I didn’t play surrogate mother during my internship, but I did hold an emaciated bear cub in my arms, saw tiny opossums wriggling about in their mother’s pouch, spent an evening at the vet’s with a very sick beaver on intravenous, and helped to wrangle some feisty raccoons who needed their medicine! I helped care for black bears, beavers, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, and a very cool mink, “Stinkus Minkus.” Most rewarding of all, I witnessed the ultimate goal of their rehabilitation: their release back into the wild.

 

I started my internship at Critter Care at the end of January, 2005. Everyone was very welcoming and I was made to feel at home immediately. I was happy to be quickly entrusted with the nightly feeding and exercising of Critter Care’s beloved resident bobcat, Hoover. Being the only intern, I was able to work very closely with the supervisory staff to care for all of the animals at the centre, and for those who arrived injured or ill.

 

The staff were very supportive and gave me every opportunity to be involved in their work, for which I am extremely grateful. They operated with compassion and professionalism, always considering how they could help the greatest number of animals under each set of circumstances, and to the best of their abilities. I was always learning from the knowledgeable staff, and sometimes I got to learn with them. I highly recommend interning in the winter/spring even though I gather it is a very different experience than in the summer as there are non babies.
 

My time at Critter Care was an enormously valuable learning experience and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was rewarding to work with a group of like-minded people who dedicate so much of their time, effort and funds to the health and welfare of our local wildlife. I can’t wait to come back and visit, and experience what I hear is the insanity of “baby season!”