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Kimberly Schilling's parents used to allow her to nurture the
wounded bunnies and birds she constantly brought home as a
child, as long as she kept the animals outdoors.
"When you are older and have
your own place, you can have as many animals as you want,
" they told her.
Now in her early 30s, Schilling
hesitates to say exactly how many animals live with her and her
husband, David, at their Palos Park home. The ones she
introduced by name gave some indication.
In an after-work tour of her
property, Schilling received warm welcomes from a wallaby
("Sydney"), a talking parrot ("Sam"),
a raccoon ("Mikey"), and six or more foxes (including
"Kate,""Dakota," "Shamus" and
"Smooch").
The welcome from her alligator
("Boots"), who popped his head out of his watery bed
in a metal trough as she passed, wasn't exactly warm, but the
one from the 25-pound Canadian lynx ("Sasha")
certainly was. The wildcat pounced at Schilling's petite frame
from several feet away, sending her stumbling back in laughter
as it draped its sizable paws around her for a furry, forceful
hug.
Schilling works at the Ferrara Pan
Candy factory during the day. Her home, licensed and inspected
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, doubles as an exotic
animal rescue and no-kill sanctuary called Animals For
Awareness.
Schilling recently wrote a book
called "Ferrets for Dummies," which will be out in
the fall. The 400-page, comprehensive guide originally was
titled "The Wonderful World of Ferrets," until it
was picked up for the popular "Dummies" series.
Schilling said ferrets can be great
pets, but they can be more complicated to care for than owners
expect. She was chosen to write the book, she said, because
ferrets are just a small example of a greater problem that is
straining the capacity of no-kill facilities such as hers.
"We're not against owning
exotic animals, we are against people getting them with not
fully knowing and fully preparing," she said.
"Like with big cats," she
said. "One of the mistakes people make is (they) think,
'If the animal outgrows me, a zoo will take it,' but the zoos
don't want anything to do with an animal that's been a
pet."
Schilling and other Animals for
Awareness volunteers employ the rescued animals at birthday
parties, nursing home gatherings and school outings to teach
people about caring for exotic pets.
They are not animal rights activists;
David Schilling hunts recreationally. Misinformation and lack
of information are what drive their cause.
The shelter recently has obtained an
abundance of foxes from apartments, for example.
"They sell them at animal swaps.
The people who sell them say these are great apartment pets,
you can litter-box train them," said Schilling, standing
beside a fox cage that smelled strongly of skunk.
"Can you smell this?" she
asked. "They are so musky."
She had hosed the cages down at 8
o'clock the previous night.
"Can you imagine this in an
apartment?" she said.
The animal lover says being hopelessly
devoted to cages full of skunk-scented animals and other cages
full of actual skunks can be a blessing and a curse.
"I happen to be adopted,"
Schilling said, "and I always related to animals that
needed homes or needed extra attention. I've always gotten along
better with animals than I did with people."
Sometimes, though, she wishes she had
no pets, not even a dog.
"If we go out of town, we have
to get a vet to watch the house. And it's 'head's up' to the
feeding team," she said.
So she plans few getaways. She spent
eight hours on a recent weekend hosing down cages, and she's
always shopping for chicken, vegetables and fruit to feed her
house guests.
"(Food) probably costs $600 to
$700 a month. You should see how many bananas we go
through," she said.
And who is the easiest to care for?
She pointed to her husband. "He
does all the housecleaning, while I take care of the animals,"
she said.
In addition to the animals mentioned
above, Schilling houses snakes, turtles, rabbits, ferrets,
sugargliders (which are flying, squirrel-like marsupials),
skunks, ring-tailed cats and genets (those are wildcats from
Africa).
In the past, her shelter served as
temporary home for a bear and a cougar.
Her license plate reads "ZU
KEPR," and her entire home and yard are modified for pets.
Fences and gates, cat doors, cages, food bowls, litter boxes
and reptile lamps are all part of the decor.
"People say, 'Are all your
animals loose in your house?' I say, 'No, that would be playing
with the food chain,' " she said.
To donate to Animals for Awareness,
to schedule a humane education program, or if you are
contemplating exotic pet ownership, contact Schilling at (708)
361-9330, or visit the organization's Web site at
http://www.animalsforawareness.org.
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