By Ruth Melville

For the past few years, Norfolk resident Angela Luna Grano, a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator, has been offering presentations on nature and animals for children at local schools and libraries. But recognizing that adults, too, might need a little wildness in their lives, she developed a new program, called “Wild Magic,” that would be suitable for both children and adults. She has offered this program as a “salon” in cafés, including one in Great Barrington, and next month she will present “Wild Magic” in Norfolk, at the Mountain View Green Retreat.

Grano moved to Norfolk over three years ago, looking for open land to raise her family and to release her rehabilitated birds. While her focus is still on animal rescue and rehabilitation, she now sees her Three Feathers Farm as a place for people, too, to reconnect with nature and bring peace and quiet into their lives. She says she’s come to realize that “people need rehabilitation too. And being in direct contact with animals is therapeutic.” Part of reconnecting people to nature involves teaching them about the importance of farms, sustainability and growing food without chemicals.

In her presentations, Grano wants to inform her listeners and to inspire them with her love and concern for animals. To avoid stressing an actual animal, she brings stuffed animals instead, and large canvas prints of her nature photographs to illustrate her talk. She shares stories from her years of wildlife rehabilitation and ends each program by offering audience members the opportunity to share their own stories about animals and wildlife.

Grano wants her programs to be educational, interactive and informational, but also to serve as a call to arms. She says that this year she has seen unprecedented levels of starvation in local bird populations. During her program at the Mountain View she will provide a list of things people can do in their own backyard to support wildlife, for example, not putting out poison for mice, since hawks and owls then eat the mice and are poisoned in turn, and not removing dead trees, which provide habitat for birds and animals.

But above all, she wants to inspire people to think, “Couldn’t we all invite a little more magic into our lives?”

“Wild Magic” will take place at the Mountain View Green Retreat on Nov. 9, from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. The program is open to all ages, and tea and appetizers will be served. The program is free, but donations are welcome.

Photo by Angela Luna Grano