Forever Wild
Great Horned Owl by Gary Payne
T
wenty years ago I found my- self standing in the middle of a crowded city street in California
with my hands cupped around a tiny fledgling scrub jay I’d rescued from a sidewalk. How it came to be there was a mystery: there was not a tree in sight, and no place along the roofline for a nest. The little ball of down with dark beady eyes had been crouched against the wall beside a discarded white Styrofoam container, and every person who came hurrying past came within inches of crushing the bird beneath his or her shoe. I caught the fledgling in a gentle cage of fingers on my second try, walked to the curb and suddenly realized I had no idea what to do next.
I had no time to spare from work for rescuing birds. And yet, between my palms I could feel the bird’s bony little body poking through its grayish downy feathers, and the prick of its desperate, tiny claws on my skin. I peeked between my fingers, and a sin- gle wild black pearl of an eye stared back. There was no choice. Some- thing had to be done. After scrounging a paper bag into which I could place the bird while looking through a direc- tory in a phone booth (they still had
phone booths back then), I found the number of a wildlife rescue group.
Wildlife Around Us There are wildlife rescue organizations
in just about every major city in the United States. Tucson is lucky to have several individuals and organizations that specialize in rescuing and reha- bilitating (i.e., healing) wild animals. Darlene Braastad of Forever Wild is one of them. Darlene specializes in mammals and birds of prey (hawks, falcons, etc.). On average this organi- zation takes in about 15-30 animals per day and over 2400 animals per year. It’s one of the most active rescue organizations in Tucson. Here in town, we have more
wildlife challenges than cities in other parts of the country. One reason is that, being situated in the middle of a desert, we’re surrounded by a large population of indigenous wild ani- mals. As Tucson continues to expand outward into the desert, residents of new suburbs frequently come into contact with distressed animals be- cause, with their habitats destroyed, these creatures have nowhere to go. Add the fact that Tucson is criss- crossed with arroyos that function as
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“wildlife highways” connecting the mountains to the valley floor and it’s no surprise that even people who live deep within the city can wake up one morning to find a lost baby javelina sleeping under their car. Dealing with so many animals that are potentially subject to injury, orphaning and illness requires a particular kind of person. Darlene is calm, compassionate, assertive, and busy … very busy. When we met she was sitting in a chair feeding baby bunnies by hand, answering rescue calls on her cell phone, giving direc- tions to her one full-time volunteer, Hillary, and simultaneously answer- ing my questions about her passion, wildlife rescue in Tucson.
How it Started “Throughout my life I’ve always had
animals,” laughed Darlene, placing a sleeping bunny into a small cage and picking up another. “Rabbits, tortoises, hamsters … lots of inside pets. I was born with a heart condition that made me an invalid at a very young age. I had to stay inside and couldn’t go to school, so I spent a lot of time reading and interacting with my pets. At age 21 I underwent heart surgery that cor-
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