the importance of wildlife.

Although most of my early posts on this blog are about my experiences at the wildlife rehabilitation center where I worked, and although I just wrote another long post about the wildlife center for the benefit of new readers who have not likely seen my earlier posts (if you want to read those, click on “animal care” or “wildlife center” in the tag cloud), I have not until today realized that I have not written about one of the most significant things I experienced while at the center.

Some things are quite hard to put into words. Sometimes words fail completely. Pictures help, but pictures are limited too. Experiences and the importance of experiences cannot be entirely conveyed with words and pictures. However, since words and pictures are what I have to work with, I shall do my best.

I think one of the things that was most significant that I experienced at the wildlife center was simply.. contact with the wild.

There is something true, genuine, even spiritual about nature.. the plants and the animals that we see when we walk out our front door, or take a walk in the woods. The animals live a simple and pure existence. They, it seems to me, are wiser than we are. They don’t worry or create religions or wage complex wars or slaughter each other in huge numbers. Animals don’t hate.

We humans have terribly complicated thought-lives. Our brains are so cluttered. Our homes and lives our are cluttered too, and unbalanced. In so many ways we are a truly deranged and dysfunctional form of life. Yes, we are animals, we too are creatures of nature, but the other animals are not like us. They show us what it means to be truly alive. To live simply.. to be.

I feel it is very important to take time to see wild animals. Watch them as they live. Breathe deeply as you observe and appreciate.

At the wildlife rehabilitation center, I had the rare opportunity to see wild animals up close. Some of the animals brought into the center were orphaned. Others were injured. The orphaned animals we took care of until they were old enough to be released. The injured animals we brought back to health, and released.

Some of these animals brought into the center I’d previously seen only at a distance, some I had never seen in the wild at all. At the center. I was very close to them. It was wonderful and amazing. We at the center had the blessing of playing host for a short time to creatures from the Wild. When the animals were better, we returned them to the wild.

This, for me, was a deep, special, spiritual thing to do.

I think if we all were closer to nature and cared more about nature, the world would be better, and so would we.

Here is a photo gallery of some of the animals I had the great privilege of caring for. These animals all were released back into their natural habitat.

Grey Fox

Young Great Horned Owl

Young Opossums

Red Bat

A hungry young crow.

Turkey Vulture and Red Tail Hawk

Two Young Red Tail Hawks.

Two Screech Owls

If you’d like to see more pictures of animals from the wildlife center, please check the post below this one, or visit my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/heartywhistler. My channel is called “Kerkuil’s Channel.” Click on the “videos” link, and scroll down to see the wildlife videos. You will have to click “load more” a few times to find them all. Enjoy, and be inspired.