Whether it’s a broken-winged bat, twin baby foxes or an orphaned squirrel, wildlife rehabilitator Moon Taylor will do her best to restore the animals to their natural habitat.
The Arlington resident has been caring for animals since she was a child growing up on a small farm in Colorado. Now 50, she is listed with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and says the wildlife she cares for is mainly brought to her by citizens, animal control specialists and game wardens.
“The baby wolf came from Six Flags,” she says.
The pup, which was found near the Titan, had been slowly trying to follow people around, Taylor says, before park employees intervened. Not only was the wolf dehydrated, but it also had cuts, scratches and fleas.
“It’s bottle fed,” she says. “Mama can’t be found right now. So I’m mama.”
Taylor, who talked with Arlington Today while at River Legacy Park recently, has seen everything from broken legs to torn stomachs, she says, adding that animals such as raccoons, opossums, bobcats and coyotes are often rescued from local homes, parks and businesses.
“All of the trees are being cut down more for housing,” she says. “So we’re seeing more of them.”
Taylor works with a veterinarian who makes house calls and who also owns land where she can release the animals back into the wild. Friends and family who do not allow hunting on their property also let her release wildlife onto their land.
Taylor, who sometimes receives calls from surrounding cities, says she got a call a few weeks ago about a feral hog near Midlothian. “A wild hog was loose in a woman’s house,” she says. “She literally sent a picture of her standing on a table. At first, I really did think it was one of my colleagues playing a joke on me.”
The call wasn’t a joke, and Taylor referred the woman to the game warden, she says, since she doesn’t handle wild hogs, porcupines, snakes, skunks or spiders.
When not caring for the wildlife, Taylor might be managing her med spa, Tranquility by Moon, or earning extra money working as a dispatcher to buy supplies needed to care for the animals.
Taylor says she’ll continue to advocate for the wildlife even though she has been “torn up” a few times in the past.
“I will fight to the end,” she says. “I’ll stand up for what I believe in.”
“We need the laws about animal rights changed,” she continues. “We don’t have enough wildlife rehabbers because in order to become one it is very strict.”
Taylor also explains how people often get away with abusing and torturing animals, while others are punished or fined for trying to help care for injured wildlife.
“Once you’ve given them water and doctored them, they give you immediate kindness,” she says, noting that sometimes humans may not even offer a “thank you.”
“The only threat in this world is humans,” Taylor continues. “We’re harming everything.”
