SHARI IS JUST ONE of the many smiling faces you will see at our Wildlife Intake Center. As one of our many tireless volunteers, Shari is always ready to take on any project that helps keep our Wildlife Intake Center open and prepared to accept injured, orphaned, and sick wildlife seven days a week.
Shari has lived in the Auburn area most of her life after moving with her family to Colfax from Nebraska when she was a child. Growing up in Colfax fostered Shari’s love of animals and the surrounding wildlife and found her contemplating a future that she hoped would one day include animals and animal care.
In January 2020, after retiring from her successful 31-year career in the real estate-title industry, Shari found herself ready to begin an exciting new chapter but was not sure where to begin. Little did she know that the tiny hummingbird she found on the ground in her yard that February would lead her to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue and an opportunity to follow her lifelong dream of working with animals. Shari brought her rescued hummingbird to our Wildlife Intake Center where she learned about Gold Country Wildlife Rescue’s Volunteer Program. It only took a few weeks before she would join Gold Country Wildlife Rescue as a volunteer. Today, Shari works at least two days each week in our Wildlife Intake Center, contributing her time, talent, and love of animals to give the rescued wildlife a second chance.
As a volunteer at our Wildlife Intake Center, Shari prepares food for the different species, cleans and prepares the various types of animal enclosures, helps with animal care, and assists with the intake of rescued wildlife. “Shari is a rock-solid volunteer,” shared Dana Fasolette, Gold Country Wildlife Rescue’s volunteer Director of Animal Care, “and does not take her job as a volunteer lightly.”
When asked if she has a favorite species, Shari cannot settle on just one. She will tell you, “I love all the animals and my favorite is probably whichever I am caring for at the time.” However, she did add, “Even though I did not assist with their care, the bear cubs last year were one of my favorites, they are such a magnificent creature.”
And while she enjoys doing anything needed to assist the Animal Care Team, she did admit that her favorite responsibility as a volunteer is hand feeding the baby birds, an animal care task assigned to volunteers with the skill and knowledge acquired through additional training. Shari’s next challenge is to learn how to sew the “Critter Nation” pads created using a special pattern and design to provide a safe, comfortable environment for wildlife patients.
And while her work as a volunteer supports the rehabilitation of countless injured and orphaned wildlife, providing for their successful return to the wild, Shari will tell you that the animals actually help her. “Watching the wildlife heal and grow, knowing they will return to the wild gives me a purpose,” said Shari, “and gives me hope.”
Shari and her husband Fred have been married for 36 years and share their home and their hearts with two dogs (Dylan and Louie), one cat (Brodie), and four chickens (Amber, Pearl, Dottie, and Lacy). In addition to volunteering at Gold Country Wildlife Rescue, Shari also volunteers two days a week alongside Fred in support of Victory’s Service Dog Ranch, Inc. where they help local veterans train their own dogs to become certified service dogs. When Shari is not giving back to her community, she enjoys working with Fred to care for their property and their garden at their home in Christian Valley.
