What It REALLY Takes To Be a Wildlife Educator
It’s like standing there naked, when the entire audience is fully clothed. That’s the best way to describe how it feels to be standing there holding an animal in front of an audience of anywhere of 20 to 300 sets of eyes. People don’t want to be judgmental, but let’s be honest, it’s human nature to make an instant decision as to whether you like someone standing up there. Are [more...]
The Science of Crowd Control
If you’re planning to host a special speaker for your school, library or community event, and you’d like a large audience turn-out, then simply invite an animal show (or the Ringling Brothers’ clowns!). These popular performers will bring in the BIG audience head count you need to impress your superiors and city officials, but they also bring another BIG potential problem: crowd control. After years of being on the receiving end of [more...]
Summer Survival at Zooniversity
Whew…summer is officially over for Zooniversity and we survived another crazy summer season! While many of you consider summer as a laid-back time to rest, relax, and lounge by the pool, summer for Zooniversity is a whirlwind of travel, shows, animal rescues, more travel and shows, feeding and cleaning, and even more travel and shows.
And, we’re certainly not complaining. We are so grateful to the 200+ librarians, school administrators and [more...]
Know, Before You Hire Someone with Animals
So, you’re surfing the net, looking for a something special to bring to your school, library or your child’s birthday party. Animals! How cool. What a crowd pleaser. But, there are some important things to know before you book that animal show.
Are they licensed? Anyone who displays a mammal (something with fur, even a bunny in a magic show), must be licensed by the federal government – it’s called [more...]
Cancer: Exotic Animals Battle it Too
The big “C”—cancer, that erroneous fluke in cell division that multiplies, invades, and eventually destoys normal cells. Unfortunately, most of you have all had loved ones who have bravely battled this dreaded disease. Some of you have even had cats and dogs that have fought it. But, have you ever considered that wildlife and exotic animals get cancer, too? They do.
Here at Zooniversity, we’ve accepted donations of animals with all [more...]
A One-Day Diary
No, I’m not writing this to feed my ego or to impress you with how hard I work. I recorded one typical day in my life to illustrate that being a wildlife educator is NOT the fun and gregarious lifestyle that so many of you imagine it to be. I have not embellished. I did not pick-out an unusually tough day. This is it. This is what it’s really like.
Monday, [more...]
From the Mouth of Babes – Favorites 2008
W.C. Fields warned, "Never work with animals or children." Well, I guess I deserve what I get, since I work with animals AND children. It is always a jaw-dropping moment when some wide-eyed child responds to our presenter with a totally innocent, yet always humorous, quip. This year, we decided to write them down before they were lost forever. Here are some of our favorite ‘from the mouths of [more...]
Simon – The Iguana Who Started it All
As a professional biologist, I knew better. But, I am also a mother; which means that I too sometimes abandon all sense and logic to appease the pleadings of one of my adorable, and always convincing, children. Meet Simon, the iguana who started it all.
There was Simon, perched lopsided on that branch in that crummy pet store. He was maybe 6 inches long and bright green. His twisted and broken [more...]
Problem Party People
Zooniversity teaches about 600 wildlife shows each year and a big hunk of them are at children’s birthday parties. Ninety-nine percent of the party parents and guests are wonderful people. They follow our safety rules, they respect our expertise as wildlife professionals, they are polite and interested audience members. But, there is that remaining one percent that we in the business label as "problem party people." They are all the [more...]
Summer Out of the City: The Pines of East Texas
Click on the image above to launch a short slideshow.
One of the joys of being a wildlife educator is the travel. Yes, you do spend most of the year in the city, where large school districts and elite private schools can easily fund the money to routinely schedule your programs. But, the real adventure is in the travel to small, out-of-the-way towns. Small churches and rural libraries [more...]
