For those of you who read our blog from elsewhere in North America, or elsewhere in the world, Southern Alberta has experienced floods that have reached levels almost unheard of in many of our lifetimes. The towns of High River, Bragg Creek, and Canmore have been completely devastated by flood waters, while Calgary’s downtown core and low lying areas are just now in the process of allowing the last residents home to begin the cleanup efforts.

Undoubtedly the impact on wildlife has been extreme, and while we focus our efforts primarily on our friends, family, and our neighbors, we shouldn’t forget that the animals still need our help, now more than ever. While I’m not a skilled laborer, and volunteers are coming out of the woodwork all over Calgary to help out people, I thought I’d contact the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society to see if they needed a hand.

The reply I received is as follows:

“Thank-you so very much for your email!  At this time our greatest need is fixing our waterfowl enclosure as the heavy rains have literally lifted our diving pool right out of the ground, which has significantly reduced the space to house orphaned and injured animals!

So we are looking for donations of supplies, gift cards and skilled labour to help get it all fixed up!     If you think this is something you can help with, we would be MOST grateful.   We are a very small non-profit organization with very little overhead and we receive no direct government funding, so the best way to make a direct impact on the kind of care we can give our animals is monetary donations.  Any money donated goes directly to helping the animals that we take in.  Donations can be made at our website www.calgarywildlife.org or by phoning me 403-266-2282.

Thank-you so very much!

Andrea

CWRS Business Administrator

403-266-2282

www.calgarywildlife.org”

I expect that in the coming weeks there will be calls for volunteers to help clean up our local parks, other wildlife rehabilitation centers, and the other natural areas that we love to explore so much. Consider this the first in a series of ways that those of us who love all the beauty that nature can provide.