The fox came out of the woods east of the house and limped across the open field. She held her right forepaw suspended, not allowing it to touch the ground. Behind her romped a pup, leaping over errant prairie growth with the sleek dexterity of dressage.
The beauty and pathos of such a vision filled my wife and me with awe and dread. Would this beautiful, sleek fox soon be the victim of natural selection, only the fittest surviving Tennyson’s forbidding “Nature red in tooth and claw?”
I reached out to Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education for Wildlife (KARE) and received a text from Director Vicki Weiland: “I am feeding babies but can call you in about an hour.”
On KARE’s website, I found Weiland’s description of her previous night’s outings.
“The first rescue were ducklings in a storm drain under McDonald Road in South Elgin. Less than 30 minutes later, we get the call of two baby raccoons on a ledge in the parking garage in downtown St. Charles. Both are safe and will be wormed, vaccinated and kept until age-appropriate release.”
Later, Weiland lets me know, “Currently, we have 40 raccoons, three fawns, nine coyotes, five groundhogs, lots of possums, many birds of prey such as owls, hawks, vultures. Turkeys, pheasants and other game birds.”
KARE dates to 1994 “when a rehabber from Texas moved up here and found there was nothing going on in Kane County for wildlife,” Weiland said. “She started a group of interested parties, one of which was me.”
Asked about her most rewarding “save,” Weiland tells me, “Every animal brought in was already ‘dead’ before it got to us. Be it an injured adult, the sick adult, the orphaned baby, the predator attack, they just happened to be found and brought to us for a second chance.”
Want to help bring wildlife back from the “dead?”
“KARE posts a request for volunteers every spring when training classes are held. If you are willing to learn, get dirty and cry at times, we will start you out,” Weiland said.
If you can’t volunteer, be a “finder” spotting injured or endangered animals.
“Unless you see an obvious injury, best to keep an eye on the animal for a bit,” Weiland advised. “If you see a wild animal in the same spot for an extended period, or if huddled somewhere to get out of the heat or cold, there could be a problem. I respond as quickly as I can, but I work a full-time job. I have a great team.”
One finder stood loyally by an injured red-tailed hawk “for hours. Scorching hot out. Heat stroke hits wildlife, too. Letting this big girl rest for a few days, then we will see how she flies. Faith in humanity restored, for now.”
Weiland reminded me, “All this costs a lot of money. The day-to-day is animal food, medicine, formula and supplies for babies. We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit, fully licensed by Illinois and USDA, and carry insurance for our educational programs and volunteers.”
To donate, use paypal.me/KAREforWildlife, call 708-220-1420, email kareforwildlife@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page.
Oh, wondering about our fox? With no bone sticking out or open wound, Weiland counseled the mother can still teach her pup how to fend off danger and hunt. In early winter, before she mates again, there may be a window to help her.
Talk about restoring faith in humanity! Thanks, Vicki, for restoring mine.
• Rick Holinger’s writing has appeared in more than a hundred literary journals. He holds a Ph.D. in creative writing from UIC and facilitates the Geneva library’s Night Writers Workshop. His poetry book “North of Crivitz” and essay collection “Kangaroo Rabbits and Galvanized Fences” are available at local bookstores, Amazon or richardholinger.net. Contact him at editorial@kcchronicle.com.