Wildlife hospital hosts animal baby shower

Like all good baby showers, the annual shower the Town of Palm Shores hosts for Florida Wildlife Hospital helps the parents amass needed supplies to keep babies happy. This is a very special baby shower, however, and its wish list, though it includes the usual receiving blankets, also lists bird seed, Purina Puppy Chow and hoses to keep the babies' cages clean.

The May 3 baby shower for Florida Wildlife Hospital comes at a critical time in this nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation facility's history. The spring influx of orphaned or injured infants has arrived and the staff and volunteers of the nonprofit wildlife have their hands full with babies of the furry, feathered and scaled varieties, but the stock of supplies needed is low and money is scarce.

The tiny beings are definitely on the labor intensive side. Baby birds, for example, require feeding every 15 minutes 12 hours out of every day. Baby squirrels and bunnies need feeding every couple of hours.

Feeding and caring for the animal babies takes more than time. It takes money.

In the past decade, the primarily volunteer-run organization started 41 years ago by the late Carlton and Gladys Teate has beaten its own admissions record every year, while at the same time coping with diminishing financial support. The hospital, which receives no government funding, primarily depends on individual contributions that have steadily declined with the languishing economy and the termination of the shuttle program.

"We lost a lot of our supporters who had to take jobs out of the area or who had to take jobs at less pay," said director Sue Small.

Coping with dwindling donations is made harder when the number of patients continue to increase. The hospital admitted 4,887 patients last year, a number that encompasses 127 species of birds, 23 types of mammals and 21 varieties of reptiles.

"That's our fourth year in a row of over 4,000 patient admitted," said Small.

There is no relief in sight, either, and Small expects the numbers to continue increasing, for as Central Florida grows in population, so do the chances for injury to wildlife.

"This is such a densely developed area," said Small.

"Most of the problems for wildlife come from people, cars and dogs."

A case in point is one of the baby otters currently on the patient list. Eternally inquisitive, otters can't help but explore anything new and the little creature was too interested in the novelty of a school's soccer net to realize he had become entangled.

"His mom moved on without him and we ended up with him," said Small.

He and another four baby otters will be at the hospital until August, when they will be old enough to release back into their natural habitat. In the meantime, the healthy babies require plenty of TLC and fish.

The patient demographics is interesting, to say the least. Along with the otters, the hospital is currently caring for two fawns, plus a spate of squirrels, rabbits, screech owls, opossums, gopher tortoises and four eagles, plus the myriad other birds currently under the hospital's wings.

A large majority of patients are juveniles, which typically require longer stays and more expenditure.

"They get into trouble more often," said Small.

Care for such a wide span of creatures great and small is specific and costly. Adding to Florida Wildlife Hospital's woes is the diminishing number of private wildlife rehabilitators in Central Florida that once used to help shoulder the load.

"Some of these individuals are aging out or passing away and no one is stepping in to help," added Small.

"A lot of these people funded the care of the animals out of their own pockets."

The hospital additionally needs to revamp many of the old cages and more new outdoor cages are needed to cope with the increased influx of patients.

"We need the outdoor cages to help the babies build their stamina to prepare them for release," said Small.

The organization's 1,400 current members have been encouraged to persuade friends and family to join, and Palm Shores' Baby Shower, the hospital's major fundraiser, should help provide some supplies and financial contributions for the hospital, but the fact remains that wildlife organizations such as Florida Wildlife Hospital often take a back seat to other charities.

"There is not much money for wildlife," said Small.

The details

What:

Florida Wildlife Hospital's 8th annual Baby Shower

When:

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 3

Where:

Palm Shores Town Hall, 530 Paul Hurtt Lane, ½ mile south of the Pineda Causeway on the west side of U.S. 1

Admission:

Free

Highlights:

Meet the hospital's "ambassador" owls, enjoy children's games, feast on hot dogs and purchase freshly baked goods from the bake sale. The hospital welcomes cash or item donations, new members and volunteers. Donations can be dropped off at the hospital at 4560 N. U.S. 1 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. seven days a week.

Contact:

For more details, call 321-254-8843 or visit floridawildlifehospital.org, where you can also see pictures of current patients.