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When people speak of “Where the Wild Things Are,” the thoughts of many parents turn to the award-winning children’s book from which they once read bedtime stories to little ones.
For the Crabtree family, however, “Where the Wild Things Are” holds a much different meaning — it’s simply a description of their home and livelihood.
Jim and Kim Crabtree opened Wildside Wildlife Rescue in 2021 from their southwestern Stanly County residence after a friend, who had found three injured squirrels, asked for help from Kim, who had been around animals her entire life.
“My mom had taken in animals when I was growing up in Midland,” she said. “Back then, there was no licensing requirement, so she would take in squirrels, rabbits and opossums, provide care, and release them.”

Having learned at her mother’s side, Kim developed a love for wild animals and continued her legacy.
“I’ve been doing hands-on rehab and release with small mammals for 24 years now,” she said.
Jim took a more roundabout journey into wildlife rescue. Having grown up in a military family, he moved numerous times before settling locally.
“I was born in Germany, and at different times lived in Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine and Florida,” he recalled. “Then, Kim and I met halfway in between.”
After Kim began taking in small mammals, she learned that North Carolina law now deems keeping wild animals without a license as illegal. This led her to seek a means of continuing the activity she loves in a lawful manner.
“I was able to locate Pam Bowers, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Montgomery County, who took me under her wing as an apprentice,” Kim recalled. “She mentored me for a year, and I was able to obtain a small mammals captivity license. That’s when we started Wildside.”
In similar fashion, Jim earned a captivity license for both small mammal and fawn rehabilitation through an apprenticeship with Lisa Gerdon-Dilworth of Salty Horse Ranch in Union County. He now oversees the rehabilitation of fawns at Wildside, with nine young deer currently in residence.
Having learned through apprenticeship, the Crabtrees are also “giving back,” as they currently are mentoring two other apprentices, one from the Norwood area and another from Lake Norman.
While Wildside takes in a number of small animal species, there are limits to what they may lawfully accept.
“We are not licensed for wild birds or for rabies vector species,” Jim explained. “Those include foxes, skunks and raccoons.”
Another no-no is admitting visitors specifically for the purpose of viewing or petting the rescues.
“We are not licensed as a petting zoo,” Kim added. “It’s the law that we can’t allow public access to the wildlife we are rehabilitating. That’s not us being mean; that’s us being protective.”
“In order to allow public access, a facility must have an educational license,” said Jim, noting that doing so would be cost prohibitive, since the facility operates entirely on donations.
“We are a 501(c)(3) organization,” Kim noted. “The state does not pay us; we depend entirely on donations.”

A glance at the Wildside Wildlife Rescue page on Facebook lists a number of individuals and groups which donate regularly to the organization, one of which has been particularly generous.
“Kaytee is a Wisconsin-based supplier of foods and mixes for small animals, and they have recently donated over $3,000 in supplies to our organization,” said Kim. “These include 50 bales of timothy hay, 60 bags of food, various supplements and a pallet of small animal cages. They have been a big blessing.”
“We reached out to 37 companies that deal in similar products,” added Jim, “but most such companies deal primarily with domestic animals. Kaytee was willing to assist us even though our interest is in wild animals.”
In addition, the Crabtrees seek to build partnerships with local groups, one of which is a local Girl Scout troop.
“Two of the Girl Scouts are earning their bronze awards by building release cages for us,” Kim said.
“A release cage is a sort of ‘halfway house’ for the animals to help acclimate them back into the wild before their release,” Jim (a former Eagle Scout) explained, adding that the cages allow for a gradual readjustment into the wild.
“We hope this will become an ongoing effort with the troop,” said Kim. “Hopefully, others in the troop will seek to work with us, and eventually earn silver and gold awards.”
As Wildside continues its mission, the Crabtrees are grateful for the backing they have received from the western Stanly community.
“We are blessed with the outpouring of support we’ve received, and we want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way,” added Kim.

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.

By The Numbers
Fawns in residence: 9
Wild rabbits in residence: 10
Baby squirrels in residence: 22
Juvenile squirrels in residence: 7
Adult squirrels in residence: 6
Opossums in residence: 6
Contact Wildside Wildlife Rescue at 704-207-4409 or thewildsidewildliferescue@yahoo.com.