Wildlife Education

Education is very important to me, obviously, I am a teacher. I love animals and kids, lets put them all together. Kids need to be educated about animals. I had a great group of preschool 4 year olds visit the farm thursday morning from the Schoharie Headstart. I love watching their expressions and their questions are great. I quickly realized that they had an attention span shorter that they are. :) My objective was to teach them teach them what to do when encountering animals (ANS-Leave them alone and tell their parents). I asked "What do you do when you see a wild animal in your yard?" A little boy blurts out, " Catch them and put them in a cage". I kept working on them for the entire hour they visited. I was pretty proud of myself . When they left I gave them all a peacock feather and said "Now what do you do when you see a wild animal in the yard?" The same little boy blurts out "Catch them and put them in a cage"....I am so glad that I teach High School....
Yesterday I went with my wifes seventh grade students on the Bronx Zoo fieldtrip that she organizes every year. It was a beautiful day and my daughter was happy to have me as her chaperone...yes, Darcy gets our kid in her class this year.... The Bronx Zoo is a great zoo. The only complaint that I have from yesterday is that there were too many kids. Our students made me proud, many of the other students that were there from other schools didnt impress me. I felt like a giraffe wading through a pool of children. By about 130 pm all of the schools (except ours) left and we had the place to ourselves and it was great. I got a lot of great ideas for our facility. The Bronx Zoo is having money issues also. They shut down the World of Darkness....one of my favorite exhibits. I noticed one of our donors (The Nichols Foundation) on the Baboon Exhibit as a donor. Great job Wally, I need you to visit again....I have a partially completed Raptor Center that I really want to show you. Spending 15 hours with Middle School Students yesterday, makes me really glad that I teach High School....
Thanks to Kelly and everyone that kept the homefront going while I spent the quality time with the wife, kid and the entire 7th grade. When I got home, I had 9 wildlife emergency calls. Another baby racoon, a fox, a baby owl and some songbird orphans. Please follow the instructions on the blog to locate a rehabber close to you. I am looking forward to a 3 day weekend to work on the Raptor Center. This Memorial Day, please take time to remember the folks living (and deceased) that have served in our armed forces for our freedom. Wes