Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Wolling.
Hi Lisa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Friends of Texas Wildlife was founded in 1993 when a group of wildlife rehabilitators joined together to better support each other and to support the local need for wildlife rehabilitation. For many, many years, we functioned as a group of home-based rehabilitators. In 2011, our current property was gifted to us by a private donor. The original house was converted into our intake facility, office, nursery, and vet room. Since then, we have added to the property with ongoing fundraising. We have added a full indoor animal care annex for critical care animals as well as multiple outdoor aviaries and flight cages for songbirds and birds of prey. In 2013, we added our educational center at the back of the property as community outreach and education are a huge part of our mission. In the summer of 2016, we were able to construct our largest flight enclosure that can accommodate bald eagles, vultures, and large hawks and owls. This enclosure is 100′ x 24′ x 16′ high and it’s one of only three or four such rehab enclosures in the state of Texas. We continue to add improvements to our property as we have the funds to do so. Our current goal is to construct a new quarantine intake facility separate from our current intake building. This will help to assure we have no cross-contamination if any animal is suspected of having avian influenza.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A smooth road? What is that hahaha. No, it has been a constant struggle to raise money to keep us open. We receive no funding from anywhere and we are wholly-dependent on donations and fundraising to support our mission. We have had damages several times to our property due to hurricanes, tropical storms, winter storms, and also damage to our perimeter fencing and front gate caused by careless/intoxicated drivers and theft on three separate occasions. As we are also an all-volunteer organization, we sometimes fall short on having enough on-site volunteers or volunteer rehabilitators for certain species.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In Texas, as in most states, wildlife rehabilitators are unpaid volunteers. Most if not all of us have “real” jobs to pay the bills and their rehab work is done in their spare time. We are required to have ongoing training and must have valid permits with Texas Parks & Wildlife and (in the case of almost all migratory birds) U.S. Fish & Wildlife. Although we are funded by neither agency, we are required to follow all the regulations they put in place for us. Many rehabbers try to focus on just a few native species, so by banding together the way we have at Friends of Texas Wildlife we can greatly increase our base of knowledge and expand the different species of animals we can assist.
What matters most to you?
The most important thing is the welfare of the animals. Our goal is always to release a healthy animal back into the wild so it can live the life it was meant to live.
Pricing:
- Donations are always needed and greatly appreciated. Without the support of the community we serve, we cannot exist.
- We are not allowed, by law, to charge anything for our services.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ftwl.org
- Instagram: friendsoftexaswildlife
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavingTexasWildlife
- Twitter: FriendsOfTxWildlife@FriendsofTexas
