Reward Caring with Education, Not Condemnation
Wendy Fox, Pelican Harbor Seabird Station
The Ohio Rehabilitator, Issue 3, 2008
Recently the popular morning talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, seen by four to six million people nationwide each day, showed Kelly caring for a baby robin she had found. She had the bird in a shoebox and was feeding it bread and milk. The immediate concern of the rehabilitation community was obvious; millions of people had now seen a celebrity ‘instructing’ the public on how to raise a baby bird. On behalf of NWRA I spoke with Live and was given the following information: the bird was transferred to a rehabilitator, they spoke with USFWS and NY state for information on regulations, and they were inundated with phone calls and faxes from rehabilitators and concerned members of the public. The following day they corrected the information.
Yes, millions saw the misinformation but they also saw the correction. They saw a well-liked and well-respected celebrity make a mistake and correct it. The lesson reached living rooms across America and yet for some wildlife rehabilitators this was not enough. A small group seems to embrace condemnation rather than education. I believe this is counterproductive to our public education efforts.
As a child growing up in the English countryside I spent many hours in the woods next to our home. The oak and chestnut trees formed a grotto over a sun dappled pond and I would lie on my stomach and watch the comings and goings of the inhabitants of my special place. I learned many lessons. Hedgehogs walk delicately on the thick green pond scum to get to the fresh water. I would hold my breath until they were back on shore, knowing that one false move and I would have to jump in and save them. It really worried me that the ‘spikes’ would stick in my hand and I’d have to go to school with a hedgehog permanently attached. I learned that badgers can move very quickly and that you should never get too close to a fox moving her kits-lots of teeth. I learned respect. As long as I was still and quiet in my allotted space, the animals would allow me to stay and watch while they went about their business normally.
All was well in my little world until a tiny naked baby bird fell from a nest. What to feed it? Well, I knew baby foxes drank milk, I’d seen them, my baby brother seemed to be doing well, so milk seemed to be the obvious choice. It never occurred to a seven-year-old that birds were missing the body parts necessary for this miracle food. I buried my first patient in the little grass bed I had made and kept in the hollow of a tree. I was sad, but I knew things died: I had already learned that lesson. I had found many carcasses, each studied diligently, and I had seen hawks take birds, mice, and voles. It had never occurred to me that I might have done something wrong.
I know that my personal experience and the experiences I have had with my children have shaped the way I deal with children who come to Pelican Harbor with birds they have found. I see this as an educational opportunity, I want to win them over for wildlife and get them firmly on our team. Yes, I explain the usual do’s and don’ts but I praise them for caring. Would I be different today if someone had condemned me? “You killed this bird because you fed it milk.” Would I have ever tried to help wildlife again? Or as a young and impressionable child would I have carried the lesson that I had killed something through my actions and be too guilty and remorseful to try again? A child will remember this type of lesson for life and will share what they are taught with friends.
We have all dealt with parents who have allowed their children to try to raise a wild animal thinking that it would be a good learning experience. When things start to go downhill they bring it in. Should we condemn them for trying to teach their child compassion and caring for our wild neighbors? Or should we praise their good intentions and turn the experience into a family education session?
If we think calmly, we can see that in each of these situations the damage has already been done. Nothing can change what has already happened. So we can rant and rave and antagonize those who have made the mistake, or we can take a positive attitude and turn these incidents into important and long lasting education moments. With appropriate knowledge, those same people who made the mistakes have the power to prevent future mistakes.
- Wendy Fox is the director of Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, serves on the Florida Wildlife Rehabilitators Association board, and is currently the President elect of NWRA. This article originated in the Spring/Summer 2006 of NWRA’s newsletter.