Wild Spirits Review for Feline Fridays

Between the ages of 8 and around 13 or so I was quite the little activist.  I'm pretty sure it was mostly inspired by my grade three teacher Madame Del Canto (who incidentally introduced me to my love of fondue as well), who got us talking about the Rainforest, World Wildlife Fund, and Bruce Coburn (you know "when a treeeeeeee falls in a forest, does anybody hear?").  I spent several years helping to raise funds to buy acres of the Rainforest, pushing Unicef, and writing letters to McDonalds about their destruction of the environment for grazing fields for their cattle (for which my mom would drive me to the closest McDonalds so that I could drop it off with a cashier.  I'm pretty sure that never went anywhere now that I think of it).  This is of course only the tip of the ice berg as I was also campaigning against my beloved grandfathers smoking habit by hiding or flushing his cigarettes and regularly railing against my mom and dad for destroying earth and then giving birth to me.  What can I say, I was a serious kid.

I suppose it's hardly surprising, flash-forward 19 years, the adult I've become is also conscientious and trying to continue to do my part (but maybe a little less intensely, which I'm sure everyone is thankful for).  And although my hubby can bemoan the loss of a day due to finding an abandoned baby squirrel and then having to care for it and get it to the wildlife center way way across town, he is very tolerant of my animal rescue attempts and various cat welfare commitments.  

All of this said, it seems likely I would really enjoy Rosa Jordans recent book Wild Spirits, so I was very excited when the lovely folks at Dundurn Press sent it my way to peruse.  

19 year old Wendy and 11 year old Danny are both introvert animal lovers who end up bonding over their shared love of animal rescue and rehabilitation.  Over the years they both become experienced in increasingly more and more exotic animal rehab and rescue, culminating in a baby Ocelot.  Wild Spirits is the story of their relationship, their shared passion and the hurdles they overcome together.

This was such a terrific story of both following your passion and the do's and don't of animal rescue.  Rosa Jordan goes into great depth about the importance of keeping wild animals wild, the intricacies of rehabbing wild animals, and most importantly does not gloss over the less than savory details of trying to do these things (at one point everything Wendy wears or owns smells of pee because the bobcat kitten she's weaning is busily marking his territory all over her house).  Its an inspiring tale of the difference two people, with less than fantastic resources, can make when they put their minds to it, and I think if I had read it when I was younger it may have significantly changed my aspirations in life.  

If you're passionate about wildlife welfare, have a budding activist on your hands, or just looking for some inspiration about making your own small impact on the world then this is the book for you.  

Wild Spirits, By Rosa Jordan

Published by Dundurn Press