Elise Able

I am an animal professional who loves what I do

Hi, my name is Elise Able and I have been rehabilitating wildlife since 1991. I have always been a lover of nature and canines. My family raised and showed collie dogs when I was growing up and I developed a deep love and respect for canines and the natural environment. I rehabilitate wildlife as a way of giving back to nature and animals for the gifts they have given me. I always had a deep affection for owls and hawks and songbirds, but when I started rehabilitating wildlife I quickly realized that while there were plenty of folks wanting to work on birds of prey, there were not a lot willing to do the canines, mink, skunks, weasels, and bats. I decided to fill this niche and have studied extensively to become the most knowledgeable about these species that I can be so that I can do the best job I can to help these animals while they are under my care.
I live on 8 acres in East Concord and am surrounded by much more land. I have spent the last 11 years building pens and nurturing gardens, ponds and other natural areas on my property so that Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue can be a peaceful and beautiful place. I owe a lot of my success with wildlife to the fact that I do all of the work with the animals by myself. I am fortunate to be able to do this, as foxes and other very secretive animals are very stressed by the presence of a variety of people. Fox Wood is a very private place and there are a lot of very quiet places that animals can recuperate.
I have expertise in a variety of areas, particularly fox. I have a sanctuary for foxes here and currently have 24 residents. All of the permanent residents are spayed or neutered and are housed in large pens with plenty of room for play. I also house three unreleasable coyotes that help educate the public.
I am proud of my extensive collection of box traps, they range all the way from refrigerator size to mouse-sized . My capture and handling equipment is also a rather complete collection including a state-of-the art dart gun. One of my favorite things to do is capture dogs that no one else can catch. Though I have been involved in all-breed dog rescue for many years, I have recently become an active member of the Northeast Great Pyrenees Rescue.
I am always available to help wildlife in emergency situations- accidental entrapments are a favorite and skunks are my forte. I also enjoy working with bats, mink, weasels and of course coyotes and foxes. I have been doing educational programs on the Eastern coyote across the region, preaching tolerance and understanding of the animals. I also do bat removal, home inspection and exclusions. I hold a class 2 license in NYS Wildlife Rehabilitation with RVS Certification, a Federal Wildlife Rehabilitation permit, a Nuisance Control License, a NYS permit to Collect and Possess Wildlife and a USDA license.