What Is Baby Season?

A non-native iguana snuck into the alligator’s enclosure. Luckily for him Wally wasn’t hungry today!

Are you feeling increased stress and anxiety due to COVID-19 related issues? Lavender is one of the best ways to naturally reduce stress and anxiety. Burn a lavender candle, use a few drops of lavender essential oils in a bath, or even use some to mix with lemonade! 

Check out what other people are using lavender for here: https://www.ausnaturalcare.com.au/health/life-style/10-benefits-of-lavender-essential-oil-and-how-to-use-it/

The Wildlife Among Us

Among Us is an online game that has become a sensation almost overnight. As the name implies, the game is focused on discovering the Imposter among the players before they are all killed. During this investigative process, players are also responsible for completing several tasks aboard their spaceship. When Camp Wild campers excitedly used their free time during snack and lunch to discuss the game with their fellow campers, I knew we could use this concept in our curriculum.

The next morning I set up tasks all around the education area of the nature center. The first station was a plastic frog dissection, fully equipped with all the vital organs typically searched for on live dissections with less mess. The goal of the second station was to organize the ladybug life cycle. The third station, the ”electricity station”, had corks painted in primary and secondary colors and attached to strings. For this station, campers had to “rewire” correctly by tying two primary colors to the secondary color they would make when blended. The fourth station was a fish tank that needed to be refilled and restocked. Campers quickly figured out the rain barrels stationed outside could provide them with the water necessary for this task. The fifth task was to assemble “solar panels,” or sun catchers out of marbles for clean energy. The sixth task was a bit more involved. 

Since we are an environmental camp based out of a nature center, the setting of the game was a nature center where the campers were playing the role of Wildlife Rehabilitators. Throughout the week they learned different types of animal classifications. Calling on this knowledge for the sixth task, wooden hearts representing “medicine” were scattered around the outdoor education area. Each time one heart was found, campers would have to sit down together and identify an imaginary animal to give it the proper course of treatment. They were given hints like “it’s cold blooded,” or “it’s a reptile,” and if they could properly identify the animal under a certain amount of time, they would successfully earn the medicine heart they found. If there was an animal that could not be properly identified, the medicine hearts were scattered and the task would start over again. 

Each task was created with an educational intent, but the campers were having so much fun, they didn’t even realize the valuable lessons they learned. The rounds were easily set up again after each imposter either won or was voted out of the nature center. For added fun, we let the campers create their own name tags in association with game colors. 

With respect to COVID protocols, all of the tasks were sanitized between campers and a limit of no more than two masked campers to each task allowed them to maintain social distance outside of their assigned seats. A fun, safe game and a successful educational tool that related back to something the camper’s already enjoyed guaranteed a successful event that is sure to be recreated for camps in the future. 

A baby pika! Listen to his little cry. Someday it will be much louder.

This injured Burrowing Owl was brought to the nature center by a concerned Broward County resident to be rehabilitated. We were able to successfully able to release it back into the wild as good as new! 

This Burrowing Owl had an interesting feature that made it a unique visitor at our hospital. Most Burrowing Owls have bright yellow eyes. This one in particular possessed a recessive gene that gave it brown eyes instead. 

Sometimes humans are just the best! A very good (and brave) Samaritan brought this eastern diamondback rattlesnake into the hospital after it was hit by a car. Look at this beautiful angry serpent!

That head wound looked pretty concerning so this baby went for a CT scan to assess the damage to its skull and soft tissue.

It might seem crazy that this wild snake could survive a tire to the head, but rattlesnakes are incredibly tough critters. Their heads are so muscular that when they’re struck by a car they can often survive with minimal damage to the bony structures of the head. In this case, the trauma from the tire forced those impressive facial muscles through the skin without breaking any cranial bones. Fortunately, an incredibly skilled exotics veterinarian was able to surgically repair the damage. Here it is after surgery!

This baby did great after the procedure and recovered beautifully. After several weeks in a wildlife rehabilitation facility, this rattlesnake was well enough to be released into the wild. You gotta love a happy ending! I know venomous snakes can get a bad rap, but just because they’re a little scary doesn’t mean they don’t deserve our love and respect.

Ocean Conservation Organizations: Help Save The Oceans & And Its Babies

Oceana:

A non-profit ocean conservation organization that focuses on influencing policy decisions on the national level to preserve and restore our oceans.

Shark Angels:

An organization focused on the conservation of sharks and using technology, education, media and local campaigns to conserve the oceans shark population.

Shark Savers:

Focuses on ending the slaughter of sharks and manta rays. They aim to motivate the end of shark fin soup and the consumption of sharks. They also work to create shark sanctuaries in different locations.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society:

Sea Shepherd is well known for many things. One being their on going campaign against the dolphin hunts in Taiji and chasing Japanese whalers out of whale sanctuaries. They also have campaigns to vault poaching in Guatemala and advocating a ban on the West Australian shark cull.

Ocean Preservation Society:

They use cinematography to expose crimes against the environment and its creatures.

American Cetacean Society:

Their mission is to protect the habitats of whales, dolphins, and porpoises through public education and outreach programs.

Whale & Dolphin Conservation:

An organization devoted to the well being of both wild and captive cetaceans. They campaign for the end to the trade of captive cetaceans.

Project AWARE Foundation:

A non profit organization that works with scuba divers in 182 countries to implement lasting change in two core areas of shark conservation and marine litter.

Ocean Conservancy:

A non profit environmental advocacy group that helps formulate ocean policy at the federal and state levels based on peer review science.

Coral Reef Alliance:

A non profit organization aiming to save the world coral reefs.

Our oceans and its creatures are in danger and it is up to us to save them both. Let’s work together to save our oceans and it’s precious babies.

March is Women’s History Month and therefore the perfect time to share the accomplishments of amazing women like Nzambi Matee from Nairobi, Kenya. Nzambi is one of seven winners of The Young Champions of the Earth prize.  Announced in December 2020, this United Nations Environment Program initiative engages youth in tackling the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

Tired of seeing plastic waste littering the streets of Nairobi, Nzambi was determined to make a difference. She developed a mix of sand and plastic that when heated and compressed could produce bricks that are harder than cement. The building applications are enormous but as of the filming of this video she is currently only producing pavers. She hopes to scale the production and expand the use of her bricks.

Plastic waste is an environmental concern the world over. Our reliance on petrochemicals, single use plastics and cheap manufacturing materials has made plastics an increasingly dangerous threat to our biosphere.

You can read more about her work here: Building Blocks for a Greener Nairobi

References:

Roland Geyer, Jenna R. Jambeck and Kara Lavender,’Production, use and fate of all plastics ever made’,(Science Advances  19 Jul 2017: Vol. 3, no. 7, e1700782)

Hayden K. Webb, Jaimys Arnott, Russell J. Crawford and Elena P. Ivanova, ‘Plastic Degradation and Its Environmental Implications with Special Reference to Poly(ethylene terephthalate),’, (Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 28 December 2012)

This is Molly, our loggerhead musk turtle, receiving her first Valentine’s Day worm! Her incredibly strong beak is perfectly adapted to crushing through the tough exoskeletons of her prey. If you are interested in sending Molly a box of worms this Valentine’s Day, consider donating here: https://www.facebook.com/sncwild/posts/4168465543165140

Here is our Executive Director using Big Red, our resident red rat snake, for our virtual education program. One of the SNC’s main missions is to spread environmental education throughout South Florida. We are excited to pivot to a virtual, safe platform. Big Red was just happy to have a warm body to thermoregulate with in this #FloridaCold!