Thomas Royce, Great Britain – 2009 Testimonial

I applied for an internship at Critter Care Wildlife Society because the prospect of going to British Columbia to raise baby animals for release back into nature was a golden opportunity for me and a potentially life changing event. Before I arrived I was made aware that, as an intern, I needed to be whole heartedly committed and that it would involve long days of strenuous work; that I would be living amongst other interns and shouldn’t expect to have a great deal of personal space; that there were a variety of jobs that I would be involved in, not all of them glamorous. With all this in mind I arrived in Vancouver airport nervous but full of excitement for the adventure ahead. Eight months on and I can safely say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made!! 

I remember my arrival like it was yesterday; meeting the eight other interns in the kitchen and setting my bags down in the basement where I would be sleeping, not really sure what I had let myself in for. I spent my first day looking around, getting to know the people I would be working with, and doing my best to settle in. The next day I had my first morning meeting and then it was all go! There were so many jobs to do and I threw myself straight into it. By the time I had finished my first week of work, I was aching and sore but thrilled to be a part of something so special. I knew that everything I did here was for a good cause. The eight other interns became like an extended family. Within a couple of weeks I felt truly at home.

Over the summer, I was delighted with the responsibility of raising the Fawns that we had in the Centre. Initially there were only two but then this number steadily grew to eight by mid August, and I shared the duties with another intern and we had a lot of fun being their surrogate fathers. It was a lot of commitment to ensure they were being raised properly; there were four to five milk feeds a day and much time spent collecting enough leaves for them to eat. Add to that cleaning of the enclosure, making additional fruit plates and administering vaccinations and you have a lot of time in the day devoted to them. Even on days off I had this feeding schedule; they were depending on me everyday. It made me proud to see them grow big and strong. By mid July I also had three baby raccoons to take care of. So in between my other responsibilities I ventured into the nursery three times a day to sit with them crawling on my lap while I tried to get each one to drink from the bottle of raccoon milk in my hand. Oh and of course what goes in eventually comes out so there’s a lot of interesting mess to deal with. So I was kept very busy and also very entertained!!

Now I have to say that the work pace at Critter Care may cause you to burn out on the odd occasion and being among so many other interns can be tough. But you settle into it remarkably quickly. Sure everyone has their moments of frustration but the good times far outweigh the bad. There were times when the repetition of chopping up food, mixing milk formula, washing dishes, mopping floors, shaking food and faeces out of laundry, taking out garbage, raking leaves, scrubbing cages and wiping up seemingly endless amounts of raccoon excrement made me irritable. But to walk everyday down to the fawn enclosure to feed my eight squeaking kids; to be handed a tiny silver grey furry bundle with a stripy tail, knowing I’ll do what it takes to give him that second chance in life; to work outdoors in such a beautiful area; to get to know so many people from around the world, all with their own stories to tell, and to relax at the end of every long day knowing that we are saving lives, these are priceless moments.

I stayed at Critter Care through summer, fall and winter because I loved it so much I decided to stay longer than I initially intended to. Summer is by far the busiest time and that’s when you’re putting in thirteen to fourteen hour days, almost non-stop. The nursery is often full of people feeding and cleaning their raccoons, squirrels and opossums, and the centre is a constant bustle of activity. The only time you really stop is for the half hour lunch break, the evening meal, and when you finally collapse at about 10pm, after your babies are fed and tucked in for the night.

By winter, most of the animals are released so it becomes a quieter affair; however there are always jobs to be done. Any animals that stay need their cages cleaning daily and the grounds still need maintaining.

So if you are thinking of coming to Critter Care, I would say that as long as you have an open mind, can adapt well and are willing to work hard and ‘muck in’ then you will have the time of your life! I learned so much from having experienced first-hand what it takes to rehabilitate wild mammals, and I have so many fond memories of my time here.

I’d like to close by saying a big thank you to Gail, Richard, Maureen and all the supervisors, volunteers and interns I have worked alongside at Critter Care for making this the amazing experience it has been.

Thomas Royce.