• Here’s how you can help animals in need here in the county.
• Florida Wild Mammal Association is selling trees to raise money for their animals
• Watch how donations and sales from the event to help them with costs of supplies, food and shelters for the animals.

Broadcast Transcript

Jessica Beatty is the Executive director of Florida Wild Mammal Association

In 1995 her mom started a wildlife rehab facility here in Wakulla County and now Beatty runs it.

They are the only licensed wildlife rehabilitation center within the surrounding coastal counties.

They rely solely on donations and grants for funding. Fundraisers are vital for them.

“It is a constant worry because we are waiting for generosity and hard work and money to kind of keep things flowing in.”

Florida Wild Mammal Association is having their Christmas for the Critters event where they have 100 native red cedar trees for sale.

They put on this event to raise money to go towards saving wildlife in Wakulla County and surrounding areas.

“We have a hundred live red cedar trees all of them are native they’re southeastern red cedars they can all be planted after Christmas so you can kind of reforest your yard and all of the cedars are good for insect control.”

The organization told me the have received a little over 1250 wildlife so far this year and hit over 1500 last year.

Why should people care? Beatty tells me they’re seeing more animals without habitats or injured taken into the facility.

“Unfortunately with a lot of the development that’s been going in we’re getting rid of a lot of the homes for our animals we’re providing homes for ourselves which is good but it’s displacing hundreds and hundreds of animals every time we do it.”

Kavya Parsa is the Wildlife Rehabilitator at Florida Wild Mammal Association says she’s noticed an increase in animals coming into the facility.

She works here full time and takes care of the wildlife that gets brought in.

With more wildlife coming in, Parsa says they’re relying on donations and sales from the event to help them with costs of supplies, food and shelters for the animals.

“The only fundraiser that we’ve been able to coordinate is gonna be this Christmas tree fundraiser.”

Christmas for the Critters is this Saturday at Hudson park. Tress are $25 and all the money goes towards helping wildlife here in Crawfordville and surrounding areas