Compassion
Compassion is an important part of the work we do in Wildlife Rehabilitation. Over the years, I have learned that animals are capable of a wide spectrum of emotions, and before you can show compassion you need to understand their emotional state. Caring for the emotional needs of wildlife is just as important as treating their physical needs. When people find an injured or baby mammal or bird they need to remember how scared that animal is. Putting them in a secure container with air holes and a heating pad on low, covered with a towel and a soft fleece for them to curl up in or hide under will provide the emotional support they desperately need. Talking in a quiet and calm voice and keeping them in a quiet place with no loud external noises will also help to keep them calm.
Over the past month I lost two of my favorite fawns. In rehabilitation we often receive the smaller and weaker fawns that fail to thrive and survive. Both of these fawns (Dolly and Lady Gaga) simply stopped growing and gaining weight by mid-summer. Last week as I looked out my kitchen window I saw Lady Gaga standing alone in the field beside my house. As I continued to watch her, she quietly stood facing into the sun and slowly moved her head to look around her. Occasionally she would nibble a bite of grass and then she would gaze off into the distance at something only she could see. The longer I watched her, the more I felt that she was trying to memorize all the details of this field and her home. I strongly felt the sense that she was trying to capture every moment of this day. Gaga spent the rest of the day alone in the field but as dusk approached she quietly returned to her herd. When I went out later to give her dinner Lady Gaga could not stand. Lovingly, I carried her into the Nook house and laid her on a soft bed of blankets and by the next morning she had quietly passed away. Looking back on that day I believe that Gaga knew this was her last day and she chose to spend it in quiet solitude in the place where she had been raised with love and healing energy.
It is experiences like this that strengthen my compassion for all living things. If we are willing to open our minds and hearts to the emotions that animals experience we can work to make their lives better. When we understand and support the emotions that animals feel we can strengthen our compassion for all living beings. I believe that we are all born with a seed of compassion planted within us. As we grow older our experiences with people, wildlife and nature will encourage this seed to grow and flourish. As I move forward into the days that lay ahead, it is my hope that I can nurture the seeds of compassion in others through my example. In the words of Albert Einstein "Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and all of it's' beauty. "