Wildlife rehabber
1/1/2025
Melinda Austin (left) with a volunteer. Photo submitted
An abandoned nest of baby bunnies. An injured squirrel on the side of a road.
These are the subjects of some of the calls Melinda Austin fields from members of the public who are seeking advice on how to take care of these animals.
Austin is a wildlife rehabilitator for small animals. She is licensed by the DNR to assist with small mammals, such as squirrels, rabbits, fox, opossum and more that have been injured. She says the animals are protected by law.
“My goal is to hand-rear abandoned, juvenile animals and release them into the wild,” she explains.
Austin is a veterinarian who volunteered at the Iowa State University wildlife care clinic. In 2020 when the derecho hit Iowa, 70 squirrel nests blew out of the trees. The clinic had no room, so she took the babies to her home. Shortly after that, she established a nonprofit, Ahmisa Wildlife Medicine and Rehabilitation. Ahmisa is a Hindu word meaning “nonviolence.”
Veterinarian interns and other volunteers help with the care of the abandoned baby animals. Austin’s name is on the DNR call list, and a person who comes across an abandoned nest of baby bunnies might call her.
Her first steps are to evaluate the situation, the severity of the injury or send pictures.
Baby raccoons. Photo submitted
“For bunnies, I often tell them to wait 24 hours. If mom is still around, she’ll feed the babies at 3 a.m. It’s normal for them to be unattended.”
If the situation warrants a visit, once in her care, she will evaluate viability and whether the animal will survive. She will bottle-feed animals, feed raw meat to owls and teach coyotes how to hunt. Her goal is for them to survive in the wild.
Her interactions with the animals are limited. For example, she feeds animals at night and ensures they are in their natural habitat.
“We don’t want them habituated to humans,” she explains.
When handling animals, she has never had an injury. She wears thick welding gloves and says most animals are afraid of humans.
“They are scared and will flee before they fight. Coyotes and fox will do anything to get away from you,” Austin says. “The worst injury I’ve ever had from an animal is from a domestic house cat.”
If the animal can’t survive, she wants it euthanized humanely.
“I don’t want them to die in a ditch somewhere. I’d rather assist in death than have them suffer a painful death,” she reflects.
Baby skunk. Photo submitted
Before she releases an animal, she makes sure it can obtain a food source or move freely. Once it’s time to release, she takes it to a local county nature center.
“When we released a litter of fox, we had over 150 people show up. It was really cool. Most people don’t see them close up.”
As she volunteers her time, it’s easy to suffer from “compassion fatigue.” Yet, once an animal is released, she feels a sense of accomplishment.
“The reason we do this is for the release, so the animal can run off into the sunset. It’s so freeing,” she says. “Doing this for the animals, it makes for an interesting life.”
Want to volunteer or wonder what you should do if you find an injured or abandoned animal? Check out the tips at https://ahimsa201029581.wordpress.com.
