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comments: More at the end. Globe and Mail - Jul 11, 1978, Tuesday - pg.# P.12 - By Donald Grant. No time to count 'babies' in this full bird sanctuary Hold it a second. I've got birds in the warming oven, Bernice Inman said. Little chirping sounds were coming from her kitchen stove. And under tiny woollen blankets were tiny nude sparrows, nestled down in soft grass inside a china bowl. I do it for the little ones that haven't got their feathers yet. Their body temperature isn't regulated yet. So they have to be heated. As the little sparrows took a drop of food from an eye-dropper, Mrs. Inman explained that the oven light and the little blankets keep them warm, but if it turns cold, I turn on the oven, count to 20 and turn it off. That seems to keep them warm. These babies, from Woodbine race track, were in a nest taken down by children. One died before they were taken to Mrs. Inman, who's been operating Roy Ivor's bird sanctuary on Sawmill Creek at Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road for nearly two decades. Yesterday she had more than 50 baby birds - sparrows, blue jays, robins and others - and a couple of dozen exotic birds unwanted by previous owners. Mrs. Inman couldn't give an exact count. She is nursing turkey vultures, hawks, a golden eagle, owls and other wild, injured birds. I never count, she said. I don't have time to count. Every evening, she said, people are lined up six deep with injured or baby birds. Normally I'd have about 200 babies, but this year I've taken on some animals. As she sat on her front steps, she was attempting to feed 11 baby raccoons from two baby bottles. We have these 'children' as well as 11 baby skunks. And I can't take any more. After their lunch, Mrs. Inman took her 'family' for a walk. They'll get bottles of milk, Pablum, dextrose, cod liver oil, vitamins and minerals until Freddie the Pope, an older raccoon, teaches them the ways of the wild. That'll be about this fall. We call him Freddie the Pope because he's always good to the others, she explained. Already Mrs. Inman is choosing names for her raccoons, names from Robin Hood, and there's even a Maid Marian. She explained that the skunks were so small when she got them, they could walk through a wire cage. And then they'd group together in fear, a small ball of fur with many legs, all moving. Mrs. Inman said she'd couldn't look after all the babies brought to her this year and she's developed a foster parents program. Mrs. Inman, whose days begin at 5 a. m. and end at midnight, said there are now more than 50 people looking after young birds after she's taught them how to feed them, prepare the formulas and check for injuries. She pointed out that all the birds and animals will be returned to the wild. We don't make pets of them. We care for them, give them affection, and watch over them. But, for example, we are accepted as raccoons by the raccoons, not as people. As she started off for a walk through the only virgin forest left in Mississauga, Mrs. Inmane turned to her raccoons and called: Come on, kids. Hurry up. PLEEASSE SIGN OUR PETITION It will make a difference! Home page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a Page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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