Article content continued

It took almost those full seven years to convince the province to let them set up a wildlife rehab centre. But after getting through all the red tape, the shelter has been expanding ever since.

As has the Langen family.

Photo by Handout / PNG

Today, the couple is joined by their daughter Tanja Landry (a high school teacher), her husband Shawn (a journeyman linesman and conductor for CN Rail), and that couple’s young daughters Tasha and Thora. Also at the centre is their son Michael Langen (a lumber salesman), and Kim Gruijs, a certified wildlife rehabilitator from the Netherlands who first arrived in 2008 with a six-month commitment to volunteer and who returned yearly until she decided to emigrate to Canada in 2013.

The shelter specializes in black bears, deer and moose, and the grounds are excellent for allowing the latter two to gradually be reintroduced into the wild, rather than the sudden and permanent release for most rehabbed wildlife.

(This year, things may be a bit more rushed because food and money donations probably won’t be as forthcoming because of the COVIDS-19 virus.)

The fawns and calves don’t go too far while they are being bottle fed, and by fall they are locked up at night to keep predators at bay.

By January, that stops and the young animals are free to go.

Human contact with the animals is kept to a minimum at the rescue shelter.

“What we’ve found here is the ungulates seem to distinguish between places, not the people connected to the place,” Angelika Langen said. “It’s the place that’s the safe area. If you try to approach them in the field, it’s a totally different reaction to us.”