LIMINGTON — Wildlife rehabilitator Bethany Brown walks down the narrow aisle between rows of animal enclosures, a tray of small bowls balanced in her hands.

It’s time for a midafternoon salad for the chipmunks at the Saco River Wildlife Center, where dozens of sick, injured and orphaned animals are being treated.

“Hi, Fritz. Here you go,” Brown says as she steps onto a stool and opens the door to a chipmunk enclosure. Fritz, who has been at the center since early winter, is a bit of a “scaredy-cat” and usually hides in the leaves and branches, she says.

As Brown and a volunteer pass out the salads – spinach leaves with strawberries, oranges, broccoli and snap peas – other volunteers fold laundry and prep other specialized meals for each of the dozen species at the center. They’ve already cleaned and sanitized enclosures, administered medication, and fielded calls about animals that may need treatment.

For wildlife rehabilitators like Brown, the work never stops. And it’s about to get busier.

Baby season – the busiest time of year – has begun. For the next seven months, they will see an influx of orphaned animals, in addition to the wildlife that come in for treatment after being struck by car, injured by other animals or found suffering from an illness.

There are about 20 wildlife rehabilitators across the state, mostly in southern and central Maine. There are none in northern Maine, according to Nate Webb, director of the wildlife division of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Some treat a small number of patients, while others have larger facilities equipped to handle more animals and more complex cases. All of them play an important role because the state does not have the resources to handle that type of work, Webb said.

“Maine is a fairly rural state, and with that comes a lot of interaction between people and wildlife,” he said. “There are situations where people are encountering wildlife that are injured or are suffering from some illness or disease. In those situations, rehabilitators can be an option to evaluate them, treat them and get them to the point where they can be released into the wild.”

Brown opened the nonprofit center in 2015 in the basement of her ranch-style home on a quiet road in Limington, a small town in northern York County.

The center takes in ill, injured and orphaned wildlife from Androscoggin, Cumberland, York and southern Oxford counties. It typically treats animals up to the size of a coyote.

Last year, they treated more than 900 patients – more than it ever had before – and briefly closed intake because it could not handle any more animals.

A SAFE HAVEN

This March has been a busy one for the Saco River Wildlife Center.

On March 9, a young bobcat was brought in after it was hit by a car in Gorham. Blood tests and X-rays showed her tibia and pelvis were fractured, and that she is severely anemic and has lung contusions. Despite her critical condition, she’s still feisty, Brown said.

Just days before, the center took in a red fox and a beaver that were critically injured when they were hit by cars. They joined dozens of other animals – from bats to chipmunks and porcupines – recovering from illness or injuries at the center. The goal is to get them all healthy enough to safely return to the wild.

In the week after the arrival of the bobcat (now nicknamed Betty and outfitted with a blue leg splint), the center has admitted several skunks, mice, a trio of newborn squirrels and a sick groundhog found inside a car engine compartment.

The center was already treating bats, skunks, opossums, porcupines, chipmunks, squirrels and raccoons.

“We get to the point where we literally cannot take any more animals. We can only have so many cages in here,” said Lauren Kennedy, the center’s director of development.

Every square inch of the cramped, two-room basement is in use. In one room, there’s a prep station for food, sinks, a washer and dryer, and shelves stacked with cloths, bowls and other supplies. Several animal enclosures fit snugly in a corner. The other room is full of cages, each covered with a sheet to reduce stimuli for the animals. Large whiteboards on the walls are used to track meals, medications and daily cleaning tasks.

Outside, enclosures dot the tree line. Those are used as “boot camp” for animals that are nearly ready to be released and need time to acclimate to the temperature, sights, sounds and smells of being back outside where they belong. In the raccoon enclosures, staff hide fresh fruit in leaves and add live fish to pools so the raccoons can practice finding their own food.

Brown, who grew up on a farm, said she dreamed of working with wildlife but didn’t get her start in this field until after she was laid off from an insurance job.

“It felt somewhat unattainable to actually be able to work with wildlife,” she said.

She went back to school to study marine biology and ended up connecting with a rehabilitator during an internship. She knew immediately that she’d found her calling. After Brown got her permit from the state – a process Webb says is rigorous and takes a significant commitment – her mentor and boss encouraged her to open her own nonprofit center.

Brown started by treating 20 to 50 animals each year, but the number had grown to nearly 600 animals by 2020. That same year, the number of volunteers grew dramatically, despite the pandemic.

“The center was a safe haven,” Kennedy said. “It provided volunteers something to do and it was a light during a difficult time.”

The center is funded entirely by donations and relies on its network of about 100 volunteers to operate (Kennedy is the only paid employee). When it became clear the work had outgrown Brown’s basement, the board launched a capital campaign and raised nearly $100,000 to buy a 1700s farmhouse and 16 acres on Christian Hill Road that was formerly a wolf sanctuary.

The center has since raised $25,000 of the $250,000 needed to renovate the property into a facility that can accommodate more animals and has a dedicated space for a volunteer veterinarian to treat patients. Kennedy said the goal is to move into the new center in about a year.

EDUCATING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

The small wildlife center is tucked away in the woods, but its presence on social media reaches across the state and beyond.

The center is often tagged when someone posts in a Facebook group looking for advice about a wild animal they believe needs help. When Kennedy sees those types of posts, she reaches out directly to offer guidance. On both Facebook and Instagram, Kennedy shares updates on patients and behind-the-scenes photos. Everyone seems to love her TikTok videos of the raccoons hanging out in an outdoor enclosure.

Since the arrival of Betty the bobcat, the center has used social media to provide updates on her treatment and prognosis. Kennedy has also highlighted the substantial cost of dealing with the complex case – so far topping $1,000 – and asked for donations. On updates about Betty, commenters ask what will happen if the bobcat can’t be released.

“A big part of our education and utilizing social media to share our story is bringing forth the idea of compassionate euthanasia and how it is a reality,” Kennedy said.

When animals cannot be released, there are two options: euthanasia or finding them a home as an educational ambassador. The center doesn’t have space to keep animals as ambassadors, but sometimes other facilities do. More often, Brown, a veterinarian and the board of directors make the decision to euthanize animals that are stressed and won’t have a good quality of life.

“A very good friend of mine who is a death doula told me there’s far worse things than death,” Brown said. “And I truly believe that because over the years I’ve been doing this I’ve seen a lot of suffering and a lot of of terrified animals.”

Kennedy said she also uses social media to address misconceptions about Maine wildlife, including that porcupines shoot their quills and that mothers reject their babies if they’re handled by a human.

Webb, from Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the department tries to get the message out about avoiding conflicts with animals, particularly during baby season. The most important message, he said, is to “leave wildlife when you find them.” Rehabilitators and wildlife centers can go a step further by assessing situations and advising people on the best course of action.

That’s exactly what happed with Archer, a porcupine who has become the center’s social media star.

Back in February, a homeowner in Naples posted in the Maine Wildlife Facebook group looking for help with a porcupine on her property who appeared to be sick. Someone tagged Kennedy and within an hour she was meeting with the homeowner. Kennedy was able to easily scoop the porcupine into a plastic bin and bring him back to the center, where he was diagnosed with ringworm.

Archer is now on medication and has had two lime sulfur dip treatments. Every update Kennedy posts online about Archer (he and Betty were both named after Taylor Swift songs) garners hundreds of reactions and comments.

During a reporter’s visit last week, Archer rested in his newspaper-lined cage after a lunch of rodent block, broccoli and apple with a sprinkle of protein supplement. When Kennedy opened his cage to offer a slice of sweet potato, Archer slowly turned toward the door and carefully took the treat from her.

He’s headed soon to an outdoor enclosure for boot camp, opening up a spot for another patient. After he’s used to being outside, Archer will be released in a suitable spot within a 5-mile radius of where he was found.

“He is going to be a success story,” Kennedy said.

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