Downeast Wildlife Rehabilitation Center  

We're on the MAP

      Marti Brinson, who has been a wildlife rehabber for 37 years, has now created the Downeast Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Grifton, North Carolina.  Brinson, who is licensed by both the state and federal government, has helped a great variety of injured and orphaned birds and animals over the years, including a nutria (see the Summer, 2007 Beaversprite, p. 11), bears and a bald eagle.

     She currently cares for two pampered beavers who each occupy an 18X20 foot-pen, surrounded by 6-foot-tall chain link fencing.  To allow the beavers to dig, but prevent them from digging out, the pen’s chain link floor is covered with a thick layer of dirt.  Each enjoys an in-ground, hard plastic, 600 or 1000-gallon pool that is filled with fresh water daily.

     Each beaver has an extra large dog igloo, but these dens are now buried under enough pine branches and other brush to resemble 6-foot-tall domes.  The flat-tails take some branches inside for bedding and periodically exchange this for fresh materials.  Because beavers are susceptible to hypothermia in a warm climate, Brinson uses three different types of greenhouse shade cloth over the beaver pens, starting with 50% shade cloth each spring and going to 90% material in the hottest weather.

Brinson uses three types of greenhouse shade cloth over the beaver pens, starting with 50% shade cloth each spring….

     “The nutria has a long metal water tank, and likes Corky (one of the beavers), but not the other.”  Brinson says.   This may be a sex-related response-although it is difficult to determine the sex of either species.

     “I just released some fawns,” the rehabber said.  She once helped a man walk a 200-pound buck, who had been hit by a vehicle, off the road to prevent any further injury. 

     A lifelong “animal person” Brinson has taken in pet rats, who were no longer wanted by their owners, and found them new homes.  She says, “Every animal serves a purpose.”

     She has raised all kinds of wild babies, including a baby bobcat.  Perhaps her most unusual charge is a coatimundi, a South American animal that resembles a raccoon, but has a longer snout and tail.  When Mundsen escaped, Marti was heartbroken and offered a generous reward that led to by return in 14 days.

     Both wildlife and people are having a hard time in North Carolina lately, where a severe drought led the governor to ask citizens to cut water usage by 50%, and wild beavers are reportedly retreating to rivers as streams dry up.  A rehab center with beavers is an ideal place to educate the public about beavers’ vital role in keeping water on the land longer.

Marti Brinson and Capa

Downeast Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

PO Box 1264

Grifton, NC 28530

(252) 524-5305

(252)531-7972

   Downeast Wildlife Rehabilitation Center’s mission is to provide a wildlife facility for the rescue, treatment, and release of rehabilitated animals that have been sick, injured and orphaned.

-----------President------------

Marti Brinson

----------Vice President----------

Frances Hardee

---------Secretary----------

Michele Whaley

---------Treasurer----------

Marti Brinson or Frances Hardee

----------Board of Directors---------

Dr. Derrick Pinney

 Cora Tyson

Bobby Cox

We are a non-profit (501c-3) organization and all donations are tax deductible.  A copy of our By-laws will be available if you send us a self addressed stamped envelope requesting one.

Listed below are all our licenses and permits issued by North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission and United States Department of Fish and Wildlife.

  Federal Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit

     North Carolina State Small Mammal  Rehabilitation Permit

      North Carolina State Fawn (deer) Rehabilitation Permit

     North Carolina License to transport Beavers for educational purposes

      North Carolina Captivity License