Island couple steadfast on local wildlife rescue
When Sheri Talley-Lemaire and her husband Rufus Lemaire began looking for a place to settle down after retirement, she said it didn’t take them long to fall in love with Pine Island.
“In 204, we started researching where we wanted to retire. For two years, we searched and visited places across the country. Pine Island caught our attention and still has a hold on us. Here was this funky island that seemed like a mix of Mayberry, the History Channel and Jurassic Park. Once we got here, we were awestruck by the generosity of this island and wanted to find a way to give back to what we love here. We get so much from nature here, the least we can do is our part to help keep it healthy,” Lemaire said.
Feeling an innate sense of duty toward animal rescue is something the two have always shared, she said, making it easy to work as a team while they are full-time CROW (Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) volunteers. Their favorite part of all they do with CROW, she said, is seeing the rescues through, beginning to end.
“You get called to do the rescue, you rescue, you transport — sometimes it’s really heart-breaking if the animal doesn’t make it, but if they don’t, at least they get to be put down humanely, without suffering in the wild,” Lemaire said.
In her opinion, Lemaire said, CROW is an amazing organization, handling rescues with a high level of expertise and efficiency. The organization likes to release patients as close to where they were found if possible, she said, in case they had a family nearby. There are varying species, and some can be dangerous during a rescue, which makes proper equipment and training a top priority for anyone trained by CROW, she said. It is difficult to be prepared, however, if one sees an injured animal while doing something else, she shared.
“A couple of weeks ago, my husband Rufus was walking on Stringfellow and he saw an injured osprey on the side of the road. It was clear something was wrong with its wing, as it was splayed out and wasn’t moving. He didn’t have a phone with him, and he was about a half mile from the house, so he ran home and got the truck and then he found me on my bike. We threw the bike in the truck and went to the site of the bird. He had all the rescue gear with him and we gently rescued the bird. Unfortunately, it had to be put down because there were so many breaks in the wing that was injured. It looked like it had been hit by a car. It was one of those sad cases, but at least it didn’t stay there to suffer the death of a predator,” Lemaire said.
Lemaire said after that she started taking her cell phone with her, in case of another emergency rescue. Driving carefully is of the utmost importance, she said, because if you are driving too close to the car in front of you and they miss an animal in the road you may not see them in time to react and then you may hit the animal. One rescue, which stands out to the couple happened on Feb. 5, 2021, she said.
“We were called to respond to an American bald eagle — an adult with a 6-foot wingspan, that had an injured wing. It was on the ground in someone’s backyard about a half mile from our house and we happened to have a carrier that was big enough. We went into the backyard and it was a tough rescue because there was bamboo that had been cut down and overgrown so you couldn’t see the thicket. The mate was nearby and she was angry. She was overseeing us trying to help, although she likely didn’t know that. Her mate, who had this injured wing, could not fly. This bird could run fast and that’s where our being athletic came in handy, but it was still awkward.
“We were able to get the bird — we work well as a team in rescues like this. Rufus is really good with talons and so he was taught, by CROW, how to handle the talons. He secured the back of the head and at that point if there’s a net involved I will actually take my gloves off and gently remove the talons from the net while keeping in consideration the wing injury, I gently folded in the wings. As a team we lifted the bird up and placed it into the carrier and then transported it to Sanibel. In a few weeks they called and told us he was ready for release,” Lemaire said.
In talking with the veterinarian, the couple learned the eagle had been previously injured, and would not have survived without its mate. They also learned from people who keep an eye on that particular nest that the eagle was able to reunite with his family.
To date, the Lemaire’s have rescued 23 different animal species. If anyone is interested, she said CROW has a website called mindyourline.org that will teach you what to do if you accidentally hook an animal with your fishing line.
“This island has responded every time we’ve needed help. It’s like we’re all doing this together,” Lemaire said.