Written by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT
Dexter, Missouri – It was finally time to get off the bottle and move on to more enticing foods such as insects, worms, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. But it was difficult at first to let them go. As far back as she could remember, Jessica Loflin, wanted to take care of the sick and injured animals.
"Some day when I grow up, I am going to be a animal doctor and take care of all the animals in the world," she would declare as a young child. As she grew older, she new she wanted to be a veterinarian.
Our house has and probably will always be full of animals of all shapes and sizes. Some with fur, some with scales, and some with shells. No matter what the species, they have always been welcome. There is perhaps an invisible sign on the front door that welcomes all animals, lost ones and stray ones and those that just stop by for a meal or a treat before moving on.
Murtle, the turtle has been in our family well over 60 years. She was first brought home by Jessica’s grandfather who has since passed on, but has been handed down through the family as a keepsake. She begs for food most any night. Her diet consists of meal worms, fruits, vegetables and dry dog food. She loves scrambled eggs and pizza and on occasion hamburger. Her most recent favorite has been squash dipped in cherry cool-aid!
Most of the other critters have been rats, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, cats, dogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes. Jars of various species of insects and spiders typically are on the kitchen table, waiting to hatch, lay eggs, or make their cocoons.
When "Ricki and Rocky" were discovered in an attic in the middle of Dexter, the owner had no idea what to do with them. Their mother had been killed by a car just down the street and they were hungry, cold, and wanted to be with their mommy. They looked to be about a week old, eyes were not even open yet. Somehow like many lost souls, they managed to find their way into Jessica’s care and before long the little ladies were being nourished back to health. They were cute! They even had different personalities.
But raccoons are critters not to be raised in the living room nor kept in captivity. They eat all the time and require socialization with other raccoons and are extremely messy. Jessica was bottle feeding around the clock as their small stomachs could not hold much formula. As soon as one completed a bottle the other was waiting to attack. Back and forth until they were either too tired or they simply could hold no more. Once they were eating solid food it was time to start their journey back to the wild.
Knowing that they needed to find a home and that they required at least another 5 months of care without too much human interaction, Jessica contacted the Watkins Wildlife Rehab located in Sedgewickville, Missouri.
Mrs. Carolyn Watkins, owner and operator for more than 45 years answered the phone and agreed to take Ricki and Rocky into rehab, as baby raccoons stay for about six to eight months with their mother before they can be released on their own.
The girls traveled to their new home and were placed in a rather large totally enclosed area with several other baby raccoons of the same age. They immediately began to play and eat and climb the fencing. They were happy! They were socializing with their own kind. Jessica felt she had ultimately saved their lives and was glad she found them a place to grow and learn how to be raccoons. She was also overwhelmed with emotion of seeing so many animals in need.
On the day Ricky and Rocky were taken in, there were 9 baby deer, two coyote pups, one fox, one male Bald Eagle, one female Bald Eagle, one wolf, three baby skunks, two baby possums, one owl, thirty or more raccoons of three different age groups, and many more in the care of the Watkins Wildlife Rehab. Carolyn even received two phone calls from a veterinarian and conservation agent and found she would be receiving a baby bat, another raccoon and two baby woodpeckers.
The Watkins also have a menagerie of their own pets: four dogs, five cats, a chinchilla, parrot, three horses (rescued), goats, sheep, a burrow, a turkey, ducks, peacocks, and geese. “A lot of them were just dumped off because people didn’t want them anymore. We just love animals and couldn’t say no.” says Carolyn.
The Watkins Wildlife Rehab homes several species of animals throughout the year and even has some long term residents who can never return to their natural habitat. They are a nonprofit, charitable organization serving Southeast Missouri. Their mission is to respond to the rehabilitative needs of sick, injured, and orphaned Missouri mammals, reptiles, birds of prey, and migratory wildfowl.
“I do get attached. A lot of people ask me that, if I hate when they leave,” says Carolyn. She bonds with the animals, especially those that require more hands-on time like the coyotes and bobcats. “I know the ultimate goal is to set them free. Sometimes they shoot out the door and take off and never look back when we are releasing them. Others hang around and sniff the air. It‘s a whole new world for them.”
Still caring for so many animals every day can take its toll. The cleaning and feeding never ends. Volunteers staff their facility and they are funded entirely by charitable donations. John and Carolyn Watkins, have forty plus years of experience caring for orphaned and injured wildlife, and hold the following licenses: Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit #354, which provides authority for qualified individuals to take, possess, transport and hold in captivity for rehabilitation, sick or injured wildlife; and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit MB683425-0, which provides authorization for raptor rehabilitation.
They receive no state or federal funding. The cost of food, medication, and sheltered wildlife enclosures comes entirely from private sources. Throughout the year, orphaned and injured animals are brought to them from private citizens like Jessica, veterinarians, law enforcement, and conservation agents.
Tax deductible donations can make it possible for them to care for these animals until they can safely be released back into the wild. You may donate securely online at their website, http://www.watkinswildliferehab.org through PayPal by clicking the “Donate” button. You may also send a check to Watkins Wildlife Rehab, HCR 62, Box 17, Sedgewickville, MO 63781.
Offering your help and time can also be a tremendous and useful way to benefit the animals. Just contact Carolyn Watkins at 573-866-3436 to set up a time. The grounds area can always utilize someone mowing, weed-eating, and general clean-up of cages and enclosed areas. Also if you have mice available to donate, please contact her. Mice are quite expensive and they are a main source of foods for hawks, owls, and eagles. They had all three the day Ricki and Rocky came to stay.
Does your Boy Scout troop or Girl Scout troop need a project? There is plenty of painting to be done or perhaps they can host a food drive. The animals are in need of dry kitten food for baby raccoons and opossums, timothy or alfalfa hay for rabbits, canned kitten food or canned cat food for foxes, raccoons, and opossums, dry puppy food for baby coyotes, cedar chip bedding which prevents bugs in their dens, bird feed, kitten milk replacement for baby deer, baby rice cereal used in with the milk replacement, unsalted nuts for squirrels and birds, rabbit food pellets, freeze dried fruit without the sugar, and puppy milk replacement.
People have been generous to them. Through the donations over the past few years they have been able to get a concrete platform poured with drains. This is not only easier to clean but also saves money on bedding. In addition, they have two new metal cages and some smaller wooden cages. Some wonderful volunteers even rehabbed the old cages and recycled some items from around the farm and built new cages.
Even with this generosity, the need never ends. Since Watkins Wildlife Rehab is funded through private donations, fundraising is necessary to continue the mission to care for injured, ill and orphaned wildlife.
Please visit their website and make a donation, www.watkinswildliferehab.org.
You may also call Jessica Loflin at 573-380-9787 for food, bedding, or other donations. She will be glad to pick them up and deliver them!
Jessica will be attending Southeast Missouri State University this year in anticipation of completing her pre-veterinary curriculum. Once completed she will be applying to the University of Missouri – Veterinary School to further her education.
Written by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT
Round two for KRUSE KORN will be on Thursday, July 18th around 5 p.m. at West Park in Dexter! If you want to pre-order, they will have it sacked and ready for you. It is good stuff! SUPER SWEET! $4 a dozen. Just go to Kerri Grobe Kruse or Scott Kruse's Facebook pages and let them know. The girls will be so excited. This is how they earn their summer money and they work very hard!
Addie and Andie Kruse and Magi Mcbride will be anxiously awaiting for people to drop buy and buy some corn!
Written by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT
Dexter, Missouri - The Rotary Club of Dexter would like to thank all the sponsors of the 8th Annual Dexter Rotary Club Golf Tournament held Friday, July 12th.
The following businesses contributed to the success of the local golf tournament and were recognized at each tee box. Signs were placed at each hole throughout the course at the Hidden Valley Trails Country Club golf course. These tournaments could not be made possible without a multitude of volunteers and sponsors. Thank you for your continued support.
A Cut Above Lawn Service Chrisman LP Gas
Dr. Bobby Jibben Dr. William T. Kane
MHJ Insurance Mid-South Drywall
Advanced Automotive Hickory Log
First Midwest Bank First National Bank
Montgomery Bank No Place Like Home
Allen Christian Buick Classic home Loans
Norm Robinson Insurance PBS Bernie
Grade Rite Inc. Pizza Hut
Greenway Equipment Powell Supply
American National Insurance
Proline GPS and Lasers Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home
Harper Ag Repair Harry Blackwell
Riley Stubbs & Cato Saveway Petroleum
Southeast Health Specialty Engineering
Autry Morlan Chevrolet County Wide Insurance Company
Christian Dowdy Lumber Holey Cow Café’
Baker Implement Company Demaree-Mitchell Dental
Jarrell Law Office Jean & Company
Bootheel Petroleum Company Dexter BBQ
John Simmons DDS John William Ringer
Chrisman Tire Dexter Music Center
Marithon Benefits Group Mayberry Seed Company
Starle Norman Insurance The Loft
Watkins & Sons Billy Pat Wright
Doug Libla Southeast Fire Insurance
Cypress Point Nursing Center County Wide Abstract
Funds collected from the 8th Annual Dexter Rotary Club Golf Tournament will be distributed to the Moore, Oklahoma tornado victims as well as used for many local community projects and scholarships to Dexter Senior High School students in the spring.
If you would like to volunteer for next year’s golf tournament or any community event hosted by the Dexter Rotary Club please contact a Rotarian or find them on Facebook for more information about the International Rotary Club. They are always looking for new members in the community.
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT
Jefferson City, Missouri - Missourians from every corner of the state worked together in April to collect almost 130,000 bags of litter during the 2013 No MOre Trash! Bash.
The Bash is an annual event where volunteers and others clean up litter all across state - from roadsides and parks to rivers and streams. With the final reporting now complete, the Missouri departments of Conservation and Transportation report 129,255 bags collected in April during the Bash.
"On behalf of our state's forests, fish and wildlife, and the millions of Missourians who enjoy them, we offer a great big ‘Thank You!' to the almost 1,000 groups and more than 16,000 volunteers who bashed trash by picking up litter and educating others about the dangers of littering," said Conservation Department No MOre Trash! Coordinator Joe Jerek.
"Animals get tangled in litter, such as plastic six-pack holders and discarded fishing line, and it hurts and kills them." Litter poisons fish, birds and other wildlife, along with their habitats, such as rivers, fields and forests. Trash Bash volunteer efforts are essential to prevent that from happening.
"The No MOre Trash! Bash is a success because everyone involved pitches in," said Stacy Armstrong, MoDOT roadside management specialist. "Conservation groups, Adopt-A-Highway members, Stream Teams, inmates, MoDOT employees and many other volunteers all work together to pick up litter and give Missouri a spring cleaning."
Hundreds of educational efforts were also held in schools, at rest areas, community events, during Earth Day celebrations, and more.
While it's great to see the impact these efforts have, it's important to remember why they take place. "Litter is a big problem because it's unattractive, costly, and harmful to the environment," said Armstrong. "If more people would keep their trash and properly dispose of it, or, better yet, recycle it, we would reduce the amount of litter we need to pick up in the first place.
"
For MoDOT, litter clean-up is a year-round job, costing the state over $5 million every year. Programs like the Trash Bash and the Adopt-A-Highway program help offset those costs and allow the department to devote resources to other much needed tasks.
The No MOre Trash! Bash is sponsored by the Missouri departments of Conservation and Transportation.
For more information about the Bash and other litter prevention activities, visit www.nomoretrash.org or call 888-ASK-MoDOT (888-275-6636).
Written by
Dee Loflin, Manager/Writer SMT
Stoddard County, Missouri – The American Red Cross blood supply took serious hits during the Independence Day holiday and days following. The Red Cross has issued emergency requests for blood and platelet donors.
They need blood of all types, and those with O negative, B negative and A negative blood are especially encouraged to give. There is also a critical need for platelet donors as well.
Nationwide, donations through the Red Cross were down approximately 10% in June, resulting in about 50,000 fewer d onations than expected. This is not unusual for this time of the year with many on vacation this time of year there are more people traveling, more accidents therefore more folks require blood or blood platelts. At the same time less people are donating during the summer months.
There will be two blood drives in Stoddard County.
July 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wal-Mart, 2025 W. Business Highway 60 in Dexter, Mo.
July 19 from 1-5 p.m. at Bank of Advance, 105 E. Gabriel in Advance, Mo.
