SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Thanks to the purchase of a property across the street, the Red Creek Wildlife Center has additional space to tend to animals in need.
The staff will also soon have an education center for those who want to help rehabilitate animals.
The center purchased the 3.3-acre property in Wayne Township, across from its 300 Moon Hill Drive location, in June. The animals, cages and clinic have expanded from the original 650-square-foot facility to the new 1,600-square-foot space, providing more leg and wing room for all.
"To come to a culmination of years of how you want it to be, to see that come together is just thrilling," Peggy Hentz, owner and wildlife rehabilitator, said Sunday.
The addition houses the clinic and outdoor nature center and includes a 3/4-acre pond. In the future, visitors will be able to view raptors in cages near the pond in flight, Hentz said, adding that the project might be completed by spring.
"We have the ability to do things that we were not able to do now," she said.
There is a dedicated treatment area for animals, a retail store, kitchen, bathroom and other amenities, she said.
The store sells nature-related items, among them a book about the center, bird items and mugs. Open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., daily, all of the store's proceeds benefit the wildlife center.
Classes will be held at the former site for those who want to help care for the animals. The area that is going to be used for educational purposes was being gutted Sunday for renovations.
"It has been our dream for many years to open up a school," Hentz said.
The center takes in a variety of animals that need help.
"We took in 1,400 animals this year," Hentz said.
About 20 of those animals call the center their home on a permanent basis. About 50 animals currently occupy the center.
Jerry Feaser, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which licenses wildlife rehabilitators, said the work Hentz is doing is worthwhile.
"Peggy is one of those people doing an incredible job and doing it for all the right reasons," he said.
"There not getting paid by us or the state," Feaser said.
Wildlife rehabilitators sometimes have to make difficult decisions, he said, and that includes putting an animal down if necessary.
"Wildlife rehabilitation has a purpose - to rehabilitate the animal back into the wild," Feaser said.
According to the website for the Pennsylvania Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators - www.pawr.com - 24 counties in the state provide wildlife rehabilitative services. The state Raptor and Wildlife Association Inc., Northampton, only provides educational programs.
Of the 24 counties, four help different species of wildlife mammals, passerines (song birds, waterfowl and woodpeckers), raptors, rabies vector species (raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, bats, coyotes and foxes) and endangered/threatened species, according to information on the website.
Rehabilitating the vector species might not always be the best thing. For example, if an animal is rabid, the only way to detect it is to have the animal put down.
Informing the public is important, if an animal is rabid, Feaser said.
"It takes very special training to do this," Feaser said regarding rehabilitators.
Educating those interested in caring for wildlife and possibly becoming a wildlife rehabilitator involves a reality of what is encountered, he said.
For more information about the center, visit its website at www.redcreekwildlifecenter.com or its Facebook page.
A list of state wildlife rehabilitators can be found at pawr.com, the website of the Pennsylvania Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators.
Those who find wildlife who need help may call 570-739-4393.