Gratitude for Cooler Temps and so much more…

I don’t want to repeat what we have heard over and over for the last month; however, it is so true that this has been the hottest summer ever for us at Liberty Wildlife and our environs—hottest and the driest and that is such an ugly combination. But there have been solutions.

I am making a big leap here, hoping against all hope, that indeed the fever has broken. Not only have all of the people suffered, but all of the animals and plants have too. A quick look around the place clearly spotlights the visible stress it has had on not only the fauna, but also the flora. Dry and crusty is the color of the season. You can almost see the gratitude in the desert plants that see the liquid end of the hose as a stopgap means to survival. Unfortunately, our cisterns have been depleted (we harvest rainwater here on our campus), and the hope of refilling any time soon is gloomy.

It is only appropriate to thank all of you who have taken the time to help by bringing in a critter in need. You took the time to recognize and act to bring comfort to wildlife in need of a little hand up. And there have been thousands of you – over 9,000 animals so far this year! So, thank you!

A huge thank you to Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust for stepping up, unsolicited, and recognizing the need for heat relief through a generous donation to Liberty Wildlife even though we don’t directly fit their priorities…they stepped up…kudos to them for their kindness and proactivity. They supported heat relief not directly related to the plants on our campus, nor the animals or human caregivers. This summer the strains were even felt by our equipment – including the giant walk-in freezer that holds much of the food for our resident wildlife. Repairs of that extent are not in the normal budget – so the aid came at just the right time.

And accolades go to Richard Goettl at Goettl AC & Plumbing who dropped by personally to see what our needs were after media coverage about our struggles with the heat…and he arrived with solutions! The next day the truck arrived with evaporative coolers. This is a great addition to our existing coolers, many of which have also been donated — like those grant funded by Avangrid Renewables. The sight of Sazi, the golden eagle, hunkered up to the evaporative cooler to the degree that her neck feathers were directed upward by the wafting breezes was enough to show the benefits…and the solutions. In the wild,  the animals are allowed to deal with heat in more natural ways, but compromised animals confined to the safety of an enclosure have fewer options. These coolers were a God-send! So thank you!

There were also hundreds of you who pitched in with donations that helped address the additional demands for food, electricity, water, and medicines required to respond to the increase in needs. There were so many generous and thoughtful people who helped us through a “season” for the record books.

And let’s also acknowledge and thank the staff and volunteers who have suffered through the record summer. Despite the relentless sun exposure, high temperatures, flies, ants, mosquitoes, and other unpleasantries, this dedicated team still managed to feed, clean and hose down the hot and panting critters several more times a day than normal.

Turn off the heat, turn on the water from the skies…enough is enough. Our cisterns are thirsty and our desert plants need some color and the critters needs some moisture. But a huge thanks goes out to all of you who have made survival possible. I am not sure what we would have done without your thoughtful assistance. And, through all of this we have still been off the charts with positive accolades, highlights with our documentary film, and national and international recognition for the outstanding care we provide to wildlife.

So, to ALL OF YOU, thank you!