MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Sometimes it’s during the worst of times that you find the best achievements.
At the start of the pandemic, things were challenging for Sami Harvey.
But, it’s through those challenges that she reconnected with what she’s most passionate about. She took her love for wildlife animals and started her own wildlife rescue and rehab.
She calls herself the head raccoon in charge.
“I’ve got 12 squirrels, one flying squirrel and three raccoons,” said Sami Harvey of Out of the Woods Wildlife Rescue and Rehab.
“The first animal I saved was a squirrel. I was eight and it just set me on that path,” said Harvey.
She took a slight detour on this path. Harvey was working at the Hilton during the start of the pandemic.
“I was furloughed from my job,” said Harvey. “It was always something in the back of my mind that I would do one day. Like one day, I’ll have a rescue and then suddenly the pandemic hits and there’s nothing else to do.”
That is just what she did.
“I spent the summer earning my hours and meeting the requirements to get my license,” said Harvey.
She started Out of the Woods Wildlife Rescue and Rehab.
“One of the squirrels is literally up my sleeve. Here’s the flying squirrel,” said Harvey.
The little fella up Harvey's sleeve is a baby and needs body heat and company.
“They know that you’re there to help them and they just relax,” said Harvey. “As they get weened from their bottle and on solids, then I start weening myself. We get more distance. He won’t be carried on me. I stop talking at a certain point...It’s like watching your children grow up before your eyes. They do it so fast. They say don’t bond with them and you don’t, but you do.”
It is an unescapable bond that leads towards a better and healthier life.
“My job is to love them and make them strong and make them good people and set them off into the world,” said Harvey.
Although Out of the Woods Wildlife has only been running for about two weeks, they’ve received countless calls to rescue.