About Give Wildlife a Brake |
Established in 2017
In our neck of the woods, whitetail deer dead on the highways is a common sight. Needless to say, the smaller animals like squirrels, raccoons, possums, groundhogs, foxes, and sometimes even the birds hardly stand a stance.
So we started a Facebook community to attract like-minded people who were passionate about wildlife. As we looked for ways to make an impact, we explored road signage, car magnets and messaging, and now we’re embracing all of it as wildlife corridors are also gaining traction here in the U.S.
We are enthusiastic supporters of wildllife crossings and have created this website to highlight the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act and the many ecobridge and ecocorridor projects going on in the United States to help this idea gain momentum.
Know of other wildlife bridges not mentioned here? Let us know!
Like to write? Would love to hear from wildlife bloggers with focus on wildlife corridors. (Byline only, no compensation, sorry.)
So we started a Facebook community to attract like-minded people who were passionate about wildlife. As we looked for ways to make an impact, we explored road signage, car magnets and messaging, and now we’re embracing all of it as wildlife corridors are also gaining traction here in the U.S.
We are enthusiastic supporters of wildllife crossings and have created this website to highlight the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act and the many ecobridge and ecocorridor projects going on in the United States to help this idea gain momentum.
Know of other wildlife bridges not mentioned here? Let us know!
Like to write? Would love to hear from wildlife bloggers with focus on wildlife corridors. (Byline only, no compensation, sorry.)
Our Wild About Wildlife Team
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KENNERLY CLAY
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Her heart bleeds and her pen writes. Founder, writer, adorer of animals, mostly vegan, and getting younger every day, Kennerly is committed to a country where animals have safe habitat and safe passage, and a planet that thrives and supports all life.
Whenever she drove past the dead animals on the highways and back roads of eastern Pennsylvania,, she wasn't sure what, and she wasn't sure when, but she knew she would have to do something other than bitterly complain to herself about it all the time. Thanks to the enthusiastic engagement of the Give Wildlife a Brake community and the Give Pennsylvania Wildlife a Brake community, Kennerly has become even more emboldened by the possibility of a roadkill-free future--and now envisions a 21st century in the unnecessary and painful death of a million animals a day is eradicated by progressive thinking and eco-engineering along with compassionate, committed action by human beings who treasure wildlife. |
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ROBIN SUEANNE BURMEISTER
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Robin has a deep connection to animals which she has felt since she was a very young girl. For many years now, she has worked as a spiritual coach and practitioner in the magical arts, better known as witchcraft, an ancient religion which recognizes the interconnected energies of nature, animals and humans. “Since the beginning of time animals have been worshiped as spirits of nature, known to us as power animals,” she says. “Many animals became associated with various deities of ours, such as Diana and the Hound, Heqet (or Heket) and the Toad, Proserpina and the Raven, Pan with the Goat and Athena with the Owl. Most other deities in one way or another became associated with animals, all nature animals. We believe animals were closer to nature than humans, and still are.” For the last four years, Robin has been training in gun safety, tactical and self-defense shooting. As a gun advocate, she believes it’s important for people to understand as much as possible about firearm safety.
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JANET SCHLEMMER
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A retired park ranger whose work began at Summersville Lake in Summerville, West Virginia, Janet Schlemmer has worked on numerous projects and special assignments in different states, including disaster recovery efforts following Hurricane Andrew in Florida.
Her career began at age 50 when she earned her Bachelor of Science in Recreation Resource Management and Administration from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and was accepted into a cooperative education program with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The job put her in direct contact with wildlife as well as the people who work with and for animals. She learned a great deal from the visitors who came with questions as well as from the fishermen and hunters, dedicated bird lovers who built bird houses and ran extensive blue bird trails on Corps lands, and also from the diverse and many state and federal people who worked in the fields related to wildlife on Army Corps projects. Ever since she was a small child, Janet has had a deep love of and was taught respect for and appreciation of animals, wild and tame alike. “My daddy worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression and he took me to the places where he had planted trees with the crews.” That place was Cooks Forest State Park in Cooksburg, Pennsylvania, where Janet later returned with her own children and grandchildren—and now with her great-grandkids—and where she now serves as campground host for a month each year. An avid camper for most of her adult life, she and her husband and family continue to enjoy camping in the great outdoors. “Our lives have been involved with wildlife and have been ever since we can remember,” Janet says. “Our home has an unending stream of deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels and birds of every kind. Right now we are honored to have four or five hen turkeys with up to 38 poults ‘bugging’ in our lawn and going to roost in the trees below their house. A thrill! And we know the deer and their fawns by sight, even the occasional buck that happens by. It is simply a blessing and a treasure.” |
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Zander (Digon3)
