Maryland lost one of its great rehabbers....

[Katelin]

Maryland lost one of her best wildlife rehabbers this weekend.

Gerda Deterer, died from a year long battle with cancer late Friday night.

She was the Director of Wildlife Rescue, Inc., where many of southern Maryland fawns, eagles, owls, hawks, osprey, herons went for treatment and rehab. I did my share in transporting a good number of these animals.

Gerda began rehabbing at a time before there were "wildlife rehabilitators."

She began her work back in the late 70's in the Dundalk area and began with birds, and was known as the Bird Lady of Dundalk, and in 1994, founded " Wild Bird Rescue."
Time passed and she and her husband Wayne moved to Hampstead and expanded to Wildlife Rescue, a 501 (c)3 group.
Wanye died the day after Christmas in 2007. Gerda discovered she had lung cancer in September of 2008.

She was one of 2 master rehabbers that trained me in rabie vector species and I could not have had a better friend and teacher! She has trained a lot of rehabbers and volunteers and answered many rescue calls! Her legacy will continue because of all the people that came and worked for her and the animals.
She answered phone calls from all over Maryland and espically Baltimore city!!!

Some of the calls were so funny!!!!
Like the caller from Baltimore who saw a rat in an alley and was so scared!! She wanted Gerda to come right away and trap/remove it.

She was one of 5 rehabbers in Maryland to have a permit to take in fawns.
She also had an eagle permit to take in and rehab eagles, that is why many of our injured and sick eagles went there.

Wildlife Rescue will continue, but no one can fill the void left by Gerda, her absence will be felt all over the state when it comes to a wild animal in need.

Rest in Peace Gerda..

 

[dawn]

I'm sorry. Is there anyone that will continue working with her animals, if she had any she was working with?

 

[Cowgirl]

I think I may have talked to her (or her sister?) last month when I had the baby bird.

RIP Gerda.

 

[Katelin]

I think I may have talked to her (or her sister?) last month when I had the baby bird.

RIP Gerda.

Yes, you talked to Gerda!

The Baltimore Sun did a beautiful article on her and her life.
She was only 68...



Gerda M. Deterer
Founder of Wildlife Rescue Inc. saved animals and fought against deer hunting in the Loch Raven Reservoir area

Gerda M. Deterer




By Frederick N. Rasmussen | fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com
October 8, 2009




Gerda M. Deterer, one of Maryland's best-known animal advocates who was founder and president of Wildlife Rescue Inc., died of cancer Friday at Carroll Hospice's Dove House in Westminster. The Hampstead resident was 68.

Gerda M. Reuss, whose parents were restaurateurs, was born and raised in Bad Kissingen, Germany, where she also attended high school.

As a child, Mrs. Deterer began her lifelong interest in animals.

"In those days, we had dogs and they were German shepherds. Also, Gerda was always out trying to help injured animals," said a sister, Hannelore Perkins, who lives in San Antonio.

In 1960, Mrs. Deterer, who became a trained pastry chef, immigrated to Baltimore and settled in Dundalk. She later worked for several years at Karson's Inn as a waitress and pie maker.

Mrs. Deterer met her future husband, William Wayne Deterer, a maintenance worker and an avid hunter, in 1963. Her passion for saving animals inspired her husband, whom she married in 1984 after a two-decade courtship.

After giving up hunting and fishing, Mr. Deterer helped his wife run a bird rehabilitation center that she operated from their Dundalk bungalow.

"He made the unfortunate decision of hooking up with me, and he completely gave up hunting and realized that animals had a right to live," Mrs. Deterer told The Baltimore Sun at her husband's death in 2007.

Initially, the couple had established Wild Bird Rescue in the late 1970s, an all-volunteer organization. In 1994, they changed its name to Wildlife Rescue Inc. while expanding their work from caring for injured birds and raptors to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing back into the wild foxes, raccoons, fawns, squirrels and rabbits.

As their work expanded, they moved to a 17-acre farm in Hampstead where they and their volunteers were able to continue their work.

"They did their work without any funding from the state or federal government. They were able to do their work because of people who helped them with donations," said Enid Feinberg, vice president of Wildlife Rescue Inc., and a longtime friend and animal lover. "She never took a penny of compensation."

Ms. Feinberg explained that while the organization has more than 2,500 members, there are about 80 trained volunteer rescuers who go out on calls and bring injured animals back to the farm.

"We respond to about 2,000 wildlife emergencies a year," Ms. Feinberg said. "Gerda always said, 'The reward of being able to be there for the animals in their time of need is all the compensation I want.' "

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and National Aquarium are some of the numerous agencies that rely upon Mrs. Deterer's organization to respond to emergency calls.

"Gerda has been rehabilitating animals for more than 20 years and always set a good example. She believed in both ethics and principles, and this is the message she sent to the public," said Mary Goldie, permits coordinator for the Wildlife and Heritage Service of the state Department of Natural Resources.

"We knew that the animals under her care were getting the best care and that she would do all she could for them," Ms. Goldie said.

Di Conger is president of the Maryland Wildlife Rehabilitators Association that is headquartered in Thurmont.

"Gerda's care and concern for animals was remarkable and she was the same way toward humans," Ms. Conger said. "She was a wonderful person. She was kind, funny and had endless energy and was always willing to help."

Mrs. Deterer also was an advocate for educating the public about wildlife and supported educational outreach into communities.

Mrs. Deterer's stance on wildlife protection clashed last year with those who advocated thinning the deer population in Loch Raven Reservoir by allowing hunting.

"Loch Raven Reservoir is supposed to be a sanctuary," Mrs. Deterer told The Baltimore Sun at the time. "The thought of it becoming a killing field is not palatable."

In a letter to Mrs. Deterer praising her organization's assistance to the Baltimore City Bureau of Animal Control in saving more than 3,000 wild animals without any compensation, then-city health commissioner Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, now deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration, wrote: "This act alone, demonstrates the organization's priority to the wellness of animals. Wildlife Rescue's mission to aid all animals in need knows no boundaries or jurisdictions."

"We hope to continue to honor her and not let Gerda's dream die. So rather than mourning her loss, we will celebrate what she devoted her life to," said Ms. Feinberg.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Peaceful Alternatives Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 2325 York Road in Timonium.

Also surviving are sisters Irene Sutton of Houston, Marianne Valentine of Bolingbrook, Ill., Annerose Schriener and Petra Zanbite, both of Germany; and many nieces and nephews.


Copyright © 2009, The Baltimore Sun

 

[frequentflier]

 

[Katelin]

I'm sorry. Is there anyone that will continue working with her animals, if she had any she was working with?

ALL the animals have been relocated..I got to release 2 of her osprey the Friday that she died...
Raccoons have come south and will be set up for release in a couple of weeks at a private and secure location.
All of the fawns ( but 3) have been released....the last 3 are pending relocation.
Birds are being relocated as no one has a valid USFW permit to keep them there. I have asked for one to be offered to Cypress Swamp to replace the blind barred owl they once had.
Possums are relocated as are the squirrels.
I dont think there are any more mammels, just domestic stock and 2 household cats: Tom and Jerry.
I am not sure of the bird count: exotic and wild.

Gerdas place: Wildlife Rescue will reopen once the Board of Directors figures out what to do and how best to do it.
For now, the season has wound down and what callsthere are, are few, and far between.

Gerda trained a lot of us, both rehabbers and transport volunteers. I was blessed to be one of those rehabbers she trained and sponsered.

There is a great network of licensed rehabbers here in SoMD who will continue to do the best for the animals in need!!

It will be hard for a while to resist the natural urge to pick up the phone with a question you know she can answer....(sigh)......only to realize she is no longer there.