GILLETTE — Suzanne Hansen isn’t a morning person. She apologized for being groggy as she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at a table in The Local in downtown Gillette on Thursday morning.
Already by 9 a.m., she’s put in a full day feeding baby rabbits, playing with squirrels and giving a nest full of baby birds their first of many feedings on a constant schedule.
The birds are her latest rescue.
As one of only two certified mammal wildlife rehabbers in Wyoming, Hansen founded Little Z’s Wildlife Rehab Inc.
Her nonprofit is certified under a permit by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Under strict rules, Hansen is authorized to rescue and rehab squirrels, rabbits and hares, and also can help birds that do not fall under the protected migratory bird status.
She rarely takes in birds, but made an exception when two teenage boys found a wayward nest floating down a swollen rivulet off the Fishing Lake in Dalbey Memorial Park in Gillette the prior weekend.
The boys, 12-year-old Kegan Bare and 13-year-old Jackson Harris, had been fishing when they saw the dinner plate-sized nest filled with small translucent, pink birds.
Their large yellow rubbery beaks chirped while their tiny bodies shivered.
Snagging The Nest
The longtime best friends immediately reached into the water to snag the nest that they then nestled in one of boy’s hoodies as they called for help.
First, they tried their mothers, who were perplexed as to what to do.
The boys said their mothers recommended leaving the nest on the shore for the mother to find, but the boys didn’t like that answer because they couldn’t verify if the mother was close by or even still alive.
They also were concerned because it was a windy, cold day and the twig nest was disintegrating in the choppy waves.
“We couldn’t leave them there just to die,” Bare said. “We had to do something.”
“We grabbed them and figured it out,” Harris added, finishing the thought.
First, they put in a call to Gillette Animal Control, which routed them to Gillette-based Game and Fish Wildlife Biologist Erika Peckham, who in turn called Hansen.
The pair, who are close friends, worked together to blow on the quarter-sized baby birds to warm them up enough to make the trip home with Hansen.
The smallest of the seven birds didn’t make it through the night, Hansen was sad to report to the boys, who took it in stride as part of nature.
With one save under their belt, the boys also found a bird whose foot was tied up in fishing line, which Peckham helped free.
They make a point to clean up trash at the lake, including fishing line and other hazards that might impact wildlife. Along with playing hockey and other sports together, the boys also volunteer for various events, including ringing a bell for Salvation Army at Christmastime.
Strict Rules
The boys did everything right, Hansen said, including not touching the birds, but instead calling for help. It’s actually illegal for people not certified to handle game animals and protected birds, let alone bring them home.
Getting certified under a Wyoming Game and Fish permit is an arduous process that took Hansen nearly three years to complete, beginning in 2019.
Along with taking classes under the auspices of the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council that governs wildlife rehab education, Hansen also had to partner with a local vet and two vet technicians who are legally able to treat wild animals.
She also had to be recommended by the only other mammal rehabber in the state, Susan Ahalt of Ironside Bird Rescue Inc. in Cody. Hansen works closely with Ahalt, including transporting raptors to Ahalt’s rehab facility.
She’s lost count of how many animals she’s rehabbed at this point, Hansen said, and at any given time has anywhere from eight to 20 squirrels and rabbits in the dozens of large cages filling her house.
Luckily, she has a very supportive landlord who allows her to run her rehabbing nonprofit from home and even is helpful in coming up with innovative ideas to house animals as they go from rescue to pre-release, Hansen said.
Her boss at her part-time job at Rocky Mountain Discount Sports is equally understanding, allowing Hansen to bring animals to work to facilitate their frequent feeding schedules while keeping a close eye.
First Save
Hansen, now 47, started rehabbing wild animals about 25 years ago. It began when she was working as a 911 dispatch operator in Texas.
A nurse who worked at the jail brought in six baby cottontails that she’d found after the mom was killed.
The local game warden just so happened to be standing there when the rabbits arrived and informed the women that there were no wildlife rehabbers in their area.
He encouraged Hansen to try to save them. Without knowing anything, Hansen read everything she could and was able to nurse them through their infancy and ultimately release them back into the wild.
From there, she was hooked.
To do this type of work, however, Hansen has had to harden her heart to the realities of nature.
“There’s a lot of death,” she said. “It can be really hard sometimes.”
It can also be extremely labor intensive, not to mention expensive.
Just feeding and getting animals ready for release is a full-time job, and as one of only two rehabbers in the state, Hansen rescues squirrels, rabbits and hares statewide with the help of a small team of volunteers who deliver animals to her.
Hansen also is in the process of training someone under her permit, which will be a big help as she’s always on duty whenever rescue calls comes in.
Hansen is also available to help advise and move wildlife in cases where squirrels and rabbits have become a nuisance and might be getting into bird feeders or infiltrating homes and other structures.
Assisting Nature
By far, Hansen receives the most calls for baby rabbits, mostly because people mistake them for being abandoned by their mothers when in actuality it’s common for mothers to only feed their babies twice a day.
The mother stays away from the nest to keep predators away from the nest, Hansen said.
“When the babies are tennis-ball-size, they’re big enough to be out exploring,” she said. “That’s when people think they need help, but they usually don’t.”
The hardest part about raising the rabbits is they require a specific formula for the first four weeks of life that costs $90 for 2 pounds plus separate bacteria to help digest their food.
By contrast, squirrels are relatively easy, although labor intensive — and a lot of fun — to raise. They begin opening their eyes at about 5 weeks and are ready for release around 20 weeks old.
They’re also incredibly entertaining, Hansen said, and tend to socialize really well with their rehabber.
Though it can be hard not to become emotionally attached to the animals she rehabs, Hansen is cognizant of the fact that she’s only assisting nature in circumstances when the animals have lost their mothers or are in other precarious situations where they would not otherwise survive.
It’s definitely a labor of love, Hansen admitted.
“It’s emotionally, financially and physically draining,” she said. “But I love it and just want to help.”
She funds the operation with the help of donations via Venmo and purchases on her group’s Amazon wishlist.
Now Hansen said she’s focused on getting the birds ready for release, which she estimates will be about another three weeks.
She makes a point to check in with the boys for their daily progress update. As of Sunday, the birds were starting to fill out and also had feathery patches.
Both Harris and Bare plan to be on hand to watch the birds they saved be released into the wild.
They’re back to fishing every day and now have Hansen’s number on speed dial in case they find other animals, and Hansen will be there to answer that call.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
