Country Acres Saturday, January 20, 2024
Volume 11, Edition 01
PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #861 Sauk Rapids, MN 2 Second Ave S Suite 135 Sauk Rapids MN 56379
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Tending to vulnerable
creatures PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Robbi Hoy lends her arm as a roost for a juvenile bald eagle in March 2022 at her home in St. Cloud. Hoy is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who takes in animals that have been injured or abandoned and cares for them herself or transports them to other rehabilitators.
Nonprofit provides help to the furry, feathered BY JAN LEFEBVRE STAFF WRITER
ST. CLOUD — When Robbi Hoy was running her gardening business in 2012, she was not one to think much about wild animals, she said, other than when they annoyed her by digging up her plants. Then she came across two infant squirrels that seemed to be abandoned. Hoy contacted a wildlife rehabilitator. “She said to leave them for two hours because the mom might come back, which she did, but she only took one baby with her,” Hoy said. “I found out from the rehabilitator that it was because the other baby wasn’t very healthy. It was dehydrated and in bad shape.” With help from the rehabilitator, Hoy learned how to take care of the squirrel until it could be released into the wild. “I loved it so much that the next year I earned my rehab license,” Hoy said. “The rest is history.”
ST R
Publications The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
Today, Hoy is cofounder of Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation, a nonprofit she runs with Barb Schaaf. The center takes in abandoned and injured wild animals for rehabilitation and releases them into the wild. Each holiday season, Hoy and Schaaf can be found most days wrapping Christmas gifts at the Crossroads Shopping Center in St. Cloud, raising money to help cover costs of rehabilitating animals. The organization also holds an annual garage sale. Many animals need medical attention, medicine or x-rays because of injuries or sickness. The state of Minnesota requires wildlife rehabilitators to become licensed but does not fund organizations that rehabilitate animals. “We don’t get paid for rehabbing,” Hoy said. “We do this all out of our own pocket.” Hoy and Schaaf became acquainted through Linda Peck, a rehabilitator both women had turned to for
guidance. “Linda was training Barb more on rabbits and me on squirrels because that is what we had,” Hoy said. “Then Barb and I met and became friends and started sharing our animals once we were licensed.” At the time, the only rehabilitation centers available were in Roseville and Garrison. “Barb and I were getting phone calls from all over — and both of us are bleeding hearts, so it was difficult for us to say no — but vet bills and food were very difficult for us to cover,” Hoy said. “We decided to start a nonprofit to make it easier for anybody who was interested in helping with rehabbing in this area, so they wouldn’t have to pay so much out of pocket.” Hoy and Schaaf have general licenses, which means they can rehabilitate anything except large game animals and endangered species, which they can take in briefly but must transport to facilities with special licensure. Hoy also has a special permit to rehabilitate
migratory birds. Although volunteers cannot rehabilitate animals without licensure, they can help transport animals, clean cages or feed animals, work at CMWR fundraisers and help gather or donate supplies. “I can put out on our Facebook site that we are low
Hoy/Schaaf page 2
A young raccoon stretches its legs in 2022 at Robbi Hoy’s home in St. Cloud. Raccoons are one of the animals most often brought in by the public through Hoy’s nonprofit organization, Central Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation.
This month in the
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Preparing the way Garfield
15 Connecting to grow Hawick
22 Country cooking Freeport
COUNTRY:
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Mindful Tiffany Klaphake column
19 Threading a token of appreciation Swift County
25 Processing prowess Kerhoven
Watch for the next edition of Country Acres February 17, 2024
11 Adding a little zing Long Prairie
21 Apple penance Nancy Packard Leasman column