Essays
Moseying: Locations of Interest
South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Lubbock
September 8, 2004
“The most important role of rehabilitation of injured fauna is education. Even though we help over a thousand animals a year, we do not make that much of a difference in animal and bird populations. People have good hearts and want to help hurt creatures, and we have vets, pharmacists, two falconers, and plenty of volunteers to help us provide a service that the public desires. ”
Carol and Rob Lee of the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center have a remarkable facility on the south side of Lubbock. Mr. Lee worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service until retirement. Ms. Lee rehabilitated her first bird in 1984 and founded the facility in 1988.
My grandson, Terrance Garcia, spent July and August with my wife Deborah and I, and daily went to work with me at the Sibley Nature Center, as he had two years before as a four year old. On the first day he asked to see a video that he remembered “starring some kids and some hurt animals”. Over the next two months he watched it several more times, and would keep mentioning things he had learned from it, so on his very last day in Texas I took him up to Lubbock to visit the center.
The visit had another purpose as well. The Midland Reporter Telegram had published an essay on June 20th I had written about baby house sparrows covered with ants and the moral dilemma produced by such a find. A reader had taken offense and told Ms. Lee that I claimed she would feed donated house sparrows, starlings, and pigeons (all non-protected exotic pest species) to the raptors at the facility. Although I had not mentioned the center by name, I could understand the misunderstanding.
In presenting the conflicting issues in finding the sparrows, I said that some “rehab” centers do exactly that. After the concerns were voiced, I had tried to find documentation to that effect, and had no luck – I had used anecdotal information that I had heard at a state ornithological meeting years ago. Ms. Lee emailed me, and after reading the essay, invited me to visit.
“The center is an equal opportunity rehabilitation facility and accepts animals for care regardless of color, size, species, or popularity with the human race,” states the “about us” section of the center’s webpage. “We have actually been given a rattlesnake to rehabilitate. A rancher, who has killed a thousand rattlers, found one in some irrigation equipment, somewhat mangled, and could not bring himself to finish it off, so he brought it to us.”
“During the peak season of bird nesting we sometimes receive a hundred calls a day. Many of the calls can be handled by instructing the individuals to place the baby bird back in the nest. So many fledglings leave the nest a day before they can fly well, but people often do not realize that the parent birds are fully aware of its location and are still taking care of it.”
“We give 50 or more programs a year (at a dollar a head). To better present programs we used a bequest to build an amphitheatre that can hold up to a hundred children. Some of our volunteers will travel off site. We have had regular wildlife segments on local television, and for five years I have had a Sunday column in the local paper as well. Also, we have benefited from a group was started by Sue Shore of the Lubbock Lake Landmark, a group of ‘non-traditional’ educators – educators outside of the public school milieu and who serve as ‘enrichment’ program presenters and that group actively networks with teacher associations.” Ms. Lee gave me background as we lunched at “Zoo-kini’s.” I had a southwestern pita, but the grandkid was holding out for a fast food burger where he wanted a specific kid’s meal prize.
After lunch we went to the center at 3308 95th Street (phone 806-799-2142). Manager Debbie Tennyson lives on site. As a visitor turns in the driveway, the first building is a “drop-off” center, where a person can leave an injured creature if no one is present. Beyond the residence is a series of buildings and cages. One building holds the baby animals and birds being taken care of, along with mealworm colonies and a kitchen and medical area for preparing the foods and medicines. A series of open-sided cages hold the non-releasable raptors used for education programs. Another building is alternately used for Mississippi Kite young and possums and porcupines.
The complex continues with a mammal rehab building (and some of the stalls will hold the overflow of the bird nestlings.) An all-metal flight cage, a small fenced area for deer fawns, a water bird enclosure, and a three story barn are also in the complex. “We have plans to renovate the barn. It has been used to house raptors and our rodent colony. The mealworms and rodents alleviate the costs of food, which can be astronomical. We do get some food donated.” The Lees led us around, but I had to keep hollering at Terrance to catch up. He would stand fascinated, watching the great horned owl that was “just like in the video.”
As we toured, the Lee’s introduced us to some of the volunteer staff. “We have over 30 adult volunteers, and 25 junior volunteers ages 12-18. 27 Eagle scouts have done their projects here. We also have interns from Texas Tech and two of the local high schools. Volunteers are totally necessary for our fundraisers and open houses. 2000 people visited at our last open house, and we had 400 people come on a pond tour August 21st to see our new pond next to the new amphitheater. This fall we are having a “Nature of Art” event at one of the local wineries as a fundraiser. For a few years we did an “Owloween” and Haunted Barn fundraiser, the latter voted best ever in Lubbock, but it took over 100 volunteers to put on and months of preparation. The camaraderie of the volunteers is wonderful and is what makes tedious work fun.”
Ms. Lee also bragged on her “very active Board of Directors that is a great help in determining the overall direction and decision making, and work, as well as being instrumental in fundraising. They provide expertise where we need it and remain true to the purpose of the facility, and serve as important ambassadors. The work could not be done without all of the people that help out.”
I stand in complete awe of what the Lees have accomplished. The professionalism of their facility and organizational structure is impeccable.