Wildlife

Wildlife. City of Sanibel Heritage Trail. , The Beginning of CROW , In 1968, islander Shirley Walter found a bird that had been struck by a car on the Sanibel Causeway. Finding no services for injured wildlife, she took the bird to her home. Along with the help of Dr. Phyllis Douglass and a small group of volunteers, Shirley answered 500 distress calls that year. , , The Hospital and Visitor Information Center , In 1972, CROW first established as Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife; it was not until 2000 that CROW was renamed Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. The organization relocated to various properties on the islands until 1980, after purchasing ten acres of property on Sanibel-Captiva Road from the Sawbridge family. The first medical facility opened for patients in 1981, operating until Hurricane Charley devastated the area in 2004. The "Commitment to Compassion" fundraiser provided support for a new facility and, in 2008, CROW celebrated its 40th anniversary with the opening of a new veterinary hospital, student dormitory and visitor education center. Annually, the hospital admits between 3,500 to 4,000 patients, of more than 150 species of native and migratory wildlife. , , A Sanctuary Island , Sanibel boasts a wide variety of ecological settings, from the gulf beaches to interior wetlands to the mangrove forests along Tarpon Bay. Approximately two-thirds of Sanibel Island is conservation land. With minimal human disturbance, habitats are able to flourish. Sanibel is home to nearly 300 species of birds-just under one-third of all bird species found in North America-as well as numerous reptiles, amphibians, fish, mollusks, and arthropods. Mammals found on Sanibel and in the surrounding waters include river otters, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, bobcats, bottlenose dolphins, and endangered West Indian manatees. Sanibel beaches provide important nesting habitat for sea turtles and shorebirds. , (captions) , CROW founder Shirley Walter with one of her patients. , , CROW veterinary intern performs a skin graft surgery on a Barred Owl.