At Zooniversity, we get at least one e-mail each week from a college student who idyllically aspires to be a wildlife educator. They spent years admiring those larger-than-life TV guys working with animals and have hopeful visions of becoming the next wildlife conservation idol. Besides asking for a job, they almost always ask, "What do I need to do to become a wildlife educator?"

The answer is not a simple one. The necessary skill sets are an odd mix of cognitive scientific knowledge, acute audience management skills, and that mysterious "Q factor" that it takes to make an audience like you. Here’s the cold, hard fact that most of these college kids don’t want to hear…ANYONE can display these animals (as long as they religiously follow the federal, state, county and city wildlife laws), but not ANYONE can be good at this.

The delivery of animal information is actually the easy part. Learning the textbook facts about each species, learning their adaptive and wild behaviors, reciting the Latin Genus species names…all that is the really easy part of the job. The tough part cannot be taught, cannot be memorized. Three additional skills need to be mastered: (1) the ability to control the behavior of a collection of program animals, with unique personalities, under incredibly stressful conditions, with little to no risk of a problem, (2) the ability to politely, yet diplomatically manage an audience’s behavior (including the ever-challenging, young audiences) with little to no risk of a problem, and (3) the intangible, indescribable skill of getting an audience to "like you."

So, what is our sage advise for those eager college students? What do we suggest they do to prep them for their dream job?

"What do I need to do to become a wildlife educator?"

Work With Real Animals: Get as much hands-on experience with animals as possible. Volunteer at the shelter, the veterinary clinic, the horse ranch, the zoo, the exotic sanctuary, the local wildlife rehabilitator, your local chapter of the Audubon Society, Master Naturalists, or herpetological society. Take a no-pay internship at a sanctuary or respected wildlife company. Do anything to get some real hands-on skills. Rake the cages, scoop the poop, haul the garbage, design enrichment, build trust, learn their signals, bond, train, love, share the moment. Each animal you work with, each scratch, each bite, each lick or cuddle, will teach you with lessons that can only be learned from the real teachers — the animals.

Work With Real People (Especially Kids): A critical skill is NOT taught in school — how to manage a crowd’s behavior to limit the risk of a problem. Whew, this is tough. Crowds of kids are especially tough. Crowds of kids with their parents are even tougher. It’s a VERY fine line between diplomatically directing a crowd for their safety and enjoyment — and ordering them around like the Gestapo. The only way to learn how to tight-rope walk that fine line is through experience. Work as a camp counselor or a day care teacher. Work customer relations at a theme park, fair or festival, or zoo. You’ll quickly learn what works and what offends. We still learn every day how fine his line can become if you get overly demanding. The sting of each lesson learned lasts a long time — learn how to walk the line before you try wildlife education.

Stand Up There Naked: Okay, it’s a just a metaphor, but you need to experience the vulnerability of being a presenter and you need to feel both the admiration or the distain of a human audience…again, and again, and again. Find every opportunity to do public speaking. The subject matter doesn’t matter. Join the debate team, the Toastmasters or Salesmanship Club, speak on behalf of your club, fraternal organization or political party. Sing a solo in the choir, get cast as a lead in your theater, preach at your church or temple. Do whatever it takes to stand in front of an audience, and another audience, and another audience. You’ll have to conquer the stage fright, exude total confidence, work the crowd, and develop a tough skin. You need to learn to sense the energy of the audience — both positive and negative — and find those intangible ways to turn it around. Then, there is the toughest part of the job — that indefinable "Q Factor." Audiences quickly decide if they "like you." This is magical, indefinable, nearly impossible to teach, and totally unpredictable. It varies with the time of day, waning of the moon, your attitude and mood – and it only takes a nano-second or an ill chosen word to turn audience admiration into distain. Only years of stand-up experience will teach you how to do your best. If they don’t "like you," anything you try to teach about the animals will fall on deaf ears.

Now, don’t assume that this blog entry is intended to dissuade our young, eager wanna-be wildlife educators from entering the field. On the contrary, we welcome the next generation with their fresh energy to continue our lifetime of effort. We just want them to be fully prepared for what it REALLY takes to be a wildlife educator — a GOOD wildlife educator.

MISTLETOE, especially mistletoe berries, can cause gastrointestinal upset and heart arrhythmia.

HOLLY leaves and berries can cause gastrointestinal irritation, vomiting and diarrhea.

EVERGREEN BOUGHS such as fir, balsam and pine, although not toxic, also cause minor irritation.

POINTSETTIA, despite its deadly reputation, will at worst cause irritation of the mouth, excess salivation and perhaps vomiting, but still should be avoided.

RED MAPLE LEAVES kill horses!  As little as one pound of dried maple leaves blowing into your horse’s pasture can be toxic. When ingested, these leaves result in a severe hemolytic anemia – it causes red blood cells to rupture, causing weakness, pale gums, an elevated heart rate and shock.

LILY FLOWERS such as the Asiatic, Tiger, Day and Stargazer lily (often found in holiday arrangements) can cause kidney failure in cats after eating just one petal or leaf.

HIBISCUS can cause vomiting and bloody diarrhea.

TINSEL can cause gastrointestinal blockages that can be life-threatening.

BUBBLE LIGHTS contain methylene chloride, a moderately toxic solvent.

LIQUID POTPOURRI is toxic to cats — even a few licks can result in severe chemical burns in the mouth, fever, difficulty breathing and tremors.

TREE PRESERVATIVES, although not toxic, is sugar-based and can nourish grow bacteria that may sicken a thirsty cat or dog.

FIRE SALTS highlight the beauty of the fireplace colors on a cold winter’s evening, but can cause gastrointestinal irritation with vomiting and even convulsions.

IMPORTED SNOWGLOBES contain deadly antifreeze and its sugar-sweet taste is particularly tempting. As little as one tablespoon of ethylene glycol antifreeze can kill a cat and a couple of ounces can kill a dog.

CHOCOLATE contains high levels of caffeine and theobromine, which can cause heart arrhythmia and death.

GRAPES, RAISINS & CURRENTS (and foods with them like fruit cake) can cause kidney failure in dogs.

SUGARLESS GUMS AND CANDIES that contain xylitol, a sweetener, is toxic to dogs — it causes a life-threatening drop in blood sugar and liver failure.     

BONES are dangerous! Hide those leftovers as bones will shatter and splinter and cause pain, intestinal puctures, and death.

HIGH-FAT LEFTOVERS, like gravy and turkey skin, can give your dog acute pancreatitis.

ALCOHOL in tiny amounts won’t cause a problem for pets, but three ounces of liquor in a 10-15 pound animal can depress its nervous system and stop its breathing.

BATTERIES if chewed will give acid burns in the mouth and physical damage from shards of metal.

ROCK SALT can cause irritation of animals’ paws or in their mouths and stomachs if they eat it — pet first aid for rock salt ingestion is simple: feed them a small meal with water or milk.

What do you do if think your pet has eaten something toxic? Contact the Pet Poison Helpline ($35 fee) or your local emergency veterinary clinic for immediate guidance.

Wow…how can we thank you enough for taking the time to vote for us in The Best of the Metroplex Family Choice Awards 2009. Drum roll, please…you named Zooniversity:

                                      "BEST PARTY ENTERTAINER"

And, your verified votes also earned us nominations for:

                                       "BEST ANIMAL ENCOUNTER"

                                           "BEST THEMED PARTY"

Our most sincere thanks to the parents, teachers, librarians, friends and supporters who voted. It’s only with your support and referrals that we can continue to offer you the finest in wildlife education services, and we can continue to offer our rescued animal ambassadors a better life. Help us to keep setting the standard in wildlife education!

Complete List of Award Winners

Planning for a Crowd

The most important number to know when planning for a crowd is the maximum fire code room capacity. This is not just an arbitrary figure for you to double or triple as needed, this is the number you must restrict yourself to in audience planning. No joke — we once had fire engines arrive screaming at a library when a disgruntled father, whose tike couldn’t see well in the crowd, got irritated enough by overcrowding that he dialed 911 in protest! This didn’t bode well for the librarian’s future. And, packing in more than the max number is just plain dangerous should an emergency occur. If you can predict potential crowd size, and they won’t all fit into your space, we suggest you:

- offer multiple show times, or

- move to a larger venue, or

- limit your crowd size (keep reading for the how-to’s)

Managing the Numbers

Here are some successful ways other event planners have managed or limited the size of their crowds:

- count the heads as they enter — first come, first seated — turn-away the overflow or offer them the next show [be warned that this method can result in agitated folks, probably not the smoothest approach to customer service]

- require pre-registration or advance ticket distribution — when they’re gone, they’re gone [be aware that this approach requires LOTS of pre-publicity and you'll need to be ready to turn-away those at the door who hadn't read the fine print]

- restrict daycare groups – limit their numbers with advance reservations or don’t allow daycares to attend at all [they're always looking for free entertainment, but is this really your primary audience?]

- restrict the age of the audience — for example, limiting the audience to schoolers (ages 6 years and older) will greatly reduce the number of infants, noisy toddlers, and noisier parents

- restrict the audience to children ONLY – that’s right, "no adults" – and advertise a strict set of audience age limits [OK, we know this makes you cringe, but we know of LOTS of schools and libraries who have successfully weaned their parents from needing to sit with their kids at shows, it can take a couple of years and a few confrontations, but it CAN be done -- call us and we'll put you in touch with those with experience]

Controlling the Audience

The crowd shouldn’t control you, YOU should control the crowd. Here’re some proven tricks of the trade to help you control the masses:

- keep your audience in a holding area – seat them just 5 minutes before show time, the performer will love you forever and the audience volume will stay much lower

- mark the seating areas — if on-the-floor seating, mark the audience areas with blue painter’s tape to show them the boundaries [no mess to remove]

- use staff or volunteers — position them around the room to guide the audience to the seating areas and to enforce the boundaries during the show

- restrict strollers — ban strollers all together or require them to be kept at the back of the room [they take way too much space and are an exit hazard in case of emergency]

- require parents with infants or toddlers to sit nearest the exit doors – announce that noisy youngsters must immediately be taken out of the show area [be prepared to enforce this during show time, as we've had many mothers stubbornly refuse to leave, which ruins the show for the rest of your audience]

- provide a quality microphone/speaker system – set the volume loud enough to maintain the audience’s attention over light chatter

- introduce the performer — announce whatever house rules you and your performer have agreed upon, such as the use of cell phones or video recorders

- instruct your audience how to exit the show area – position staff or volunteers to keep the crowd moving-on out

- provide a private and safe entrance and exit route for your performer – especially when they’re lugging props or animal crates [nothing worse than getting swarmed with your arms full]

- exude confidence and professionalism at all times — be polite, but firm, if challenged — crowds will usually behave according to your expectations, IF you make your expectations perfectly clear

A mere 4-hour drive from DFW will take you deep into the Ouachita National Forest of southeastern Oklahoma and into the tiny town of Broken Bow. Now, don’t expect much here — that’s the point. The town has little to offer other than a few family restaurants and a gas station. But, follow the signs for the state-run Beavers Bend Resort Park and you’ll discover a hidden gem of nature — the 14,000-acre Lake Broken Bow, the Mountain Fork River whose sandy beaches offer great canoe picnic spots, 16 miles of hiking trails and 4 miles of mountain bike trails that wander along ridge tops, over creek bottoms, through tall stands of timber, and into areas so remote you can almost experience what early-day explorers must have felt. There’s even a tiny nature center and museum. Native wildlife includes deer, turkey, rabbit, bobcat, coyote and raccoon. Bald eagles likes to winter on the river, so keep your cameras handy.

Lodging is easy. The park offers a choice of a The Lakeview Lodge, cabins, or RV/tent camping. There’s also lots of neighboring cabin rentals and lodging available off the park premises. Be sure to book early, as more DFW families are discovering this place. There are little to no dining options at the park (except for one general store cafe), so be sure to pack your ice-chest filled with easy breakfast fare and lunches for picnics. Dinner in town is simple and kid-friendly and won’t break the bank.

This quiet retreat offers a lazy weekend for the nature-lover or miles of natural playground for the kids — either way, you’ll sleep soundly after a long day exploring what Beavers Bend has to offer.

Wow!  We are so grateful. Your effort and loyalty earned Zooniversity THREE big nominations in the Best of the Metroplex Family Choice Awards!

"Best Party Entertainer"
"Best Themed Party"
"Best Animal Encounter"

Now comes the hard part –
WE NEED YOUR VOTES TO WIN
Go to the Best of the Metroplex and vote!

The competition is tough — so if you’ve enjoyed Zooniversity’s wildlife education services, please take just a moment to let others know about us, too. Only one vote per person and you must live in the DFW area for your vote to count. Voting ends November 30th, so don’t delay!

Please ‘Share This’ with your family and friends. Public recognition of what we do will help us to further improve our exotic animal rescue and educational services. It’s your support that keeps us setting the standard in wildlife education!