Call of the Wild
Wildlife
biologist
Barbara Rosenman cares for
injured animals at her Smithfield home.
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
SMITHFIELD, Ky. (February 2003) – Most days, Barbara
Rosenman barely has time to catch her breath amidst ringing phones,
giving out free advice about injured wildlife, admitting animals to
her sanctuary, checking on and feeding animals, and overseeing a daily
list of duties for volunteers. To say she is a very busy woman is an
understatement.
“I’ve always liked working with animals,” said the 51-year-old
urban wildlife biologist. “It’s a challenge. The independence
of animals is intriguing.”
Rosenman is the founder and executive director of Kentucky Wildlife-Line
Inc. (KWL), a sanctuary and clinic that straddles the Oldham and Henry
County line between Ballardsville and Smithfield on Hwy. 22. Located
on the 10 acres where Rosenman lives, KWL provides free treatment to
more than 500 wild animals annually.
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Barbara
Rosenman |
KWL was established in 1983 when Rosenman moved to Oldham
County from Jefferson County, Ky. She was appalled by the many stories
she heard at the time of the state confiscating illegal animals and
shooting many in the head. Thinking there must be a better way of handling
the animals, Rosenman created what she called, “a clearing-house
for animals.”
Relying on her own time and personal finances, she began a wildlife
refuge that now has 12 adult volunteers on a regular basis. She relies
on grants, private donations and fees charged for educational programs
taken into the school system and summer camps, to fund the $35,000 a
year operation.
Expenses mount up, as Rosenman tries to keep the basics on hand: hay
for bedding, feed, formula for infant animals, medicine and cages. After
rescue, an animal is fed, housed, medicated and prepared for release
back into the wild.
KWL, a nonprofit charity, is the holding facility for the state Department
of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Rosenman was employed by the state department
for a number of years and still maintains a close working relationship
with them. A Board of Trustees composed of veterinarians, vet techs
and an attorney governs KWL.
Many volunteers come to Rosenman through the Non-Violent First Offenders
Program in Oldham County, of which she is a mentor. She said she strives
to teach these young kids “a useful skill.” She views community
service as a valuable life lesson for kids who have gone astray.
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An injured fox at Rosenman's nursery. |
Rosenman is also a mentor for the BETA Club, whose members
are already thinking about career choices. “I like working with
young people,” she said.
Kris Simonson is a Henry County High School student who plans to study
medicine after graduation. Simonson has been so influenced by Rosenman
that she said she would like to open her own wildlife refuge someday.
She said that in the last four years of volunteering at KWL she has
learned “a lot of responsibility. The animals count on you.”
Simonson said that working with the animals is therapeutic. “It
calms me down. I can be alone with them and think.”
Many volunteers quit because they can’t stand to see a sick animal
suffer. But not Simonson. She said the first animal she cared for died
in her hands. “It brought me to reality. KWL is like an animal
hospital. Not all of the animals make it.”
Many local vets donate services to KWL, said vice president Tammy Parker
Skinner. Skinner, a veterinary technician, came into contact with Rosenman
14 years ago after finding a baby gray fox.
Skinner raised the fox until it was six months old and then searched
for a place that would care for it. She contacted the Louisville Zoo,
and they directed her to Rosenman. The two struck up a friendship and
Skinner eventually became a wildlife rehabilitator in Jefferson County.
“She became a big part of my life,” said Skinner. “Most
people think you raise an animal and then let it go.” Rosenman
taught Skinner not only how to rehabilitate injured, orphaned, or sick
animals but also the importance of releasing them back into their natural
Native American environment.
Upon evaluating a recovering animal, Skinner said that before releasing
it she had to be “satisfied in my own mind” that it would
survive. Rosenman feeds animals the same food they would eat in the
wild so they will not become dependent on food not available to them
once released. Many sportsmen donate meat for her animals, she said.
Skinner cited a growing concern over the vast amount of exotic animals
readily available for sale online. These animals are often abandoned
or abused. She said future goals for KWL’s board of directors includes
finding avenues for what to do with exotics, which may be non-releasable,
since these animals are not native to Kentucky and could not survive
if released into its wild population.
“We’re like an animal emergency room,” Rosenman said.
She has a 75 percent animal release rate, and only permanently houses
animals when there is no chance of their survival in the wild due to
their physical condition.
Rosenman studied wildlife diseases and diagnostics at Tufts University
in Massachusetts and has attended Western Kentucky University and studied
skeletal forensics at the University of Louisville.
“Her knowledge is totally unbelievable,” said volunteer Lisa
Ellswick. Ellswick has traveled from her Trimble County home for the
last three years to work for Rosenman one to two days a week, in addition
to working a full time job.
“Her attitude gets you involved,” said Ellswick, who has performed
such tasks as feeding, changing bandages and cleaning cages.
With as many as up to 70 recovering animals in one day at the refuge
in the summer months, Ellswick said some of the wild animals that have
been there included turkey, raccoons, possums, squirrels, skunks, ferrets,
foxes, coyotes, birds, snakes and bears.
“You can’t get attached,” she said. “You have to
remember that these are wild animals.”
Rosenman is a captain with the Oldham County EMS and, as with the wildlife
refuge, devotes 100 percent of her time to doing her job well.
During her 12 years as an EMS volunteer, she was deeply affected by
the drowning of two children in the district one summer. As a result,
Rosenman created a character named Bear-A-Medic (BAM). BAM is a large
teddy bear dressed in a paramedic uniform whose purpose is to explain
water safety to school children.
Before a hospital was built in La Grange, BAM originally rode with children
“to comfort them for the long ride to Kosair’s,” said
Rosenman. Since the Oldham County EMS is tax based, there is no funding
for BAM. Rosenman must rely on out-of-pocket expenses, donations or
grant money to provide a program that has become a huge success with
children.
Also geared toward children is a new project she has in the works. A
wildlife themed birthday party can be hosted, with cake, punch, prizes,
games and animals provided.
Through her natural teaching ability and compassion for human and animal
life, Rosenman instills the call of the wild into the hearts of all
who come in contact with her.
• For more information or to provide donations, call (502) 222-1853.