Nurturing Nature

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

When Christine Montuori began treating injured and abandoned wild animals in her home 14 years ago, she didn’t expect it to turn into a full-time occupation.

But more and more animals began to arrive, and she couldn’t bear to turn them away.

“I just couldn’t tell people, ‘Oh gee, sorry, I’m not doing that anymore,’” Ms. Montuori explained, “because there wasn’t anyplace else they could go.”

So Ms. Montuori established the Second Chance Wildlife Center. The center, which operates from an old farmhouse in Gaithersburg, Md., takes in more than 4,000 animals and birds each year, some brought from as far away as West Virginia. Nearly all of the animals would die if left alone, whereas with proper treatment more than half fully recover and are released back into the wild.

Six staff members, supported by 42 volunteers, provide a range of treatments, from feeding baby squirrels to performing surgery on opossums.

Most of the center’s $145,000 annual budget is covered by donations from people who bring animals to the center.

One permanent resident of the center is Blizzard, a red-tailed hawk that flew into a moving car. The hawk is now healthy, but could not survive in the wild because he is blind in one eye and because he is no longer afraid of humans or predators.

Here, Ms. Montuori plays with Blizzard.