Two Special Volunteers

 

We wouldn’t be able to get half the work accomplished on the endless busy days at Aspen Valley if it wasn’t for our dedicated volunteers. Everyday is an adventure and our volunteers arrive not knowing what interesting task or intriguing construction they will be involve in. Everyday is a mystery.

It is hard to dedicate one story when all the volunteers are so important and beneficial to us but these two wildlife assistants are special. Cory Horton (age 10) and his sister Jessica (age 8) with their father (Dave) volunteer their weekends to helping us out where ever hands are needed. At 6 am they rise with the sun to start their day with us. Our mornings are dedicated to feeding and cleaning all the animals and Cory, Jessica and Dave dive into the routine making sure all creatures are happy and fulfilled. Jessica has even taken training to help bottle feed with us under supervision as each baby creature is religiously feed every 2-3 hours even through the night. Cory loves the bears and helps Tony prepare all the necessary buckets and bowls and makes sure each will get the nicest apples. New animals are always coming in so preparing enclosures for the new arrivals is very important. Cory and Jessica make sure that they are surrounded by natural smells of wood, leaves and branches, warm fresh straw especially in the winter months, and enrichment to intrigue each species with mind stimulating entertainment. There is always yard work, wolf meat to sort, dishes to wash, building materials to deliver, animal rescues, animal releases- our work is never done.

Visiting days are Cory’s favourite and he loves helping and directing visitors to where all the animals are that are important to see – which is everyone. They have both absorbed the facts and information about all the animals and the stories of why they are being helped at Aspen Valley, knowledge most adults don’t even know. For Jessica is it all about the baby animals and she is always very conscious of the feeding schedules. As she intently watches and learns about the needs of each animal and the time and care that goes into helping each one I can only wonder if one day she too will dive into the animal world doing her part in restoring the natural balance. Time will tell for both Cory and Jessica but for now the help they offer to the animals is important, rewarding and enjoyable. They are hard working, interested, willing to pitch in to any task and mostly a joy to have around.

All of us here want to thank all the countless hours our volunteers put in as their way of supporting our wildlife that are in need. We honor each and every one for the effort and dedication they bring to Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary.