PORTLAND, Ore. — On Monday, a group of dedicated Portland Audubon employees hiked into work to care for animals despite a historic April snowstorm that downed trees, closing an access road.
“We were there for the pandemic. We’re there during snow days. We’re there regardless of what's going on and today there were a lot of downed tree branches and things like that that were blocking the road, along with the slushy conditions,” said Stephanie Herman, manager of the Wildlife Care Center, as she described a photo that was posted on the Portland Audubon Twitter account.
The photo shows two staff members walking in the snow with a tree behind them that had fallen over the road.
“There's been other snowstorms in Portland that have prevented us from getting up using the roads and our cars, and we've hiked them before and we'll do it again,” Herman said.
She said for those who work with animals, and those involved in wildlife rehabilitation specifically, the work becomes more than a job.
“Right now. We have a fleet of baby hummingbirds in here and they need to be fed every 30 minutes all day, every day and they can't miss feedings. That's our responsibility to them,” said Herman.
“We care about the animals and we want to see them succeed and be released back into the wild and we can’t just skip a day. We can’t just not be there for them,” she said.
Herman said three team members hiked in on Monday in order to take care of 41 animals. For a portion of the day, they did their jobs without electricity as the snow storm knocked out power to thousands.
Founded in 1902, Portland Audubon is a nonprofit that advocates for wildlife and conservation efforts while also helping injured or orphaned birds and other wildlife.