WILDLIFE WARRIOR
As the sun rises, so does Pamela Mead, a 61-year-old wildlife rehabilitator, who spends her days caring for injured or abandoned wildlife in a bright red barn right outside her childhood home in Syracuse, N.Y.
When a baby bird falls out of a tree, Mead’s phone rings. When an injured deer needs a place to rest for a few days, Mead has a spot ready. The work schedule of a wildlife rehabilitator is not your typical 9-5, and they never know when the next animal will need their help. Every day Mead begins her day by walking to the barn and starting the daily round of feedings and chores for her current wildlife residents. Mead has been a wildlife rehabilitator for 17 years and finds immense joy in caring for animals, so they heal and grow strong enough to hopefully be introduced back into the wild. “There was one year where I had cared for 649 animals” says Mead. Most of the animals that make their way to Mead’s sanctuary called Critter Crossing Wildlife Rehabilitation center, are baby squirrels, rabbits, opossums, birds, and ducks. Mead does get larger and more exotic animals from time to time, she currently has a baby fawn, and a barn owl at her center that she is working with. A lot of effort is required to keep the animal’s content, like multiple feedings a day for baby birds that need to eat every half an hour, and changing newspaper bedding multiple times a day. Mead has the help of several volunteers that visit her throughout the week to help her with chores. Adam Rufa began volunteering at Critter Crossing a couple years ago because of his seventeen-year-old daughter’s passion for Wildlife Rehabilitation. “Pam is great, even if my daughter can’t come, I still like to show up and help her out” says Rufa.
The story of Pamela Mead is one of genuine compassion for all creatures, as she devotes most of her life to animals, as well as educating children and adults about the environment and the arts. Mead is a part of the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council and goes to conferences to speak to other rehabbers about the work she’s doing, including building proper wildlife enclosures. “Even though I live alone, I wouldn’t say I’m lonely because I have my friends, animals, and volunteers” says Mead.