Judy Cusworth, founder of Woodhaven Wildlife Center, a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary in Chadwicks, has been serving the area by caring for sick and/or injured wild animals for over 34 years. Cusworth, a feisty unfiltered dynamo, readily admits she is “not a normal person.” Long ago, she was a docent for Utica Zoo and learned early on that her temperament was best suited to animals and that “rehabbing animals was much better for me (her).”

“I learned to rehab animals at the school of hard knocks,” said Cusworth, “you learn as you go. I tell my volunteers ‘do as I say not as I do….I don’t wear gloves and today I got bit” and to make her point she showed her bloody hand that one of the opossums she is housing for the winter chomped into.

The grounds of Woodhaven are covered with outdoor habitats for animals to heal in safely until they can be released back to the wild. Her facility, run entirely on her own dime along with whatever donations come in, cares for about 600 animals per year.

Woodhaven features several indoor rooms that are similar to the examination rooms at a doctor’s office:

• In one room there is kiddie pool with a long-tailed duck;
• The next room has another water feature to provide comfort for a common loon with a broken wing;
• Another room has separate crates for a barred owl and a red-faced screech owl; and
• Another room is temporary home to a few opossums, including the one that bit her hand earlier.

Outside there are several enclosures, including:

• One for the fox that recently came to her after showing up at a Stewart’s Shop in Rome;
• Another for a broad-winged hawk;
• One serves as a habitat for a pair of young porcupines;
• Plus, several others that house a host of creatures from wild turkeys and raccoons to fawns and even fishers.

Walking outside at the Woodhaven with Cusworth is like walking through the forest with Snow White — all the animals appear almost on cue: Deer appear up on a hill; a small flock of mallards waddle over; birds chirp and a squirrel suddenly pops up and follows Cusworth everywhere.

The most memorable animals in her care, Cusworth said, were the otters.

“There’s nothing cuter than baby otters except maybe the two baby porcupines I have now,” she said. An old time trapper found the baby otters and brought them to Cusworth, who cared for them until they were weened and then went to zoos.

She also took care of two bear cubs.

Cusworth is thankful when a good Samaritan brings her a sick or injured animal to Woodhaven Wildlife Center — but that is just a small part in the process, she said. Often, animals require many months of care, as in the case of the opossums, and can be costly as food and shelter requirements add up.

Animals that need greater care end up at Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University, Cusworth said.

“They (Cornell) don’t charge me,” says Cusworth, “they have interns that are learning but they also have three or four licensed veterinarians on staff.”

Cusworth said she is far too busy to drive the animals herself — so she relies on two volunteer drivers who transport animals to Cornell for her.

Funding for the nonprofit facility primarily comes out of Cusworth’s pocket. The expense of the grounds with enclosures, food, transportation and time— everything that goes in to helping rehabilitating these animals falls on Cusworth. She also received a grant from the Gorman Foundation in Oneida for $5,000, and sometimes she receives cash or check donations from individuals as well as some support from a few local businesses.

A local a grocery store as well as an area supply store donate to Woodhaven to help out Cusworth and the animals in her care.

Vinnie Egresits, Cusworth’s significant other, picks up produce from the grocery store four times a week. From those donations Cusworth will sort out the food she can use at the center. The rest of the food that is good for people but not her animals is donated to Mother Mary’s Soup Kitchen in Utica. A local pig farmer takes the produce that she can’t use or send to the soup kitchen.

Because she’s more animal savvy than computer savvy, Cusworth said she wasn’t able to accept online donations. In a very recent development, according to the Woodhaven Wildlife Center Facebook page, the center is now able to accept donations through Venmo or PayPal accounts.