ENCOUNTERS

New Re-Lease on Life

LOCAL REHABBER RESCUES WILDLIFE.

On the western edge of Columbia, off a bumpy gravel road, is a slice of land where Jennifer Romesburg follows her childhood passion for rehabilitating wild animals.

That little slice of land belonged to her grandfather, who taught her everything he knew about caring for wildlife, and now Romesburg is following in his footsteps. Although initially she planned to become a conservation agent, after earning her bachelor’s in fisheries and wildlife from University of Missouri, she worked at a local animal shelter as the foster and rescue coordinator for 10 years. "I found that physically being able to rescue the animals was more of my passion than becoming an agent," Romesburg says.

In 2012, she founded her first nonprofit, Boone County Animal Care. Yet, it wasn't until Romesburg came across Bi-State Wildlife, an organization specializing in rehabilitating wild animals, that she realized she wanted to become a licensed rehabber. Since 2014, she has been a licensed permit holder with the Department of Conservation as a wildlife rehabilitator and she is also certified with the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. Now she collaborates with wildlife centers to

BY PHOEBE KOFMAN · PHOTO BY L.G. PATTERSON

Two of Romesburg's other rescues, a groundhog and racoon enjoy snuggles.

coordinate rehabbing animals all across Missouri under her second non-profit, Jenny's Wildlife Wonderland.

Wildlife in mid-Missouri is a broad category — Romesburg helps animals such as fawns, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, groundhogs, bobcats, foxes and coyotes, depending on the season. In addition to rescuing wildlife, she also has a farm on her property with cows, goats, chickens, turkeys, dogs, cats and foster kittens.

The whole goal of rehabilitation is to prepare animals to rejoin the wild. There are several reasons animals may need to be rehabbed, usually because of human involvement in nature. However, animals will usually be released together, thanks to a network of rehabbers in Missouri. "When in group settings, they learn from each other. They learn how to play, how to eat, they learn to stay together when out in the wild," Romesburg says. She likes to release the animals on her property for a "soft release," meaning that she will go out and provide them a food source for a short time as they learn or relearn to find a food source on their own.

Since food can be expensive for some of the animals she looks after, Romesburg created her own mealworm farm right before the pandemic. A year later she has increased her mealworm farm 100 times over. Between mealworms and bottles, her average day includes feedings multiple times a day, along with constant cleaning.

Despite how stressful and timeconsuming taking care of these animals may be, Romesburg's favorite part is being able to release them after rehabilitation. Some people get too attached to wildlife, so it may seem hard to watch the furry babies leave. But thankfully, Romesburg does not have that problem, "It's a revolving door; you need to let them go because there's another hundred behind them. You give them an opportunity, and they either make it, or they don't. You'll never know, they weren't going to make it without you, and at least you’ve given them the tools to be able to go out there and survive. It's the best you can hope for and the best you can do," Romesburg says. Once she has enough volunteers to help her and can count on regular donations, Romesburg hopes to create a fully operational wildlife facility in midMissouri one day.

To learn more about volunteering with Jenny’s Wildlife Wonderland, check out her page on Facebook or visit boonecountyanimalcare.com

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