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of its kind in the state, according to Clarke. It is not a zoo. The staff at the center does not tame the animals or transform wild creatures into pets. Instead, injured wildlife is treated with the goal of return to the wilds.
Center’s Beginning
“It started out as a fantasy, then became a dare and finally ended up a reality,” Clarke explained. The story sounds like a fairy tale but a tale still looking for the happy ending of financial stability.
“On our first wedding anniversary, Nancy and I stopped by to visit our friends, Stuart and Terry Porter. He’s a wildlife specialist, a veterinarian who’s worked for zoos in Texas, Tennessee and Baltimore and now heads the veterinary technician department at Blue Ridge Community College. She’s a vet tech,” Clarke explained.
Stuart Porter was frustrated. His reputation as a wildlife doctor had led game wardens and lay rehabilitators to his door at the college. He could treat the sick or injured animals they brought but he had no control over their eventual rehabilitation. “He either had to euthanize the animals because he had no place to take care of them or else treat them and return them to people who didn’t really know what they were doing, even though they meant well,” Clarke recalled. Porter was wishing he had somewhere to keep the wild creatures until they could
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