Fellow Mortals, Inc.

We believe that injured and orphaned wildlife deserve professional attention from a person who is trained and experienced in caring for the species. Fellow Mortals provides care for any species of wild bird--from sparrow to eagle, and for any non-predatory mammal. We work with eyes-closed and newborn birds and mammals, as well as critically-injured adult wildlife.

Fellow Mortals' care model is unique in the wildlife rehabilitation field, as we do not utilize volunteers at the hospital or in their homes. All wildlife care is provided by full-time licensed wildlife rehabilitators at the hospital location. In the busiest months, we are joined by a handful of college students majoring in wildlife-related fields, who provide care for orphaned wildlife under the supervision of professional staff. We are very fortunate to have several veterinarians who donate their skills for surgery, consulting, and advanced diagnostics. This model was proven out during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic when we were able to continue operating without closing our doors as our small staff was basically isolated already.

A wild animal must do more than survive to be released; it must know its own kind, how to find or procure food in the wild, and be properly imprinted on its own species. We work hard to keep healthy wildlife from coming into care but when necessary, they are often placed with a conspecific (same species) adult. Providing injured and orphaned wildlife with surrogate parents is critical for impressionable young animals, especially birds that imprint quickly and will imprint improperly if not provided with appropriate role models. Injured adult wildlife benefit from the presence of their own kind as well. Observations of adult patients housed near or with conspecifics results in patients exhibiting less stress, more normal behaviors, and better adaptation to care.

In every instance, our goal is to provide appropriate care for the individual animal, with the best result a release of a healthy, properly socialized animal back to the wild. Just as important to our mission is to provide information and education about wild species and natural history to the people who bring the animals to us, with the goal of preventing wildlife conflicts through inspiring understanding and compassion toward the wild species that share their space.

All of our small professional staff came to the organization through our Wildlife Care Intern program, which has been operating since 1992. Without the internship program, we would not be able to handle the influx of 1,500 animals over the space of three months. Young songbirds are fed every 15-30 minutes a minimum of 24 times a day. Young mammals are fed at least every four hours, sometimes five times a day.

A permanent staff is critical to our rehabilitation success and we are working to expand our permanent wildlife care staff to sustain our operating model.

In addition to staff, extensive and varied facilities are required to provide care for over 100 species of wildlife, over 500 individuals at the same time. We currently have 10,000 square feet of hospital and clinic space, which includes various pool habitats for waterfowl and marine mammals. We also have various outdoor habitats and caging for wildlife nearing release and requiring more space for exercise, and more separation from human activity.

We are fortunate to have a stable, dedicated, multi-talented staff and have been able to count on some consistent funding from long-term donors that provides an ability to budget major items, and we are steadily building the support of monthly donors through our program titled 'Team Hope.' We currently have over 100 monthly donors, which provide enough funds to cover the expense of one senior staff person.

In addition to wildlife rehabilitation expertise, staff members have diverse backgrounds in legal, business, the building trades, biology, etc., which allows us to handle nearly all aspects of running the organization without requiring outside assistance.

Our board and advisory board includes individuals who donate services in veterinary, legal, accounting, and business, and another approximately 75 volunteers donate time over the course of the year for fundraising, help in the admissions area of the hospital, for general facilities maintenance and cleanup, and IT work. In 2022, $238,000 was donated in professional services which would have otherwise come out of donated funds.

We are currently identifying and segmenting responsibilities that have historically been accomplished by one or two people, as well as adjusting compensation to reflect what our valued staff would earn in the marketplace. We know that to attract and retain qualified staff requires that we pay what they need to cover necessary expenses.

2023 is Fellow Mortals 38th consecutive year serving as a no-fee resource to the public without any closures during that time. Since our inception, we have continued to push the boundaries of what is possible for wildlife care and have created some of the most unique facilities in the world.

It isn't just about keeping the organization alive, it's just as important to us that we have kept our philosophy alive and true. We stay transparent and keep our core values in mind as we plan for the future.

While fundraising has never been our strong suit, we have been very, very fortunate to have donors who understand and support our philosophy of valuing individual life. Many of our supporters have been with us since the early days of the organization; others have joined in supporting our mission after we helped them with a wildlife situation. At this point in our organization's path, some of our donors have passed and have left bequests of sizable sums to the organization. We are close to being able to create an endowment fund that will provide stability for the organization in the years to come.

From 2021 through today, our business model of operating with a professional staff has met the unanticipated test as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have long operated differently from the volunteer-based paradigm in the wildlife rehabilitation field. These past years have found our business model sound, as we did not cease or limit services in any way as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while volunteer-run facilities closed entirely or limited or changed services. Many of these organizations have still not returned to normal operating procedure.