Haven for wildlife

Clifford Short is working to build a rehab sanctuary where he can care for injured and young wild animals and return them to their natural habitat.

By TRAVINA COLEMAN

Clifford Short tries to do whatever he can to keep his wife happy.

These days, that goal has been taking him on a journey to build a wildlife sanctuary in Cherokee County.

“I know we need more places for these wild animals to be rehabbed,” he said. “I talked to the lady at Elephant Rock, and she said she has more than she can handle.”

OK Wildlife Rehab is north of Tahlequah, just off Jones Road.

“We have a small place right now,” Short said. “We are hoping to eventually get more property.”

But he said a sanctuary doesn’t necessarily have to be a large one to be productive.

“It doesn’t have to be big,” he said. “It just has to be clean and efficient.

Right now, Short owns and cares for two horses, and is slowly constructing pens for animals that are being brought to him. He has been working on the sanctuary for about a year and a half.

“We had a fawn and a cute baby squirrel,” he said. “They have already gone on their own ways.

Anthony Clark, Cherokee County game warden, said sanctuaries are important and helpful, but are maintained under strict guidelines. The purpose is to provide injured or very young wild animals with food and medical care until they can return to the wild.

“We have to approve the license and inspect and the facility to make sure it’s a controlled environment,” Clark said. “It’s against the law for anyone to take an animal out of its habitat and keep it for a pet. If anyone without a license is caught with a baby deer or another wild animal, and it’s a $700 fine.”

Clark suggests anyone who comes across any baby animal to just leave it alone.

“It’s not a good thing,” he said. “People take deer and raise them, then they get in mating season and become violent.”

As for Short’s rehab sanctuary, he admits it isn’t much to look at for the moment. But though donations solicited on craigslist.com, he has found some needed supplies.

“This is a total non-profit thing,” he said.

“We are getting our state license for the rehabilitation and are planning to apply for a federal license so we can keep migratory birds and raptors, like eagles, hawks and owls.”

Clark, who has lived in Cherokee County all his life, cautions people against keeping wild animals. They should be left alone or, if circumstances warrant, taken to a rehab facility.

“If someone found an injured fawn and they were 100 percent sure its mother was dead, like if the mother is dead next to it, then call a game warden,” he said. “And we will deal with it. Otherwise, leave it alone. Baby deer are being born from May to June, and a lot of times people will find a fawn and believe it has been abandoned, when in fact the mother had hidden the fawn for its safety. Baby deer have no scent, so predators can’t even smell them. The mother deer will come and find it.”

Clark said of all the wild animals illegally kept in Cherokee County, deer are spotted the most.

“Baby deer are the biggie here,” he said. “But a lot of people have raccoons, squirrels, and baby opossums, too. But deer are bigger so we can spot them.”

Clark said people often try to raise the deer as a pet.

“It’s cute and friendly while it’s young,” he said. “A few years ago we ran into a neighborhood deer. All the neighbors would feed it cereal. Then the deer got older and matured. It ended up beating a little girl with its hooves. She lived, but it shows it’s not a friendly animal. It could have all been avoided if people would have left it alone.”

OK Wildlife Rehab's license was approved Monday, Clark said.

“If they get a deer, we require it to be released by the end of August or early September,” Clark said. “This is so it can acclimate with other deer before deer season begins.”

Short is constantly working on the project. He has already dug a small pond on the property.

“I did that about a year and a half ago,” he said.

And it’s not really for the horses to drink from, although they can do so.

“I dug this for the aquatic animals that may need to be rescued, like beavers,” he said. “We love animals. We know there is a need for animals to have a place to heal. They get turned down from shelters and then they get put down.”

OK Wildlife Rehab is not a tourist destination, either.

“It serves no purpose for the rehab to have several humans interacting with them,” he said. “This is strictly for their health and re-introduction.”

Short still needs supplies to build the enclosures.

“I get a lot off craigslist,” he said. “I got a couple of dog houses, and some fencing. But I need fence posts and good dry bags of concrete; that would help.”

This project is strictly funded by Short’s family income and the donations of community members.

“This the second wildlife rehab in Cherokee County,” he said.

“Our only purpose is to help animals that are wounded or weak, that could not make it in their natural habitat, so we can get them ready to go back.”

Get involved

Visit www.okwildliferehab .org for pictures, videos, and list of needed items for the rehab sanctuary. Fencing posts, concrete, and just about related items are needed.

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