Wildlife rehabbers to retire

The belief that all lives matter has been the driving force for John and Terry Morse who have dedicated their lives rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife in the Wiregrass area for nearly a decade.

The duo, directors of the Big Bend Wildlife Sanctuary Inc., have announced that they are “officially” retiring from wildlife rehabilitation.

BBWS is a nonprofit organization located on a county road between Daleville and Enterprise dedicated to the care of orphaned, sick and injured wildlife and to educating the public about them.

For the last nine years BBWS has been a safe haven for animals of all kinds and has helped area residents with every wildlife emergency that it could. “We have planned to retire before but with so few permitted rehabbers in Alabama—and then COVID-19—we felt we had to hold on a few years longer to care for all the injured wildlife still in need,” said Terry Morse in announcing the couple’s retirement. “We are currently still caring for a few rehab birds, plus our permanent education birds. They will remain in our care until the rehab ones can be released and our educational birds can be transferred to other permitted facilities.”

Terry Morse outlined the mission of the BBWS at the Jan. 20 meeting of the Republican Women of Coffee County. She stressed that the goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to provide professional care to sick, injured and orphaned wild animals so they ultimately can be returned to their natural habitat, not to be kept as a pet.

“The volunteers are dedicated folks that volunteer their time with BBWS by cleaning cages and enclosures, preparing diets, medical treatments and providing enrichment,” she said about the all-volunteer organization. “They also participate in education programs to teach the public about our wildlife and how to coexist with them. 

Despite having to have a permit from the state and federal government to operate, neither of those institutions offers state or federal funding and BBWS relied solely on donations. “Our funds are used to build pens/enclosures and to provide food and medical assistance to indigenous wildlife in need at the sanctuary.”

Originally founded by Betsy Knight in 1988 in the “Big Bend” of Florida, the wildlife sanctuary focused on transitioning Florida black bears back into the wild. Terry Morse had worked with Knight, who died in February 2012.

After Knight’s death Terry Morse and her husband moved the operation to its current location between Daleville and Enterprise in April 2012 with the same mission of giving all wildlife a second chance at life.

“Wild animals that sustain injury or illnesses preventing them from living successfully in the wild are usually euthanized,” she said. “Wildlife rehabilitation is not an attempt to turn wild animals into pets. Patients are held in captivity only until they are able to live independently in the wild.

“A fear of humans is a necessary survival trait for wild animals and every effort is needed to minimize human contact and to prevent the taming of rehabilitation patients,” Terry Morse stressed.

“All lives matter,” she told those attending the RWCC meeting. “We return them to the wild as soon as we possibly can. If their injuries are such that it would prevent them from surviving in the wild, the animal is evaluated individually by our trained volunteers and our amazing veterinarians.”

The number of wildlife rehabilitations in Alabama has dwindled from over 100 rehabbers in 2015 to 13. There have been no new rehabbers approved in the last three years and since 2017 state game wardens are told they cannot bring injured, ill or orphaned wildlife to any rehabbers—they either have to just release them on the spot and let nature take its course, or dispatch them no matter what the issues are, Terry Morse said.

“In 2014, all Alabama-permitted rehabbers were told by the Alabama Director of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries that rehabbers were not needed or wanted in Alabama and that we were an ‘unnecessary evil,’” she said. “They also asked us to euthanize seven species of our native wildlife if they came through our door, no matter what the circumstances were.”

All wildlife that has become a pet has to be euthanized and if a person is caught with any wildlife in their possession without the proper permits, the animals are euthanized without option.

“Our state believes in nature taking its course or to euthanize all of the injured or orphaned native species found by the public,” Terry Morse said. “We believe in nature’s way as well, except when it is the humans that cause the problems and not Mother Nature.

“We will try to help callers with what to do with the animals they find until they can get them to another permitted rehabber,” Terry Morse said. To contact the Morses call (334) 447-8110 or (334) 447-8111.

To find the closest permitted rehabilitator in the area go to www.outdooralabama.com/wilflife-rehabilitation.

“We need the public to speak out and let the state authorities know that we want our native wildlife to be shown respect and to get a second chance,” Terry Morse stressed. “We hope the public will let the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, our governor's office and our local representatives know that there is a need for wildlife rehabilitators. Don't stop at one place, let them all know you want change, to improve the ways our native wildlife are treated.

“WFF needs to improve the rehab program to encourage proper rehabilitation of wildlife and also to treat rehabilitators with the respect they deserve,” she added. “A program that encourages knowledge and networking amongst rehabbers to do what is best for our wildlife even if the best option is euthanasia in some cases.

“Humane euthanasia is a tool that can end an animal’s suffering when there are no other options—but euthanasia can no longer be the go-to option if there are other options for the animal,” Terry Morse said, adding that BBWS along took in an average of some 1,400 each year.

“Alabama citizens need a safe place to bring these injured, ill and orphaned animals to and to give wildlife the second chance they deserve—a place that can educate the public on whether the animal really needs help or not and can explain how to reunite an animal with its family successfully.”

“Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years,” Terry Morse said. “We could not have helped the thousands of animals we cared for without you. It has truly been a team effort. Wildlife rehabilitators are a part of the solution and not the problem.

“Our wildlife does deserve a second chance, especially since over 90 percent of that wildlife that is brought in to us is orphaned, injured or ill because of human actions,” she said. “They deserve a chance for humans to try to fix what we have done to them.”