges.
What to do
Safety and temperature are two major considerations in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. “Mammals can bite,” Karam warns, so gloves and towels should be used to cover them and place them in a pet carrier or box.
“Birds can be subdued by covering them with a light towel, scooping them up and placing them in a carrier,” she advised. “Any wildlife should be immediately placed in a quiet, warm, dark place.” Birds can be placed in a tree “in a makeshift nest” to see whether parents return within an hour or so, and mammals can be placed in the den.
When animals or birds are known orphaned, found injured, cold, wet or in need of any immediate first aid care, arrangements should be made immediately to transport them to a licensed rehabilitator.
Birds and many mammals maintain very high body temperatures (102 degrees) and must be kept warm. Birds found cold need to be warmed on a heating pad set on low.
At the top of the list of challenges are “cat-caught victims,” Karam explained. “Cats have a toxin in their saliva that is deadly to birds and, if we don’t get them quickly, the toxin will.”
Broken bones and wings present the next biggest challenge. Although many veterinarians don’t handle those cases, they volunteer knowledge to assist rehabilitators in helping animals and birds recover from such injuries.
Karam derives her rewards from the “releases,” knowing that she has saved lives.
For information on volunteer training, call Karam at 581-1510.
Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue is a 501(c) 3 organization. They accept tax-deductible donations and they support rehabilitators, educate the public and provide dispatching and transporters.
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail swsenior@elpasoinc.com
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