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Jack’s Journal: Wildlife Rehabilitator

She’s a real life Dr. Doolittle. She talks to the animals as a wildlife rehabilitator. Her yard is a menagerie.

 “Baby birds, bunnies, porcupines, raccoons, even though I limit the number of raccoons. Anything that comes my way, I take care of,” said Jyl Gaskin.

And the animals keep coming, mostly wildlife but there are some domesticated animals here too.  They come from the DNR, vets, and just plain folks who hear about this unique yard. Pat Pat the goose is the yard superintendent. He was a farm store order that was never picked up.

Jyl has been a sucker for a stranded animal from an early age. At 7 years old she was finding the strays.

“It’s something I’ve always done.  I use to keep them all in my top drawer of my dresser.  My mother just learned to never open that drawer.  She didn’t know if it was a baby goose or snakes,” said Jyl.

This group of misfits and castoffs all get along. Jyl says they seem to know that they are all in a pickle and here they’re safe.  When they are old enough, or strong enough, away they go.  But until that happy day her’s is a 24/7 job.

“I don’t leave the house for more than 5 hours during the summer, and if I do, I may have a playpen with fawns in my car, or a basket of birds in my purse, or a baby squirrel in my pocket. They have to be fed,” explained Jyl.

Like most wildlife rescuers, Jyl is self-funded. You can find a link to a GoFundMe page on .