Leann Schuler is a wildlife rehabilitator in Terrell, TX. She works with Crosstimbers Wildlife Ranch, but primarily rehabilitates dozens of orphaned animals on her own property from her own resources. I have always been inspired by her compassion and dedication for as long as I have known her.
Transcript:
What got you into wildlife rehabilitation?
“I was raised on a farm at home and my parents were both animal lovers, and what really got me started is we found on the side of the road 2 little raccoons, and we thought they were kittens. Just sitting on the side of the road, a little country road. So, we stopped and we were going to pick up these two little kittens, and long behold, they were two little raccoon babies! And, apparently, their mother had been killed, because when we picked them up they were crying and screaming and she never appeared on the scene.
So, we took them home and raised them. You know, we knew nothing. I was probably ten years old, and it was the most fascinating, heartwarming, wonderful experience of my life. We lived on a farm with 80 acres, so when they were old enough we just released them and they just ran all over the place with us, they were our little buddies. So, I always wanted to, in my adult life, do some sort of animal rehabilitation, because it was so enriching.”
What is your favorite story about an animal you have taken care of?
“I have done raccoon rehabilitation for many years, and I have one experience that comes to me. I had two young females that I raised one year, I named them Summer and Winter, and they graduated and went off into the wild, and the next year, I saw them from time to time, here and there, and I saw that Summer had babies. And she had two little kittens that would follow her around I just saw them here and there.
Well, that year, I did 30 racooons, 30 young babies, and I had them in this big huge cage, and when they got old enough, 2-3 months old, I opened the top of the cage so they could get out and climb in the tree all day and then I would call them down into the cage every night and lock them up so they were safe. And, I was working in Dallas at the time, so I would come home in the evening time and say “Come on, my babies, come on, my babies! Come down, come down!” and make them a big tray of food, and they would all come down, and I would sit there with them and we would all play and talk and eat.
Well, one day, I went out there tired, I came home, I rushed out there, I made them their big tray, and called “Come on babies, come on” and everybody came in. “One, two, three, four…. count up, everybody!… five, six, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two……… Wait a minute….. let me do it again, okay, one, two, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twentynine….thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two.” And I was like, I don’t have thirty two! I have thirty! What is going on!? It was nearly, nearly dark. And I thought, what is going on?
I looked past the tiger pen, and I saw Summer. She was dreadfully skinny, and she was just kind of wobbling. Then she looks up at me and it was like her eyes just were sending rays to me. I don’t know how to explain it, other than that. And, I could tell she said “I’m dying.” So, what she had done is she had sent her babies to me. The two extra ones were her babies. And they weren’t afraid of me. I had never touched them. I never got near them, because I didn’t want to. I wanted her to live her life, and I know she brought them to me so I could raise them for her.
And I never saw her again. So I know she died somewhere. So, those were my two extra babies, and they stayed with my kittens and grew a few more months, and then everyone was released into the wild. And she specifically did that, there was no doubting it.”
What is the reward in it for you?
“The reward is that they come to me as orphans and injuries, which means that they have zero chance of making it and having a life. And with all the effort that I put into them and give them, number one I can give them a happy childhood and hopefully can give them a happy life in the wild. But even more than that is the reward I get because of what they give to me. And its not something you can put… its not a tangible thing. They deposit love and something in your spirit that is kind oof hard to define, but it changes you, and it always stays with you in your heart.
I have a lot of animals, that is true, but I never give more than they give me. So it is so worth everything that I give them.”
What is one thing you would like people to know about wildlife or rehabilitating wildlife?
“I would like them to know that each little animal has a little personality, just like a child, has a little way that they feel happy and loved. I, as a comparison to deer hunters, I don’t think they realize they’re destroying a happy little life. These little deer play with each other, they know their mothers and sisters, they know each other, and to come in and just destroy their life….. I wish people knew what they were taking away, what they were robbing the world of and what they were robbing those little animals of.”
Impacting Wildlife 