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Out of the wild Mail Tribune photo / Roy Musitelli Wildlife Images Director Dave Siddon pets Tundra the wolf and her sidekick, Socks the gray wolf. More than 120 of the animals at Wildlife Images can never go home again. Instead, they're part of the Merlin-area rehab center's education program By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune With her stark black hair matching her piercing eyes, this particular tundra wolf carries the appearance of the lonely, harsh and unforgiving terrain that shares this top predator's name. Then David Siddon reaches forward and gently strokes the wolf's neck like it's a family Labrador, lamenting how Tundra the wolf was once someone's property and then a ward of a Washington refuge before settling for good in Southern Oregon - far from the Alaskan tundra. "Here's an animal that can eat you in an instant, but still be considered a pet," Siddon says. "It's a shame." Tundra is now simply yet another wolf that can't go home again. Neither can the flight-challenged falcon, the 18 ruined bruins nor the more than 100 other critters convalescing within the confines of Wildlife Images Rehabilitation Center. As one of Oregon's 195 licensed rehab centers, Wildlife Images focuses on nursing sick, injured or orphaned animals back to health with a minimal amount of human contact so they can be returned to the wild as quickly and efficiently as possible. But Siddon and his staff at this nonprofit center near Merlin cannot work their magic on all the 1,500 to 2,500 animals that come here annually. More than 120 creatures currently living there sport injuries or circumstances that make return to the wild impossible. These animals instead are given permanent residency, at great expense, within the Jurassic Park-like fence that surrounds the 26-acre center. "These are all animals that were able to survive whatever got them here but, unfortunately, cannot be in the wild again," says Siddon, the center's director. "And there's just so many animals that we can, essentially, warehouse here." The inventory includes an array of birds like a rare Merlin falcon that came to Wildlife Images two months ago. The falcon was struck by a car near Grants Pass and suffered a severe break near its right wing joint, rendering it flightless. Instead of canvassing the Southern Oregon skies for carrion, this compact version of the threatened peregrine falcon now works as a living visual aid on Wildlife Images' lecture circuit. "There were a lot of them around here and Merlin was actually named for these falcons, but their numbers have really diminished," Siddon says. "So he's unique, and a good teaching tool." So are a hodgepodge of eagles, owls, cougars, lynxes, badgers and others that regularly earn cameo roles in wildlife presentations at the center or on field trips to schools and fairs. The animals all live in a wildlife version of purgatory -alive, but not free within their proper place. Siddon tries to fill the void of their loss of natural life with educational purpose. "We're trying to make a bad situation into a fairly good one, if we can," Siddon says. The center's resident wildlife all live among a series of cages that best suit them. Birds wander among trees and rocks in a small aviary. A mild-mannered badger, orphaned when its entire family was killed as a farmer disked his Eastern Oregon ranch, lives in a small cage but will let Siddon pet its nose. A clutch of black bears snooze together in a large pen, while two kodiak bears - stars of the Wildlife Images tour - get acre-sized pens where they run roughshod on everything within their grasp. Kody and Yak, who are siblings, each cost almost $20,000 to house and feed every year, accounting for the largest slice of the $160,000 it takes annually just to care for the center's resident bears. "They are fur with an appetite, and they're like having a pet backhoe," Siddon says. "They destroy everything." In the process, life behind an electric fence has destroyed their bear essence. Though they are the largest land predators in North America, they are known at Wildlife Images by cuddly names. Kody will sit on his haunches and wave his paw for a piece of peppermint candy. As he does with Tundra the wolf, Siddon finds solace in knowing that Kody and Yak can help thousands of people understand the lives and needs of their wild brethren - even though these animals will never see the wild again. "Staying here, it's inevitable that these animals end up with some cutesy name," Siddon says. "But if hearing the name Tundra causes a kid to ask a question about wolves that allows you to explain what these animals really are, then it's a good thing. "And that," Siddon says, "is something." Wildlife Images is open to visitors by appointment. Call 541-476-0222 or visit its Web site at www.wildlifeimages.org. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.