Early Summer is the busy season for the volunteers at Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care, the group that attempts to rehabilitate sick and injured animals to return them to the wild. Perhaps, victims of their own success, this year has been busier than ever, so much so that the volunteers are running themselves ragged and could use some help.

When we stopped by the Wildlife Care Center at Cindy Kamler’s home near Keough’s Hot Spring, the volunteers were busy caring for a large number of birds of all stripes from baby hummingbirds, who were ready to be released back into the wild, to a great horned owl with a head injury, an owl who has improved but may never be able to be set free.

One young raccoon had fallen off the top of a trailer and suffered a head injury, the volunteers were hopeful that the animal would recover enough to be set free.

Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care has already had well over 300 animals at the center so far this year, about the same number as all of last year. More wildlife volunteers are needed to keep up.

If you volunteer to help out at the wildlife care center, Kamler says that they need help cleaning cages and feeding the animals. At a frequency that human parents can appreciate, some of the baby birds have to be fed every 45 minutes.

If you live in Mammoth Lakes or Mono County or anywhere else relatively far from Keough’s Hot Spring, Cindy Kamler says that they can always use some help picking up the animals whenever they get a call for a hurt creature.

If you have some spare time and energy and you’d like to lend a hand to the compassionate work at Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care, call Donna McMullen at 872-5021. She’s the volunteer coordinator for the care center. That’s her work number, but you can leave a message. Again that number is 872-5021.