Caring for wild animals a calling for one Va. woman
When Gay Frazee says she cares for animals, it's not just a warm fuzzy notion.
As one of two licensed wildlife rehabilitators on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Frazee, 58, fills her hours and her home taking care of scores of injured, sick or orphaned wild animals each year.
It's a calling, not a job.
Wildlife rehabilitators in Virginia are volunteers; they do not receive state funding, instead they rely on donations and money out of their own pockets to carry out the task.
Their mission is to care for injured, sick or orphaned indigenous wildlife, with the goal being to release them, well again, back into the wild.
Frazee and her colleague, Kathy Cummings, who together make up Shore Wildlife Rehab, are in the process of obtaining nonprofit status for the organization, which will enable it to qualify for grants.
"For Kathy and I, we would do it if we didn't get a dime," said Frazee, adding, "It's a passion."
Still, the work comes with a cost — for food, housing, travel, medicines and class fees, among other expenses.
The two women last year cared for more than 325 animals, ranging from a great horned owl with an eye injury to tiny orphaned bunnies.
"Bunnies are the hardest of all the animals to rehab," said Frazee, noting rabbits "live a terrified life," sometimes literally dying of fright from a condition called capture myopathy.
She was currently caring for four orphaned bunnies, including patiently feeding them warmed formula several times a day. "They eat really slowly," she said.
But this particular day was mostly about the reptiles — more specifically, turtles.
"I have turtle stress this week," said Frazee, noting she had to figure out, soon, how to get a feeding tube down the throat of a 12-pound snapping turtle with a broken jaw.
"He was found on his back in the road," she said, gesturing to the big reptile hulking in a children's swimming pool on her kitchen floor.
She had woken up at 3 a.m. that day worrying about him, along withthe two sick box turtles in her care that needed soaking three times a day.
The animals come to her and Cummings from different sources — the Eastern Shore's two national wildlife refuges bring some, and individuals who have heard of their work also find their way to them with injured or sick animals.
Frazee's life changed about six years ago after a chance encounter with Cummings at Eastern Shore Animal Hospital in Painter. The veterinary office is a big supporter of the wildlife rehab effort on the Eastern Shore, providing medicine, X-rays, surgery and more to wildlife at no cost.
Apprentice
"I had my dog there, and she had an eagle in a crate," said Frazee of their first meeting. She asked Cummings about the eagle, and the rest is history.
Frazee ultimately decided to apprentice herself to Cummings, who has been in the rehab business for around a decade, in order to qualify to become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator herself.
"The first year was completely overwhelming. Kathy was extremely patient; I must have called her 10 times a day for two years," said Frazee, adding, "There's so much to know...I had no idea this was just going to alter my life completely."
Now Frazee, who formerly was an antiques dealer, is both state and federally licensed to do wildlife rehabilitation. And she is doing additional study to become a licensed wildlife educator.
The work has taken over her home and yard as well as her time.
There is a grackle in a large cage in her kitchen, for one thing, and a cageful of baby bunnies in a back bedroom.
"I've got a freezer full of dead rats, mice and fish," she said.
She and Cummings divide the work somewhat by species — "I do all the birds and she does all the baby deer."
The Bat Lady
Frazee takes advantage of continuing education classes, conferences, and the Internet as sources of information to help her many patients.
"I go to all the classes ... You meet people, you jot their name down and then when you need them, they are there," she said, mentioning by name Leslie Sturgis, better known to rehabbers as "The Bat Lady."
"If you have a question, you can always call her ... That's all she does, is bats."
There is also a woman near Roanoke known as "Swamp Witch," whose specialty is turtles.
"It's good to know a species-specific person." said Frazee.
Frazee currently is the only person on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with a federal permit to rehabilitate migratory birds — including raptors, shorebirds, songbirds and waterbirds.
"The Eastern Shore is hugely important for wildlife, especially for migratory birds," said Frazee, noting the peninsula is one of only five locations in North and South America where one shorebird species, the whimbrel, gathers.
She also has the only flight pen on the Virginia Shore. Before she had it built starting two years ago, the nearest large flight enclosure was 70 miles away, necessitating long, stressful trips for injured or sick birds. She added three more habitats last year.
The 50-foot-long, 14-foot-tall pen now has five attached habitats for housing birds, and Frazee recently installed a surveillance camera system so she can check on the birds at night without disturbing them.
On this day, a great horned owl with one eye missing glared from his perch in a large space he had all to himself, while several other birds were recovering in different areas — including five injured screech owls, two gulls found covered in oily slime at an industrial site in Accomac, and two turkey buzzards that had been shot.
"Raccoons are most fun"
While Frazee treats all her animal guests with care, she admits she has her favorites.
"Racoons are the most fun. They have a capacity for playing that no other animal has."
Orphaned baby racoons typically stay with her until they are five months old, so she gets to know them.
They also are the only animals that when released bring tears to her eyes. Frazee said she still from time to time spots one raccoon she had treated and released, identifiable because of its wobbly gait.
The playful creatures recuperate in a roomy pen outside her garage —raccoon must be kept in separate quarters from other animals because of disease issues.
In another part of Frazee's yard is a structure housing an opossum — the last of the 23 baby opossums brought to her last season. Opal the opossum can not be released because she has metabolic bone disease. "We're looking for a forever home for her," said Frazee.
Frazee and Cummings feel responsible for the seemingly endless stream of animals brought to them, particularly because of the Eastern Shore's geographic isolation.
"The problem is, here on the Shore, we're the only show in town. We've got no one to turn to," said Frazee.
And when well-meaning people tell her she shouldn't take in so many animals, she replies, "Tell me which ones to say no to."
HOW TO HELP
Monetary donations may be mailed to:
Shore Wildlife Rehab
P. O. Box 145
Jamesville, VA 23398
or donations may be sent to the organization's Paypal account: ShoreWildlifeRehab@yahoo.com
Shore Wildlife Rehab is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ShoreWildlifeRehab
Call 757-442-4774, 757-678-6988 or 757-709-1840.
Email yag113@yahoo.com or kccummings531@gmail.com
Injured, sick or orphaned wildlife also can be dropped off at Eastern Shore Animal Hospital in Painter, 757-442-3150, but please call Frazee or Cummings at the above phone numbers so they can coordinate with the hospital.
Volunteers willing to transport animals are sometimes needed — for example, occasionally an eagle or falcon needs to be transported to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro, Virginia.
Volunteers also are needed to help organize fund raising events.
Raising a wild animal in captivity is illegal unless you have a state permit.
For information about when and how to help wildlife suspected to be injured, sick or orphaned, go to http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/injured/
cvvaughn@dmg.gannett.com
757-787-1200, ext. 115
On Twitter @cvvaughnESN