CURB PULSE 2022

RETURN TO THE WILD
The heartache and joy of the people who nurse Wisconsin’s
wildlife back to health
By Emily Rohloff
In January 1992, a single call forever
changed the lives of, Yvonne
Wallace Blane and her husband,
Steve Blane, co-founders of Fellow
Mortals Wildlife Hospital.
In the days after that first call,
around 150 sick Canada geese would
be brought to Yvonne and Steve to
be treated. There was no facility —
only two bedrooms, a living room, a
kitchen, a basement and a porch in
their little log cabin home located in
the southeastern town of Delevan.
Neither Steve, Yvonne nor their
team knew what was wrong with
the geese or if they could treat them.
Fellow Mortals’ experiences treating
wildlife involved dealing with
fractures, head trauma, orphaning,
starvation and dehydration, but
never this.
Today, 31 years later, Fellow Mortals
Wildlife Hospital is in a new location
near Delavan, in Lake Geneva,
and takes in about 2,000 injured
or orphaned wildlife patients annually
at no charge. Yvonne and Steve,
along with their team, have become
the heartbeat of wildlife care, providing
a place full of second chances for
Wisconsin wildlife.
The nonprofit’s 52 acres and
10,000-square-foot facility includes
The owl, Darby,
a permanent
resident of Fellow
Mortals Wildlife
Hospital, rests
on a perch at the
rehabilitation
facility.
10 CURB