An immigrant from Russia rescues animals in New York: pigeons, squirrels and raccoons live in her apartment

In New York you never know who your neighbors are. Perhaps they have bedbugs or a dozen cats? Maybe they are celebrities? Or their apartments are filled with opossums, squirrels and birds rescued from city streets. Vox spoke about rehabilitators who save New York wild animals and turning their living rooms into makeshift hospitals. Among them is an immigrant from Russia Amina Martin.

Did you call a taxi for the pigeon?

Amina's apartment is full of pigeons and other outdoor birds, including an African gray parrot named Elmoar. They are all sitting in cages opposite her bed. Some birds have broken wings, have difficulty walking or are partially blind. Others are abandoned pets who have little chance of surviving in the wild.

Her apartment is constantly buzzing with cooing, chirping, chirping and Elmoar's occasional interjections.

“He teaches me English,” says Amina and clarifies that the parrot even pronounces such complex words as “whatsoever.”

The dove Anfisa also lives with her. A woman jokes that this bird is in love with her husband and lays eggs on his pillow because she considers him her partner.

Amina is one of a small number of people dedicated to rehabilitating wounded living creatures that are commonly considered pests by others. Many people know the woman personally and when they see wounded pigeons, they immediately bring them to her. Her friends find injured pigeons on the street and call taxi drivers to deliver them.

“Sending birds by taxi? This is a common thing,” says Amina.

Caring undercover

The New York rehabilitation community is small. People who deal with possums, pigeons and squirrels tend to know each other. Many of them keep their activities secret to avoid unwanted attention from the Department of Health or homeowners. A bedroom full of squirrels is usually outside the rules of keeping pets in the house.

What's even more puzzling is that most animal rehabilitators work for free, often around the clock, to care for these animals until they recover. They often spend what little money they have on food, specialized equipment including syringes and IVs, and medications.

They understand that animals are not pests in New York, but unfortunate creatures whom we have pushed aside and do not allow them to live where they are accustomed.

Nature of the city

Some of the city's animals are native to the region, and they have found a way to survive even as developers have paved over their habitats. Staten Island is still home to a rare amphibian called the Atlantic Coast leopard frog, which was once common in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.

On the subject: Campsite with wolves: you can spend the night with a pack of wild animals near New York City

During full and new moons in late spring, horseshoe crabs—ancient creatures that have lived on Earth for hundreds of millions of years—take to the beaches of New York to find mates and lay eggs. The islands in the harbor are home to a variety of waterfowl, and the city's ponds are full of turtles. There are even seahorses in the Hudson River.

The millions of tons of trash the city produces each year, overflowing containers or torn garbage bags provide food for rats and raccoons. The trouble with these ordinary city animals is that no one loves them. Everyone treats them like they don't belong here.

In fact, people have already taken most of the planet for themselves. Only a small part remained for the animals. That is why a million species of plants and animals are now on the verge of extinction.

Godmother of Possums

During the warmer months, you can see Arina Khinzen in the city wearing a scarf full of baby possums around her neck. Just as these marsupials cling to their mothers in the wild, the babies—no bigger than a ping-pong ball—cling to the fabric like animal print come to life. They seem to enjoy hanging out with Hinzen. According to her, if babies smell something tasty, they stick their faces out to smell it.

Hinzen, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who runs the Urban Wildlife Alliance, a wildlife advocacy group in the city. Over the past decade, she has rehabilitated nearly 1500 animals, including hundreds of baby opossums. One female possum can give birth to more than a dozen babies, each no bigger than a jelly bean. If just one mother is hit by a car, as often happens in New York, they will all need life support. Often when people find them, Hinzen is the person they call.

She can have 40 babies at the same time, and she will care for them 18 or 19 hours a day. In these creatures, Khinzen, like other rehabilitators, sees something that many of us do not see: something dear and close.

“I am absolutely convinced that these animals have emotional lives,” she says. “At the end of the day, all they want is to live, raise their families and eat. They want what we want.”

They just want to live

Amanda Lullo rehabilitates squirrels on Staten Island.

“Everyone serves a purpose,” she explains. “Rats are natural scavengers, and squirrels are natural gardeners, as they bury the seeds that grow into trees.”

Lullo's house looks quite ordinary until you go inside. About two dozen cages filled with squirrels, rats and a couple of ferrets are stacked against the walls. A drip line is suspended from the ceiling. Several indoor cats and a rescued pit bull wander around the house.

Sometimes when people kill rats, they find out they have babies, Lullo said. They feel bad and call a rehabilitation specialist. Even though these animals have taken over the city, they still deserve care. “People kill and destroy everything they touch,” she sums up. “New York’s animals are mostly harmless and just want to live.”