HAWLEY − Nurse Jennifer Kleinpeter’s patients have gone from two feet to four.
They also often have tails.
Kleinpeter is founder and director of the Big Country Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which is licensed by the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife to rescue and rehabilitate native wildlife in the area.
“Our mission is to provide excellent care for all wildlife so they can return to the wild where they belong,” Kleinpeter said. “It is our wildlife that maintains a healthy ecosystem for all living things.”
Those living things include people, he said, so educating the public is a core activity. also.
“Fifty percent of my work is rehabilitating animals. The other 50 percent is education: community outreach and community education,” Kleinpeter said.
The center located in his country home also offers camps for children and is present at Taylor County Expo Center events to educate the public on the value of a balanced ecological system and what to do when encountering native wildlife. Information is also available on the center’s website. bigcountrywildliferescue.org and Facebook page.
“In fact, we can safely live with these animals in our backyards,” he said.
The need to care for wildlife
More than 300 orphaned and injured raccoons, opossums, foxes and other small mammals have recovered at the center since baby season began in the spring.
“Last year it was 150,” Kleinpeter said, the increase due to growing awareness of the center and the heat wave.
She has also rescued a bobcat, an armadillo, rabbits and other critters since becoming an underprivileged rehabilitator two years ago through another provider in Weatherford. She received her permit in April 2021 and the center she operates on her property obtained nonprofit status in September.
The bugs come from individuals, park rangers, and law enforcement and animal control officers in the area.
It was a friend’s batch of baby skunks that put her on the wildlife trail.
nowhere to go
In high school, Kleinpeter aspired to be a veterinarian. She grew up on a small family farm in Alabama with various animals and her mother rehabilitated squirrels.
“But then when I went and followed a veterinary clinic, I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ With dogs and cats biting and scratching and stuff, I was like, ‘No,'” Kleinpeter said.
She kept her love for animals, but became a nurse 11 years ago, specializing in cardiac care. In 2019, Kleinpeter moved to Abilene to help start structural minimally invasive cardiac programs at Hendrick Health, she said.
A friend whose dog killed a mother skunk called her about four orphaned babies. Researching resources to care for skunks, she learned that the Abilene Zoo focuses on birds and raptors, and the closest small mammal rehabilitators are in Weatherford and Lubbock. She transported the babies to a facility in Amarillo that had an opening.
She decided to become a TPW Licensed Rehabilitator to fill the void in Abilene.
The center has grown rapidly, with six underprivileged rehabilitators now working with her, plus additional volunteers. Kleinpeter is shifting to a part-time, non-patient care role at the hospital as she continues to recover from two surgeries after she broke her neck in a fall from a horse.
The fledgling nonprofit organization gained additional traction by participating in this year’s Abilene Gives fundraising marathon coordinated by the Community Foundation of Abilene. Donors contributed $9,925, far exceeding the goal of $2,500. Kleinpeter said the foundation’s nonprofit training classes were also beneficial in running the wildlife center.
She also works with veterinarian Celeste Hill, who is on the rescue center’s board, and attends in-person and online training programs through the International Council for Wildlife Rehabilitation. Her nursing experience has also helped her carry animals and operate in an organized manner, she said.
How Wildlife Rehabilitation Works
Orphaned or injured animals are evaluated, vaccinated and treated in a converted garage at the Kleinpeter home.
The carefully arranged room contains metal cages, medical equipment and other animal care necessities. Outside are additional enclosures for stabilized wildlife that are being prepared to return to the wild.
At the garage facility, “we interact with them, and that’s fine. They’ll have plenty of time once they’re outside to have fun,” he said.
Animals may be anemic, underweight, and have internal and external parasites, such as fleas, which are treated. Severely injured animals whose pain cannot be controlled and animals showing signs of rabies or distemper are euthanized.
Once the animals transition to outdoor enclosures, “we don’t talk to them. We don’t interact with them. We just provide them with food and water,” Kleinpeter said.
The animals must meet four criteria before they can be released: they fear humans, they can reproduce, they can catch prey, and they can defend themselves.
“A tame raccoon is a dead raccoon. If they walk into someone’s house, they’ll think it’s rabies and shoot it dead,” Kleinpeter said.
Wildlife rehabilitators are also selective about where wildlife is released with the approval of owners. The animals are released on non-game land with an adequate number of acres, natural trees and other vegetation, and water from a stream or tank, Kleinpeter said.
“We have so many people who really appreciate these species and don’t mind being released on their property,” he said.
‘Skunks are my favourites’
Animals that are not fit for release are sent to other rescue centers for permanent housing or may be trained for educational programs, Kleinpeter said. She takes Ruby, her skunk descendant, to educational presentations.
“Skunks are my favorite. I love skunks. I’m very passionate about skunks,” he said. “I don’t know why, but when you get into this field, you’re going to have a species that you have that connection with, and skunks are mine.”
Ruby was about 3 weeks old when she was found alone in a field, she said.
“The weird thing about her is that she never wanted to be with the other skunks,” Kleinpeter said.
The skunk also refused to share his cage with skunks.
“It’s like he doesn’t want to be a skunk,” Kleinpeter said.
Ruby never progressed in the skills to live in the wild, so she was descended and conditioned to be comfortable around humans and other animals. The skunk is litter box trained and roams the house with Kleinpeter’s two dogs and cat.
“She’s been a great asset, for sure,” Kleinpeter said.
Ruby replaced Gage, a skunk hit by a vehicle in Abilene.
“It looked like a road kill that was coming unstuck because the car hit it in the head and it hit the pavement,” Kleinpeter said.
She restored Gage to health, but he suffered a traumatic brain injury and had to be hand-fed. He was a teaching animal for 13 months until March, when seizures and other complications began and he refused to eat. She had to sacrifice him.
What to do when you find an injured animal
Kleinpeter is often called by people who find baby opossums, raccoons, and other baby animals. His first advice is to reunite the babies and the mother by making a nest.
“Mommies will go down and retrieve their baby,” he said.
If reunification does not occur, the next step is to wrap the baby in a blanket, bring him inside, and contact rescue.
“We definitely don’t want anyone to feed these animals because they require specific nutrition and sometimes feeding them will kill them,” Kleinpeter said.
He also said that seeing a skunk or raccoon during the day doesn’t automatically mean you’re sick.
“You’ll see them during the day during the spring and summer months because they’re raising their young, so they have to feed themselves to make that milk. Or they’ll also go out and find food for their babies. Foxes eat well,” Kleinpeter said.
And, if you get sprayed by a skunk, which has happened more times than you can count, she recommends making a paste of Dawn soap, baking soda, and a little water to get rid of the unpleasant odor.
“You make it like a paste, a nasty paste, but it works, because tomato juice is just a myth,” Kleinpeter said. “…You’ll only smell tomato juice and skunk. It’s so gross.”
Laura Gutschke is a general assignment reporter and food columnist who manages online content for Reporter-News. If she appreciates locally driven news, she can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
Children’s camp “Keep Wildlife Wild”
What: Presented by Big Country Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for children ages 3-13
When: 10 a.m.-1 p.m., October 1
Where: Clearfork Baptist Church in Hawley
Cost: $30 (lunch provided)
Activities include building a nest and bird feeder, identifying animal tracks and droppings, encountering a skunk and possum, and a ranger introduction.
Pre-registration is required by emailing [email protected] to register.