A beaver in the bathtub: Sanford couple’s work with wildlife honors daughter’s memory

Inside Holly’s Nest, a pair of macaws named Jimmy Buffet and Bruce Springsteen flap their wings, dancing to the radio under a satellite dish. BJ the blue jay perches on a handrail, posing for a glam photo. Meanwhile, misfits in the wild — an albino fawn, a dwarf raccoon, and a disabled squirrel — meander around their enclosures in the 90-degree heat.

These and hundreds of other wild animals reside down a gravel path off of Highway 501 at Holly’s Nest in Sanford.

Byron and Kim Wortham opened Holly’s Nest, a wildlife rehabilitation center, in Sanford in tribute to their late daughter, Holly, an artist and animal lover, who died in a car crash 20 years ago when she was a senior in high school.

At Holly’s Nest, Byron and Kim Wortham work tirelessly to support injured and abandoned animals so they can be released safely back into the wild. Their animal kingdom involves hundreds of animals and buckets of watermelon snacks, and just three people run the whole operation.

Humans are the greatest threat

One study of wildlife rehabilitation centers across the country found that nearly 40% of animals were admitted because of human disturbance.

“Between December 1st of last year and January 15th, I took in 25 injured owls because of trash,” said Byron Wortham. “There’s a McDonald’s bag lying on the side of the road with food in it. They go down to eat, and there comes a car.”

Most of the animals that Byron Wortham has seen are injured because humans do not control their pets or they remove vegetation that serve as food sources for wildlife.

“I just held a baby blue jay in my hand the other day and he was perfect,” Kim Wortham said. “They brought him in because he’d been chased by a cat, got bitten, so he was dead in two days.”

18-hour work days

Since the beginning of this year, the Worthams have rescued 588 animals — 121 fawns, 234 songbirds, 59 raptors, 47 rabies vector species (raccoons, foxes, skunks), 29 waterfowl, three game birds, and 95 small mammals (opossums, rabbits, squirrels). Last year, Holly’s Nest rescued 1,293 animals, and since it opened, animals from more than half of North Carolina’s 100 counties have been nursed and nurtured at Holly’s Nest.

“It’s like animal Disneyland,” said Mary Boerman, a volunteer at Holly’s Nest.

Janet Mason, founder of the nonprofit Horse and Buddy, said she discovered Holly’s Nest when she found an injured dove. She messaged Byron Wortham at 6 a.m. to ask if she should bring the dove in, and he replied immediately.

As Mason started bringing over more animals, she became friends with the Worthams. The couple spends 18 hours a day, five months of the year, feeding animals in need. Mason came over to bring food that her mom cooked for the Worthams, who at times might not get to lunch until way past dinner time.

April to October are the busiest months at Holly’s Nest — it’s when all the babies arrive. Around the house, you’ll find oranges, watermelon, chicken, vanilla cookies, old-fashioned oats — the Worthams try it all. Anything to get the babies to eat. They feed and nurture them until they are adults, ready to be released back into the wild.

Tim Sweeney, owner of Epic Games and developer of the Fortnite video game, provided Holly’s Nest with 8,000 acres of land for them to release wild animals to so they never have to worry about humans again.

During the rest of the year, the Worthams spend their time repairing enclosures, putting in gravel, or caring for other animals like owls that are brought in. Byron Wortham also educates thousands about wildlife conservation at outreach events in special needs schools, the VA, parks, country clubs and more.

He compares his work to farming. “You have to get ready for the next season,” he said. “And it’s always on your mind.” Byron Wortham can only leave Holly’s Nest a few days at a time. A veteran and retired UPS driver, he can’t go on vacation. Who would take care of the animals if he did?

Does it ever get to be too much? “For me? Yes,” Kim Wortham says. “Yes, it does. Coffee helps. Naps help.”

She said she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, “so I check on the incubators, check on the babies.”

What makes the Worthams wake up every morning, eager to do this work? Ultimately, Byron Wortham said, it’s “the love of my daughter. She loved this.”

A beaver dam in a bathtub

Kim Wortham’s favorite animal is the beaver. “They just cry, they’re like children,” she said.

“Bucky, honey, it’s time to get up. Good Lord!” she exclaimed to the sleeping animal. Finally, she is able to get Bucky the beaver to awaken from his nap and take a bath.

As Bucky builds a dam in the tub that used to be Holly’s, Kim Wortham talks about how she tries to stay close to her daughter. She talks about the tangible connections she has with her daughter — wreaths made of holly, stained glass Holly made, spending time in Holly’s old room.

Thinking about how things changed for the couple and their three other kids after Holly’s death, Kim Wortham said, “We all tried to do better. I think we tried to live for her.”

She worked at the library after the accident, and all she saw were schoolchildren. People would always want to sit and talk about how she was doing.

Kim Wortham quit her job, then she and Byron got a small mammals permit to take care of squirrels, rabbits and possums. Picking up these animals, she said, “made me get in the car and interact with people.”

There was one line from a Leonard Cohen poem that stuck with her through it all: “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Restoring nature’s balance

Over the years, the Worthams read magazines and watched documentaries. It’s hard to know how to take care of various animals because “when you go online and read things,” Byron Wortham said, “it’s opinions. There’s five or six different opinions about the same thing.”

Mostly, though, they learned from experience.

“I don’t want anybody ever calling me an expert at wildlife,” Byron Wortham said. “I’m just a guy who cares a whole lot about it. And I’m giving it my very best effort to help.”

Holly’s Nest does not receive federal, state or local funding. All of their expenses are paid by donations or out of their own pockets.

In order for animals to get healthy, they have to eat a lot. Byron Wortham says deer are the most expensive at $600 each. “I’ve taken in 121 so far this year,” he said. “So put that in a calculator.”

Five minutes of freedom

At Holly’s Nest, the Worthams don’t just nurture wildlife, they live amongst it. Several animals roam in the basement of the house, especially those that need to keep cool through the heat. The Worthams gave up their downstairs bathroom to Bucky the beaver, down the hall from the kitchen, and other animals live in the room just adjacent to Holly’s.

Although they don’t name most of the animals, the Worthams remember many of them fondly. They spend weeks or months raising each animal — however long it takes until they are ready to leave the nest.

Yet, they are not afraid of letting go. There are many more animals in line who need support from Holly’s Nest. “I’m not giving you all the upstairs bathroom,” Kim Wortham said, looking at Bucky.

Byron Wortham reminisced over the many times that he has released a bald eagle back into the wild. “There’s just nothing,” he said. “It just makes you want to salute.”

Byron Wortham says it sometimes feels like these animals would survive longer in their enclosures than out in the wild. But, he notes, “at the end of the day, five minutes of freedom is better than a lifetime of captivity.”

Learn More About Holly’s Nest

Holly’s Nest can’t permit visitors under state law. To learn more about Holly’s Nest or donate, visit hollysnest.org. You can see educational videos and animal releases on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

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