By Tarah L. Hadley | Executive Director
At AWARE Wildlife Center, we have learned to predict many things based upon our experiences. We can predict that we will rehabilitate about 1,800 animals each year. We can estimate the percentage of each kind of animal that will present to us. We can even predict with certainty the reaction of school-age children when they see our education animals for the very first time. There is, however, one thing that we can never predict: that is (everybody can say "awwwww" here) true love!
As you may remember, AWARE houses several different species of education animals--we call them Ambassador animals. They are all native Georgia species. All of these animals came in with injuries that eventually deemed them non-releasable. It always amazes us when other animals come to AWARE later--again with non-releasable injuries--and immediately form a bond with the "single" animals that we already have. We certainly don't always plan on it but then again, how can you deny true love?
For example, Cleopatra striped skunk came to AWARE as an orphan. Despite her sheltered upbringing (we avoided contact with her), she never learned to fear people. She also never sprayed when antagonized--a defense mechanism that could save her life in the wild. Ironically, 3 weeks later a couple came in with a "pet" striped skunk that they purchased. When they realized that skunk ownership was illegal in Georgia, they surrendered it to AWARE. After a slow introduction (as caretakers we are more cautious about these things than the animals!), Cleo and the new skunk got along famously. What else could he be called but Marc Antony?
We also LOVE the story of Legs and Mary Shelli Frankenstein. I think they're rather an odd, cute couple but who says 2 different reptile species can't be friends? Legs corn snake was originally kept as a pet. When the man who had her moved to Georgia, he realized that state law prohibited him from keeping a native species as a pet regardless of where she was obtained. He surrendered her to AWARE. Mary Shelli was living it up as a wild box turtle until her shell came into contact with a lawn mower blade. She survived her current injury (cosmetic shell surgery did wonders for her!) as well as a previous amputation of one of her back feet, which was healed. After some outside enrichment time together, it was soon discovered that the 2 reptiles were happy to hang together. After some serious renovations to Legs' bachelorette pad, they 2 Ambassadors now live together in the updated enclosure.
Perhaps our most famous love connection is between barred owls Star Gazer and Tappy Oka. It all started as a love triangle when Tappy showed up at the center with a non-releasable injury. Star Gazer, who was at AWARE since she was a ball of fluffy feathers with a congenital eye injury, and Ambassador barred owl Lady Owlbert Einstein (survivor of a motor vehicle injury) could not decide who Tappy should be with. After much debate and discussion--in bird-speak of course--Tappy decided that he preferred to be with Gazer over Lady Owlbert. It was a bittersweet moment for Lady Owlbert but we were happy that after all of these years, Gazer finally found a pal.
There are other examples of Ambassador couples at AWARE. There's Owlscar the Grouch and Lady Owl Capone great horned owls as well as Ellis and Cricket screech owls. While their stories are all unique, we appreciate how much they can educate our visitors together about the importance of things like habitat preservation or something as interesting as how barred owls communicate with one another in the wild. We hope that these connections between animals will foster a long lasting appreciation for the environment among humans.
Special Note: The animals depicted here are non-releasable, education animals. The people handling them are trained volunteers and staff. AWARE is properly licensed by applicable state and federal agencies.
Links:
By Dr. Tarah Hadley with AWARE Ambassador Handlers | Executive Director
By Tarah L. Hadley | Executive Director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
