By Emily Pridgeon
All my life I have loved animals. Not long after I moved to Austin in 2011, I began volunteering with a local wildlife rescue organization. Eventually, I was able to become a certified wildlife rehabilitator through Texas Parks & Wildlife, which helped me support the wildlife rescue by rehabbing and raising young squirrels and opossums. The large majority of these animals come to us with injuries or as orphans due to human or animal interactions.
It is truly fulfilling to care for a young animal, see them grow and watch their instincts kick in. Seeing a squirrel go from a hairless, eyes-closed baby relying on you for so much, to watching them open their eyes for the first time, learning to eat sunflower seeds and finally to that moment of release back into the wild, it feels as though you’ve played an important role in helping this creature become the wild animal they are meant to be and are giving them a chance to have that wild and free life that they deserve to have. Stepping into a wild animals’ life in their moment of need is a humbling experience and one that I am forever grateful to have been involved in.
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