Wild animals commute from Boyce to Berryville for ‘educational seminar’

On Saturday, September 11, perhaps the finest day of a miserably hot and humid summer, staff of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center (BRWC) ferried what they call their “ambassadors” – injured birds, reptiles and animals – from their forever homes at Boyce to the Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds at Berryville much to the delight of kids and adults alike.

Many came for the day – 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.- to enjoy picnic lunches while awaiting the procession of animals, principally to educate the youngsters, with some taking lessons in animal art by local artist and retired elementary school teacher Cheryl Suitor.

Cheryl Suitor of Berryville, standing at left, gives tips on wildlife painting to Sienna Greenhalgh, 7, as mom Natalie observes. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

The animals, called “ambassadors”, are among those hundreds of injured and sick unfortunates admitted to the wildlife hospital for veterinary treatment that cannot be released back into the wild, but which appear happy to live the rest of their lives in the comfortable surroundings of a million-dollar hospital.

As a dozen of them did last Saturday, these “ambassadors” help teach young children about their species with the aid of their loving keepers who staff the BRWC. All have pet names, such as Vega, a spectacular turkey vulture with a six-foot wing span (see photo collage at end of story), perched for the most part on the left arm of his state-licensed caretaker, Heather Shank-Givens, as she showed her charge off to an increasingly large crowd of admirers.

Vega the turkey vulture and handler Heather Shank-Givens draw a crowd. The attentive handler is licensed by the State to rehabilitate and care for injured turkey vultures.

Event moderator, the center’s Jennifer Burghoffer, explained that Vega came to the hospital with multiple injuries, possibly after being hit by a vehicle. She was also found with pellet wounds in her head, which cost her an eye. Her multiple injuries and sight impairment prevent her from flying well enough to be expected to survive if released into the wild. Vega also suffered from lead poisoning, which prompted Burghoffer to remind local hunters to use copper rather than lead ammunition while pursuing their sport, so that scavengers like Vega won’t ingest poisonous lead from feeding on hunter kills’ remains.

Each ‘ambassador’ received treatment according to its rank, all being chauffeured individually from Boyce to Berryville according to the timetable set for their appearance. They included an eagle, an opossum, described as the only marsupial common to North America, a snake, a screech owl, and an Arctic Fox named Snow. Also a bevy of turtles, there for the day.

Opossum Marsi was lured out of her cage with the promise of food – and some TLC from handler Heather Sparks, as illustrated in below photo collage at end of story text. The runt of her litter, Marsi was brought in with siblings after their mother was killed by a car.

While there were items such as bird houses and BRWC shirts available for sale, Burghoffer, the education manager, emphasized the day was marked as an educational event rather than as a fundraiser. In its most recent publication of “The Ridgeline” newsletter, and in an interview with the Royal Examiner last winter, Executive Director Annie Bradfield said: “Without educating people on how to safely protect and interact with wildlife, we are only treating the problem, not preventing it.”

This was only the second annual Wildfest event undertaken by BRWC. Judging by the crowds, it won’t be the last!

Wildlife Center volunteer helps turtle pose for Ms. Suitor’s art class before being returned to its habitat on the road, as pal in background lobbies for its turn as an art class model.

As its state-licensed handler gives detail on its personal history and its species lifestyle in the wild, Vega the turkey vulture takes a look over its shoulder to see if its missing anything. Below, Vega spreads its impressive wings and seems to say, ‘Hi mom, you know what I want to do next, right?’

Which is apparently not to be the next artist’s model, as Vega on a shorter tether for the event, attempts to fly the coup much to the sketching artist in front of its surprise.

Handler Heather Sparks lures Marsi the Opossum, North America’s only native marsupial, out with some food, and attention. Further below, no ‘playing possum’ here as Marsi puts those little ‘hands’ to good use at meal time – That was pretty good – but who’s playing with my tail?

Caring ‘mom’ and licensed handler and rehabilitator Heather Shank-Givens said she wanted to be a ‘Falconer’ when younger. Handling Vega as she rehabs and adjusts to life in captivity isn’t that far off, Heather observed. Here Vega displays good left eye. She lost her right eye to a pellet, which remains lodged in her head.

Blue Ridge Wildlife Center products were on sale, including bird-houses for slightly smaller birds than eagles and turkey vultures. However, Saturday’s event at the Ruritan Fairgrounds in Berryville was envisioned as an instructional one designed to teach us to co-exist more effectively with our neighboring wildlife, so hopefully in the future fewer will need to be rehabilitated from destructive interactions with humans.

Measure Your Wingspan – we can do that! Vega watches young girl measuring her wingspan and gets handler Heather to give her a lift over to compare as child and her dad watch Vega’s approach.