Oregon Public Broadcasting

In the rural West, summer is roadkill season. But what happens to animals who live through their encounter with our cars -- injured, but not dead?

Fish and Wildlife, the police, and most vets don't take them in. That's where wildlife rehabilitators come in -- the people who act as the emergency room doctors for injured critters. Jefferson Public Radio's Jessica Robinson has this story.

Karen Goron says the first rule is: No names.

Karen Goron: "We tend not to name the rehab animals because then we get too attached. So, I -- I tend to just call animals, um, boo-boo. [laughs]"

Goron is the vet tech at Wildlife Images, a rehabilitation center in southern Oregon. The non-profit receives more than a thousand injured animals a year. And if Goron is successful, she never sees them again.

Cries of bald eagles and great horned owls punctuate the early morning. There's excitement in the air. It's Release Day: the moment of truth for a wildlife rehabilitator.

Goron emerges from a backroom in the bird facility grasping a wildeyed pileated woodpecker ñ the largest species of woodpecker in North America. And this bird is not happy.

Her red crest is an angry, crimson blur as she pecks in the direction of Goron's fingers.

Karen Goron: "You're a sassy little girl!"

She was found by the side of the road with a broken leg and wing.

Karen Goron: "Normally, that would be a pretty poor prognosis, but she's been feisty all along, she's been a great eater. So we had high hopes for her. The question was always her wing and whether she'd be able to fly again."

Karen Goron: "You're going to go free today sweetheart. One more terrible ride in a small cage and then you'll get to go in the trees. Kay?"

Mark Vargas: "You know this time of year, there are a lot of injured animals."

Mark Vargas is a biologist in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Medford office.

Often, Fish and Wildlife has no choice but to euthanize injured animals. But in cases where an animal could return to the wild, they call a licensed rehabilitator. And summer -- is a busy time.

Mark Vargas: "Animals are becoming a lot more active, the young are leaving their burrows, dens nests, and the more animals that move around, the more conflict they're going to have with vehicles. There's a lot o' roads in this county, and vehicles travel them heavy."

Goron and a group of her coworkers are now scanning the outskirts of town, looking for just the right stand of trees.

"How about right here?

"This looks better than the other spot, this is a good spot."

They stop by a stand of pines and Goron pulls the nameless woodpecker out of her cage.

Karen Goron: "She's very upset because her crest is as high as it can go."

She walks close to the edge of the forest

Karen Goron: "Are we ready?"

And she let's go.

Ambient Sound: Flapping

Karen Goron: "That is so cool."

Then, as if on cue, two more pileated woodpeckers emerge from the woods.

"Oh my god

"That is the best thing ever!

"Oh my god."

The three birds fly figure eights around each other, and wing off through the trees. Goron watches until they're out of sight.

Karen Goron: "Well good luck to you honey, nice to know you."

It was a successful release; the woodpecker is wild again. Another one saved. Even so, on the drive back, Goron doesn't say much.