On January 2, 2003, Wildecare received its first injured animal of the year and made the year’s first release. Last year, Wildcare accepted over 3,100 animals; last year, as I type, we have one admitted. A raccoon wandered up to a house looking for food. The homeowner called Wildcare thinking that we might have had an escape or someone lost a pet but that was not the case. After examining this young raccoon, his left hind foot appeared to have a bite to it and was swollen. He is now receiving antibiotics and is recovering in a pen near other raccoons.

The first release of the new year was a robin. This bird went from having no head feathers as a fledgling to a fully feathered sleek juvenile that was flying with ease throughout the nursery. After several failed attempts to net the robin, we finally decided to leave the door open and let the robin decide for himself when it was time to go. Ten minutes passed and there it went flying, on its own into the great wide open for the first time to enjoy life the way it was meant to be.