Hernando: Safety for hurting creatures

Its movements tentative and unsure, the animal is like most that pass through Jablon's hands -- on their way from a death sentence to a second chance.

"He has no clue where he is or what happened to his mother," Jablon said while the barely weaned animal stepped over a plate of milk and red grapes. "He doesn't even know how to eat."

One of only two licensed wildlife rehabilitators in Hernando County, Jablon, 37, who also operates an irrigation business, sees hundreds of wounded and orphaned animals each year.

"Over the course of a spring, I can get 200 raccoon orphans. They just don't have the habitat they had, and it's taking its toll," he said.

During busy months, Jablon's facility on Suncoast Boulevard in Spring Hill is loaded with foxes, opossums, raccoons, armadillos, rabbits, squirrels and other needy creatures. It's not unusual, he said, to house as many as 60 animals at a time.

"Triage on animals is nonstop," he said, showing a counter on which he gives injured animals intravenous fluids. "There are times when we have them wall to wall."

Dennis Towns brings many animals to Jablon's door.

Once a pelt trapper in Louisiana and Georgia, Towns now makes his living by ridding customers of what he calls nuisance wildlife. He crawls in attics and digs into burrows, finding and removing animals that drive homeowners crazy.

"These days, I don't kill anything I don't have to," he said, dropping off a 1-year-old opossum with an injured leg. "People have all kinds of problems with animals, and they don't know who to call."

Hissing and growling, the opossum came from an attic where it had made a nest.

"He's not too happy about getting moved," Towns said. "You shouldn't try to touch one if you don't know what you're doing. Those teeth sink to the bone."

Across the county, at a facility off Powell Road, south of Brooksville, Judy Schwartz nurses a loon that was found injured in the middle of U.S. 41.

"This can happen during their first migration," said Schwartz, 55. "Sometimes they see a stretch of highway and think it's a river."

After six weeks of recuperation and rest, the bird is slated for release on the Homosassa River.

"That's really the best part of all of this," said Schwartz, who operates a catering business with her husband, but dedicates much of her time to nursing injured animals. "Rescuing these animals is a major, major time commitment, and seeing them go back into the wild is like a reward for all the work."

Like Jablon, Schwartz is licensed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as a wildlife rehabilitator and works with a nonprofit organization.

Both volunteer their time. Both have done rehabilitation work for about 15 years.

Unlike Jablon, Schwartz's focus is not on mammals, but birds and reptiles.

"It works out pretty well, the way we're able to divide things up," she said. "Especially when things get crazy in the springtime."

As development of Hernando County continues, she said, the situation will only worsen -- especially when people don't know whom to call for help.

"They may call Animal Control or Weeki Wachee Springs and zigzag around until they get discouraged and give up," she said.

"Time is of the essence, especially when you're dealing with an animal that has been hit by a car. The sooner they can call one of us, the better."

Of all the animals she rescues, Schwartz said, her favorites are turtles.

One upstairs bedroom of her home is devoted to nursing the slow-moving reptiles back to health. Most suffer from injuries, such as cracks in their shells.

"They're so important to the environment, and they don't have much of a chance," she said, holding up an 8-year-old gopher tortoise with a 3-inch crack in its shell. "They really are beautiful animals."

Because of their slow metabolism, Schwartz said, turtles are slow to heal. That also means they are also slow to die.

"You'd be surprised at what they can survive," she said. "If you see one that's been hit by a car and it looks bad, you shouldn't assume it's hopeless."

Another of Schwartz's current patients is a redtail hawk that was shot six months ago, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Regardless of the patient, Schwartz tries to do all she can for the animals. "They don't ask for much, and they just get the short end of the stick," she said.

For both rehabilitators, Schwartz said, money comes from scrounging and dipping into personal funds.

The programs would be impossible without veterinarians who donate their time and services, both said.

"They're the ones who we can't thank enough," Schwartz said. "Doing this, you do meet a really nice bunch of people. It gives you hope for the world."

To help

Judy Schwartz is a wildlife rehabilitator with Helping Our Precious Environment. HOPE Wildlife Rehabilitation can be contacted at P.O. Box 203 Homosassa, FL 34487. Call (352) 799-3700 or (352) 584-4412. Jim Jablon is a wildlife rehabilitator with Wildlife Rehabilitation of Hernando. He can be contacted at 360 Suncoast Blvd., Spring Hill, FL 34608. Call (352) 279-3600.

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