This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.
What begins with one tiny mockingbird becomes a lifelong calling to protect some of nature’s most vulnerable creatures.

This audiobook is a collection of true stories from my personal experiences with wildlife before and after I founded the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Inc. in Lubbock, Texas, in 1988.

My journey began four years earlier when a neighbor brought me a mockingbird nestling. I had no idea how to care for it, but that unexpected encounter changed my life forever. Had that little bird not survived, there might never have been a wildlife center—or these stories.

For twenty-eight years, raising songbirds became one of my greatest passions. From fragile nestlings needing food every thirty minutes to fledglings learning to survive on their own, I devoted countless hours to helping them return to the wild.

Over the years, the Center has cared for thousands of animals, including songbirds, birds of prey, waterbirds, roadrunners, Blue Jays, opossums, rabbits, deer fawns, squirrels, turtles, and more. Some arrived injured, orphaned, displaced, or ill. Whenever possible, our goal has always been rehabilitation and release.

Few moments compare to watching an animal return to the wild, whether it is a tiny hummingbird or a magnificent Bald Eagle taking flight.

The Center also shares its mission through environmental education, using non-releasable wildlife ambassadors such as hawks and owls to teach children and adults about respecting wildlife and protecting the natural world.

These stories capture the beautiful, humorous, surprising, inspiring, and sometimes painful moments that shaped this journey. Above all, they are about compassion, perseverance, and the belief that every life is worth saving.