Inspiring Conversations with Tallon Nightwalker of Northern Colorado Wildlife Center

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tallon Nightwalker.

Hi Tallon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am currently a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and the director of Northern Colorado Wildlife Center, but my involvement in wildlife rehabilitation started nearly 21 years ago when I began volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation center at the age of five. I was able to start volunteering when I was so young because my dad was the director of that rehabilitation center, which was called WildKind. I first started going into WildKind because my parents had split up and so my only option after school was to go to work with my dad for a couple of hours before he got off work. When I was young, I would still try to help out by cleaning empty cages or sweeping the floors, but as we all know, the work quality of a five-year-old is not great so I am sure that someone else had to come behind me and redo my work. However, as I grew older, I was able to do more and more and learn higher-level skills which helped me get to the point where I was training new volunteers, feeding all species of baby wildlife, and helping to establish new programs by the time I was a young teenager.

Unfortunately, my time at WildKind only lasted until I was 17 and that program was closed due to the local humane society wanting to only focus on domestic and companion animals. Due to wildlife rehabilitation centers being so sparse in Colorado, my dad and I had to commute to the next closest facility, which was about an hour away from where we lived at the time. However, this new facility allowed me to learn new skills, and once I was 18 years old, my dad helped me achieve my state license as a wildlife rehabilitator, and this facility hired me on as a seasonal staff member. All of a sudden, I had my first ever paid career job as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. To help be able to make the seasonality of the job work, I worked as a firefighter, personal care provider for the elderly, and as a security guard. While working the busy seasons at this distant facility, I saw them reaching their patient capacity, which led to thousands of wild animals being euthanized because they had nowhere to go from the Northern Colorado region. After seeing that, my dad and I joined forces and founded a new wildlife rehabilitation nonprofit, Northern Colorado Wildlife Center. After several years of building up the wildlife center, my board of directors presented me with the prestigious offer of becoming Northern Colorado Wildlife Center’s first-ever employee, and after accepting, I became the director of the wildlife center in February of 2021.

After being hired, we saw a huge jump in the amount of donations coming into our nonprofit and we began really dialing up our environmental education, habitat improvement, wildlife rehabilitation, and wildlife rescue services. This included purchasing our first-ever company vehicle, which is Colorado’s only dedicated wildlife rescue vehicle, and hiring two additional employees and licensed wildlife rehabilitators, Kate Boyd and Michela Dunbar. Now, just last month, I was able to facilitate the wildlife center accomplishing another huge goal which was leasing a property that significantly expand our wildlife hospital capacities. This new facility has an environmental education classroom attached to it, allows for the rehabilitation of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, and allows for daily volunteering opportunities and internships.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The challenge of establishing and growing Northern Colorado Wildlife Center were certainly in no short order. One of the largest challenges was working to establish the nonprofit while working multiple other full-time jobs. This meant that, unfortunately, many nights out with friends were traded in for nights in with the laptop working on emails or projects. There was also the challenges of self-teaching myself and my team almost everything about entrepreneurial ventures. When my dad and I first founded the wildlife center, we were just a couple of animal people that knew that something needed to change for local wildlife. We battled each obstacle as it came up and constantly worked to build up our network of support and board of directors. While learning these skills was a huge challenge, I would say that this was one of the most fun challenges and I still can’t believe how much the wildlife center has taught me about business growth and development.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Northern Colorado Wildlife Center?
Mission

The mission of Northern Colorado Wildlife Center, a 501(c)3 independent nonprofit, is to:

– Rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife, and when successful, release those animals back into their natural habitats.

– Educate the public about the natural histories of wildlife native to northern Colorado, ways to peacefully coexist with them, and provide humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts.

– Promote and advocate the preservation and restoration of native ecosystems that provide wildlife places to live and thrive.

Background Statement
2016 – Incorporated and established as a 501c3 nonprofit

2017 – Began offering environmental education classes to schools and community groups

2018 – Began offering field rescue services to all species of wildlife on an all-volunteer basis

2019 – Began admitting reptile and amphibian patients for extended rehabilitation care

2020 – Responded to pandemic and wildfires, began reaching national and international audiences with environmental education classes

2021 – Hired our first staff member, Director Tallon Nightwalker

2022 – Hired two more staff members (Michela Dunbar and Kate Boyd) and purchased the first company vehicle; the only vehicle in Colorado dedicated to rescuing all species of wildlife in need.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Northern Colorado Wildlife Center is the only wildlife rehabilitation nonprofit in Colorado who offers field rescue services of all bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species. We also maintain a 95% success rate within our wildlife patients meaning that 95% of the patients that we admit are released back into the wild after we heal them or raise them to an adult age.

Pricing:

• We do not charge for any of our wildlife rescue or rehabilitation services
• The vast majority of our education programs are kept at no-charge to the attendees
• We accept all types of donations
• We are funded by 75% individual donors, 15% by corporate donations and sponsorships, and 10% by grants and private foundations

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nocowildlife.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nocowildlifecenter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nocowildlifecenter
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/noconature
• Other: https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/Nocowildlife 

Image Credits
Northern Colorado Wildlife Center