Lee: Holly’s Nest Animal Rescue shares legacy of love

Sanford is home to Byron and Kim Wortham’s work of love, Holly’s Nest.

The couple rescues animals from dire circumstances: starvation, roadway accidents, human encounters and land development devastation, which are increasing.

Animal enclosures cover the property: a fenced duck and beaver pond, separated raised box cages with fans hold skunks, rabbits and chipmunks, wired enclosures hold hawks and owls, foxes scamper in large enclosures with climbing platforms and a large tortoise eats carrots in his new home.

In the living room, a trove of dogs: collies, a German Shepherd, a Chihuahua and French bulldogs, begged for attention over the dozen or more song birds, the turkey vulture and barn owl and raccoon babies.

In an animal cage lined with soft bedding, a baby raccoon, its eyes still closed at four-weeks old, grunted for attention. It was a victim of logging, but the workers delivered the wild animal to Holly’s Nest when the mother racoon did not appear.

Holly’s Nest raises wildlife until it is strong and releases it into a suitable habitat.

Byron and Kim’s daughter, Holly, lost her life 21 years ago at age18 in a tragic vehicular accident.

“Taking care of these animals and loving them saved Kim’s life. I thought she was going to die from grief,” Byron said, fighting his own grief.

Hence, Holly’s Nest, forged from a love so deep, it lives on in the care, work, worry and joy of releasing wildlife to live independently.

“Animal rescue is not sitting on the porch and cuddling. It is constant work, feeding and cleaning. We start at seven in the morning, have lunch at noon, rest, clean, and do it again at five and end up having supper at nine or ten,” Kim said.

With each step, the baby birds awakened, mouths wide with chirping hunger.

A volunteer from Carolina Waterfowl called and delivered seven more baby birds from Raleigh’s Animal Emergency Hospital and Urgent Care.

It has been a busy season for Holly’s Nest because they are considered the best in wildlife rehabilitation in North Carolina.

A drug raid in Florida delivered a pet squirrel to Holly’s Nest and earned the woman who had domesticated the wild animal a conviction for crossing state lines with an animal banned from domestication. It is fat and happy in an enclosure, but not ready for release because he does not know how to live in the wild.

Wildlife officers delivered several confiscated fawns this spring and summer from citizens keeping them as pets.

Piebald deer are rare, and although beautiful, do not have an equal chance at life because they usually have dwarfism.  

Sammy the lamb-y is the charming greeter who lives like a pampered dog, lying on a cushion under the carport and following Byron and Kim, just like in the nursery rhyme.

Sammy is from Chatham County and Holly’s Nest wants to ensure his happy life and status as a companion animal continues, so Myer’s Animal Hospital neutered him.

“We are licensed for everything except alligators and bears, but I’m thinking about rescuing bears,” Byron said.

Holly’s Nest is a non-profit organization dependent on donations from people who care about wildlife.

Learn more about how you can make a difference for injured and rehabilitating wildlife.

July 2, 2025

Stephanie M. Sellers