PIERCETON - Does routinely leave their fawns for 12 to 14 hours shortly after giving birth.

The baby curls up where it is left until the mother returns. But sometimes deer abandon their babies or cannot get back to them.

That's when animal rehabilitators like Launda Ewell come to the rescue. Her advice is to leave the animals alone.

"The mother will not come back if you or your pets are in the area," she said from her secluded property off Ind. 13. "This little girl was born in someone's yard and left for three days. That's too long. The mother would have come back long before then, if she was going to."

The 10-day-old fawn she indicated lay quiet and alert in a human baby crib in Ewell's nursery. Another fawn lay nearby, motionless. The second baby had a gaping neck wound caused by an unfortunate encounter with a fence.

"I don't know if she'll make it or not, but I'll try."

In stacked cages along the nursery wall a clamor began when a "starving" baby raccoon screamed.

"That's the 'Spazmanian Devil,'" she said, laughing. "He thinks he's always hungry. He has been fed today." The other babies - more raccoons, an opossum and a set of tiny squirrels didn't pay any mind to the squaller.

"Raccoons will eat until they literally pop. They're fed with puppy or kitten replacement milk. Never give them cow's milk and make sure the animal is warm before feeding it. up. If you try and feed a cold animal, you'll kill it."

The squirrels were found abandoned when a summer house was opened. In an abandoned factory, workers killed a female raccoon before they knew about the nest. Another group of baby raccoons was discovered in a boat coming out of storage.

This is Ewell's third year as a state-licensed mammal rehabilitator. Three years ago on her birthday, Aug. 19, she found a fawn and started feeding it. The baby she named Seven died, but she was hooked. Rehabilitators have to have a license and work under the direction of a veterinarian.

She contacted the Manchester Veterinary Clinic in North Manchester. The vets there will treat wild and exotic animals. Her property was inspected by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources for suitability and her 3-1/2 wooded acres in the woods was approved.

She named her center Seven's Heaven in memory of her "birthday present."

"I cannot credit Dr. Cole and Dr. Overmeyer in North Manchester enough," she said.

In 2001, Ewell had two or three animals. During the second year, Seven's Heaven had one-third of the animals she has now.

Her telephone is constantly ringing with callers who mostly ask for information. Others ask help or rescue.

Sometimes she picks the animals up, other times the infants are delivered.

"These guys," she said of the three friendly ferrets in another area, "belonged to children who grew tired of them. Do your research on exotics. Talk to people who have them. Find a veterinarian. Some vets won't take care of them. People don't do enough research before getting an exotic. Then they call me."

Other examples of animal fads gone bad inhabit the barn yard.

"This guy was thrown out of an apartment for being a pig," she said of the brown and white pot-bellied swine trotting around the barn yard. "The owners didn't want him after he started rooting up the mattress."

A one-horned pygmy goat, who had been penned with a Rotweiler, also inhabits the barn yard.

Ewell keeps a pampered Shetland pony for her grandchildren and another goat, too.

Beyond the barn is another fenced-in area with farm deer - two does and a buck she purchased before the rehabilitation population exploded.

"Separate licenses are required for farm deer and for wild deer. The two must never be mixed together."

One of the does had recently given birth to twins who were sleeping in a pile of straw. The other doe paced the fence, panting, in labor, Ewell explained. She said the deer birth was amazing with both the doe and the buck helping to clean the fawns. The buck also laid near the babies routinely, keeping watch.

"That really surprised me. I didn't know what he would do."

Across from the farm deer is a "graduation" pen where older fawns are kept before release. Rehabilitators can keep an animal 180 days, then they're on their own. The Koinonia Nature Preserve is nearby.

"This is an excellent place to release," she said. "I usually don't see them again. One doe kept coming back, but I haven't seen her for a while now. She found a wild herd."

Ewell would appreciate volunteers. She lives off her savings and the kindness of others who donate money, food and supplies. Seven's Heaven is a non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.

"I need heating pads and help," she said of the job that begins at 6 a.m. every day and ends around midnight.

Her compassion for animals was fostered by her late mother who took in creatures from an animal shelter.

Her brother, Brian Smith, helps out and she has two "raccoon moms" and an "opossum mom" who work under her license.

Ewell also performs magic shows which, naturally, features a variety of furry friends - Giant Flemish rabbits, Hoto rabbits, a couple of skunks and a serval.

"He's 7-years-old now," Ewell said of Pushido, the serval. "He rules the house and my life."

Ewell said two Allen County rehabilitators have stopped taking animals recently and she knows why - they're exhausted from the hours. "They're underpaid and understaffed, like me."

More rehabilitators, especially people specializing in birds - song birds, raptors and water fowl - are needed.

"You have to have the land, the facilities and the cages because you're subject to inspection by the DNR. You must have access to information; the Internet is a great help there. You have to be half crazy, too.

"I had a lot to learn and had to steel myself against losses. Last year I cried and cried until I thought I'd dehydrate. One of these cases might not make it, but I'll make it. I'm just giving them all a chance."

For more information, call Ewell at 260-839-0705 or by e-mail at: [email protected] [[In-content Ad]]