all hours of the night from worried nonrehabilitators (he calls them “civilians”) who find injured animals, agreed with Weimer’s assessment. “Because of our busy personal lives and, on top of that, the busy hustle-bustle and concern for how we’re going to find the time to take care of our guests [the animals], we don’t have much—at least some of us—don’t have much time to socialize,” he said. “So, this gives us a chance to sit around the table and get to know each other. Wohlgemuth spent 27 years in the U.S. Army before moving back to Ithaca 10 years ago with his wife, where they had lived briefly before. “Don’t ask me how it happened, but everywhere I went, I was known as the raccoon man—no one knew my name,” he said.
When he moved Wohlgemuth suspected back to Ithaca, a might have been rabid. contin u ed from page 13 raccoon walked Wohlgemuth took through his doggythe babies into his them, watch out!’ but in reality they’re door one night and home, quarantined very, very sweet unless threatened,” she he rehabilitated and them and called the said. “A place like this in Ithaca, which released it, which led department of health, is considered a city, reminds people that neighbors to discover which led to a knock wildlife matters and people should care.” that he was adept at on his door from the Weimer said the volunteers come to raccoon rehabilitation. DEC saying he needed the center to help animals, but also enjoy From there, it a license to take care of making jokes with Wohlgemuth around snowballed. raccoons. his kitchen table, covered in raccoon “I didn’t want to The U.S. figurines and value packs of peanut butter Raccoon at Wishing Well (Photo: Diane Duthie) Department of take in raccoons, but crackers. how do you say no if Agriculture inspected “Sometimes we sit around and have somebody pleads that Wohlgemuth’s coffee and talk about politics. I think we they have an animal in need.” unofficial rehabilitation center and found kind of keep him young,” she said. “He A woman called him in 2006 after only two problems: he needed doublelooks out for us, and we look out for her dog got into a battle with a family of screened doors and a sign marking the him—he’s kind of alone out here, so we’re raccoons. The mother raccoon had died, shed as a rabies quarantine area. his little family.” but there were three baby raccoons that Since then, the Wildlife Wishing Well Wohlgemuth, who answers calls at has accepted more animals each year, admitting 17 baby raccoons in one day this spring and housing 67 at one time. Infant raccoons require feedings every two hours, 24 hours each day, something Wohlgemuth said the army prepared him for. “The military conditions you to carry on, to do your duty, to go without sleep,” he said. “I really think the Army taught me how to do this.” But the center is thousands of dollars in debt and needs repairs, like the shed’s roof, which raccoons punched holes in after they broke a light. Compounding the problem, several of the 11 volunteers are heading back to school this fall. Wohlgemuth’s wife died in January after being in a coma for seven years after Umashankar Ballehaninna, MD suffering a heart attack in the YMCA pool. Vascular Surgery Her love for animals, Wohlgemuth said, was one of the reasons they got married. “I did all the heavy work, and she did all the cuddling and nurturing and bottlefeeding,” he said. He used part of her Social Security checks to fund the center, but since she died, he said, he has had to take shortcuts, and rely more heavily on local veterinarians who donate their time to vaccinate all of the raccoons who leave the center. One veterinarian, Tanya Jackson, who worked with the center for years, Guthrie Vascular now lives in California but still advises the The Guthrie Cardiac and Vascular Center welcomes Umashankar Ballehaninna, MD, Surgeons volunteers via Skype. a fellowship-trained vascular surgeon. Dr. Ballehaninna treats conditions that affect The nursery’s floor needs to be Umashankar the body’s circulatory system, including: Ballehaninna, MD, RPVI redone, which Wohlgemuth said will • Varicose veins • Aortic aneurysm cost about $4,000, and repairs to the preSilviu Marica, MD release center, which must be done before Lawrence Sampson, MD • Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) • Carotid artery disease spring, will cost at least $2,000. Those costs are in addition to the price of taking Dr. Ballehannina performs a variety of surgical treatments, including vascular stent care of the animals, $123 each, on average, or about $1 a day, per animal. placement, bypass procedures, grafts and thermal ablation. But Wohlgemuth and his troops continue to perform their duties: feeding, To schedule an appointment, call 607-257-5858 in Ithaca, or cleaning, loving and releasing wild animals 570-887-2848 in Sayre. “I see that this is keeping me alive,” Wohlgemuth said. “I’m 74 years old and I don’t feel 74. Being with the young volunteers, being with the animals—I’m tired, I’m worn down, but I feel good.” “Ask what medications I take,” he said, before answering his own question. “None. I drink a lot of coffee.” • www.Guthrie.org wishingwell
Vascular Surgery
Guthrie Welcomes Dr. Umashankar Ballehaninna
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