What a way to botanize!

Yesterday, four of us met across the city at 7:30 a.m. and made the long drive NW of the city to the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, Spruce View, near Raven, Alberta - about 70 kilometers west of Innisfail. (Location on map is very approximate location of Spruce View, just to give a very rough idea of where we were in Alberta and as a reminder for myself.)

"Founded in 1984, the Medicine River Wildlife Centre is a nonprofit organization operating under federal and provincial permits to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. MRWC now treats close to 1200 wildlife patients annually. MRWC's education programs encourage people to respect our environment and do their part in keeping wildlife safe. MRWC presents to almost 200 groups annually from schools to youth groups, to seniors to service clubs." From the MRWC website.

Carol Kelly, executive director of Medicine River Wildlife Centre, and staff member Judy Boyd, made us feel most welcome, just as they have done on the other two (or is it three?) times that I have been there before. Judy very generously came with us for the day, taking us on a very interesting botanizing walk in the morning - we even found some fungi : ) After lunch, she asked us if we would be interested in travelling by canoe to check out the enormous Sandhill Slough that lies near the Centre, with a great observation tower from which one can gaze over the peaceful scene and listen to various bird songs that break the silence. We heard Sandhill Cranes, but were unable to spot them. Judy wanted to cut a few stalks of fresh green leaves (cattails?) to feed to the baby Beavers that were back inside the building, calling the Centre "home" temporarily. What an absolute thrill this was for us, to paddle our way through the reeds and open water, passing a few glorious Yellow Pond Lilies and skimming over masses of submerged Bladderpod on our journey. The arrival of dark clouds and distant thunder brought us back to the safety of shore! As always on our botanizing outings, all species of plant, bird, insect, fungi, animal, were listed, helping to create a more complete list for any area we explore.

The Centre also does an amazing job of placing orphaned wildlife with foster families of the same species and this, along with all the other endless tasks, keeps them busy non-stop. Their dedication is something to witness - their respect for wildlife (shown through wildlife rehabilitation, education and research), awe-inspiring. Busy, busy, busy, day after day.

They have a new dream - unfortunately, a very necessary dream - to replace the old building with a brand new one. Grants help with this, but there is also a lot of public fund-raising that goes on. They welcome every bit of help.

This day would not have been possible if our friend, Stephen, had not offered to come and pick two of us up at the end of the day. When we met at the meeting place early morning, we discovered that the two people who were going to be the drivers were not coming back to the city, but instead were going to stay overnight for a very different event this weekend. It looked like the remaining two of us were not going to be able to go after all. Then Stephen, who was not coming, but was only dropping off his wife, offered to drive the long, long way to the Centre late afternoon, to pick us up. This was an incredibly generous offer, one that the two of us appreciated tremendously! Thank you so much, Stephen, for being your usual, generous self, and enabling us to spend such an enjoyable, interesting day of botanizing!!

If you would like to assist injured wildlife so that they can receive proper medical treatment, be rehabilitated and then re-introduced into the wild, please contact Carol at (403) 728–3467 or email her at info@mrwc.ca. They are just in the middle of creating a new website and hope to have it completed soon. Meanwhile, check them out on Facebook.

www.facebook.com/pages/Medicine-River-Wildlife-Centre/754...

culture.alberta.ca/communityspirit/profile/medicineriver....

24 Hour Emergency Line (403) 728-3467