Whether he was rescuing Canada geese from an oil spill, monitoring a seal pup whose mother thought the bustling beach at Davis Bay was an ideal daycare setup, or carefully releasing a bald eagle he and Irene had nursed back to health, Clint Davy was a personal friend of the animals.
Thousands of them. Every kind of bird from owls to turkeys, bats, deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, bobcats, beavers, coyotes, otters – they all came through his and Irene’s door. Many of them stayed and got well enough to go back to the wild.
Clint Davy, who passed away on Jan. 18, was remembered this week for a lifetime of volunteer service but especially for his extraordinary work with the Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, a labour of love that he and his wife Irene ran out of their home for more than three decades.
As a trouble-shooter for animals in distress, Clint was without peer. Friend Don Kernan recalled at Monday’s service that “Clint had the ability to set broken wings, suture or splinter wounds, diagnose internal problems with the aid of a microscope, or make casts.” Once he successfully repaired a turtle’s crushed shell by gluing, fastening and using zip ties to painstakingly reconstruct it. “Whatever was needed … Clint solved the problem.”
Wildlife conservation is a core value on the Sunshine Coast, and in Clint Davy the spirit was very strong. But there are examples all around us.
In recent months we’ve seen the formation of the Sunshine Coast Bear Alliance, whose aim is to create a united front to prevent wildlife conflicts; efforts by a community association to curb illegal fishing and crabbing, to the point of calling on Sechelt council to ban those activities from the Davis Bay wharf; and protesters plastering a forest with felt hearts in a last-ditch appeal to save a cutblock on Mount Elphinstone from logging.
Whether you agree or not with the particular cause, no one can dispute that these people are actuated by a respect for our fellow creatures and a desire to keep their habitats pristine and intact.
The shíshálh Nation is also gearing up to take a more active role in wildlife protection, budgeting this year for a Guardian Program to supplement the B.C. Conservation Officer Service and DFO. Incumbent chief Warren Paull explained the rationale to Sechelt chamber members at Tuesday’s all-candidates meeting at the Seaside Centre.
“Why?” he said. “Because we see it as an absolute necessity.”
It’s a core value. Few will ever rise to Clint Davy’s level of devotion, but the work will continue.
