Woman holds animals in her hands
LAKE GENEVA Yvonne Wallace Blane felt horrible.
It was her fault that she ran over a nest of baby bunnies with the riding lawnmower.
She disrupted their world and needed to take responsibility for her actions. The bunnies didn’t deserve such a cruel fate.
“I was 24 when I ran over that nest of bunnies,” she said. “I was suddenly aware of what was going on in the same environment that I was always interacting with.”
She and her husband, Steve Blane, nursed the surviving bunnies back to health and released them to the wild. It was the start of her unwavering love for our fur and feathered friends.
Since that incident in 1985, Wallace Blane’s life turned to rescuing animals whose worlds were interrupted by human interaction.
That passion continues today at Fellow Mortals, a licensed sanctuary and wildlife hospital the couple run in rural Lake Geneva.
“We’re making a statement that all life does matter and that we need to be aware,” Wallace Blane said.
Blane, for a while, kept his full-time job. Wallace Blane took over running the nonprofit sanctuary, which now takes in some 2,000 animals yearly.
Almost every animal, from the tiny sparrow that flies into a windowpane to the fox trapped in a snare, stays under Wallace Blane’s care until they can go to back to the woods and fields.
“Everything is so perfect,” she said. “Everything is in its own place. Everything has its own intelligence, and they have a right to be here.”
The injuries inflicted on the animals brought to Fellow Mortals are usually human related. When that happens, nature is not running its normal course, she says.
“Is it natural for a duck to be shot? Is it natural for a deer to be hit by a car? Is it natural for a bird to fly into a window?” Wallace Blane asked.
It is thankless work that takes long hours, but it’s passion that keeps Wallace Blane motivated.
“With Yvonne, it has a lot to do with her passion for what she believes in,” said Jess Massaro, a staff rehabilitator. “I don’t think anything or anyone would ever persuade her to give this up.
“There has been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of difficult situations. She’s able to overcome a lot of them. No matter what, she will always strive to do better.”
“It is a thankless job,” Blane said. “You’re really putting yourself on the line physically, mentally and fiscally. Believe me, it’s a real battle.”
Wallace Blane “saw a spot that needed to be filled and never backed off from it,” he added.
And she won’t. Not so long as there are animals in need.
“There’s that little grebe there waiting for its fish every day that is doing well and will be released.” Wallace Blane said. “The rabbit that was hit by a car is totally upright and eating and will be releasable.
“We know what we can do. We know we can make a difference. The animals can’t tell us, but we can see it. And we know we’re making this world a better place.”
YVONNE WALLACE BLANE
Age: 50.
Community: Lake Geneva.
Occupation: Wildlife rehabilitator and executive director of Fellow Mortals.
Family: Husband, Steve Blane, of 25 years.
Favorite hobbies: Reading criminal mysteries and historical fiction.
Favorite author: Poet Robert Burns.
Favorite music: “I like classical, but I also like new age music like ‘Secret Garden’ Christian music.”
Favorite movie: “Cider House Rules.”
Role model: “My mother, Elizabeth Wallace. She lives alone. She’s 95. She is still very busy helping people.”
Three words that best describe you: Passionate, particular, committed.

Jun 19, 2009 at 5:15 p.m.
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A sparrow? Seriously? OMG, don't wash your windows EVER then! God forbid, some stupid bird flies into my clean window and commits suicide (by accident?)
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What do I do about the idiotic Robin that keeps slamming into anything that he can see himself in? Good grief... my next door neighbors were in the Caribbean for two weeks and this dumb bird perched himself on their car and spent two weeks flying into the Plexiglas on their garage door! By the time they returned, their car was sheeted with feces!
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Disgusting! And the rabbits eat the tops off my flowers and the squirrels bombard my finch feeders and...
Jun 17, 2009 at 3:57 p.m.
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It is sad that the human race does inflict all these injuries to animals. Thank you to all at Fellow Mortals for caring and all the work you do.
Jun 17, 2009 at 3:38 p.m.
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They take in road kill then? Well I suppose it wouldn't really be road "kill" but you know what I mean. So if I hit a deer with my car and get out and it's still living... do I just load it in my car and drive it on over?
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