It is 11 p.m. and I am standing with Monika Melichar in the nursery where the orphaned squirrels, chipmunks, and mice get their fifth and final feeding of the day at the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS).
The cheeky red squirrel babies run on the inside of the large birdcage as if it were a racetrack.
The black squirrels wake up and crowd around the syringe of special animal formula that is brought in from the United States.
Monika gently pokes their bellies through the cage, seeing who is not quite full, and we talk about the amazing recovery of Tammy the fox and her Internet stardom.
A few weeks ago I had written about finding a fox by the side of the road and how she ended up at the WWS. Now I am here too, with a car and trailer full of donations collected by Creemore Echo reader Julie Roy and myself. And, of course, I am quietly hoping to see Tammy.
“Tammy had an incredible will to live,” says Monika. “But you know, an animal will do everything possible to get back to normal. It keeps going. And it does not feel sorry for itself. Everything lined up with this rescue, which is critical with head trauma. The people who volunteered were instrumental in getting Tammy to where she is today. She is totally healed. Good as new.”
Tammy as she is now, compared to how I found her, is really amazing. But even more amazing is how Monika’s video of Tammy, posted on Facebook, has gone viral. It has close to six million views and is spreading to other sites. Our little fox is blowing up big on the Internet.
And something about that video has touched people’s hearts.
I listened to a saved message on the sanctuary’s phone from New Orleans. The caller had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and even though he had little money, he was moved to reach out and help.
“I have received donations from France, Spain, Russia and the Ukraine,” says Monika.
Which is what they need to keep the WWS running. Established near Minden on a 45-acre property by Monika and her husband Whitebear, the Sanctuary is 100 per cent supported by donations and volunteers, although Monika envisions a time when there are proper structures in place to fund the rehabilitation and release of wildlife.
The majority of the animals they help are there because of direct or indirect contact with humans. For example, twin fawns were found refusing to leave the dead body of their mother who had been killed by a vehicle; squirrels are found after being orphaned by a family pet.
“Don’t we have some responsibility to help?” asks Monika.
Which is another reason the video is touching: it restores our faith in the goodness of people. When I read the comments, thousands of them simply say, “Thank You” and I imagine the individually small actions of the 12 or so people involved in Tammy’s rehab adding an even bigger act to some kind of ‘collective good’ that people share in, and draw from.
Of course, there is also the romantic subplot. There is a male fox, Todd, also at the Sanctuary right now. I joked about them “meeting in rehab”, and it might be closer to the truth than I thought. Tammy was born last year as she is full-grown, but has not had a litter yet. Todd was born this spring. Both will be looking for a lifelong mate, as foxes are monogamous. Tammy may have just found herself a younger man…
For now, Tammy and Todd share a large enclosure. But they will be released together in the fall. Monika wants to make sure there is no long-lasting neurological damage from Tammy’s accident. And foxes naturally stay with their young until the fall, so Todd, though he has healed from his head injury, is being kept to give him the extra support that he would have received in the wild.
In the end I did get to see Tammy. The extra people made her run nervously around the enclosure, but that is a good sign. She is still wild. Who would have thought that this foxy lady nearly died twice; once from a car and again because I was sure I was going to have to end her misery. Now she is ready for a long life and unknown to her, is causing joy and gratitude in hundreds of thousands of people all around the world.
View Tammy’s video at www.facebook.com/WWSanctuary.
Want to help Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary? Visit www.woodlandswildlifesanctuary.com or their Go Fund Me campaign at www.gofundme.com/Tammy-ToddMiracle.