Volunteer

Home Sweet Home

The three armadillo brothers that were raised at the Wildlife Center since they were a couple of days old were taken to a remote site that already has armadillo on it for release. It was wonderful to witness these unusual mammals grow, change and learn. Watching their instinctual behavior emerge gave us confidence that these boys would have the tools they needed to survive at release. The landowner dug a trench to create an artificial den. At the uphill end of the trench, he placed a five-gallon bucket. To the cap of the bucket, he connected a “tunnel” of metal dryer vent. Then everything except the entrance was buried. A low fence was erected to guide the armadillo to the nearby pond. Back-up food was provided. The armadillo had been busy digging around the enclosure, so the fence was removed. The landowner dug up the den one week later check on the health and well-being of the brothers. He discovered that two of the three armadillo was still calling it home. It is thought that the largest of the three was probably foraging nearby or had struck out on his own. It is expected that the remaining two will eventually abandon the artificial den, but it will be there in case they need a place to hide. What a perfect release! It makes all of the work worthwhile.

Community Outreach The WR&E educational committee team is expanding. More than fifteen volunteers are in the process of completing training to give wildlife presentations. The demand for this service is tremendous, WR&E is requested weekly to give wildlife presentations. By training new presenters we will be able to expand our program and reach even more people with our important message about peaceful coexistence with wildlife. Some of the presentations given in the last few months included many elementary schools, a master naturalist training class, a diurnal raptor class, Bayou Bend Museum, wildlife groups for Ineos, senior groups, garden clubs, and several scouting groups. Acknowledging people committed to making a difference Author unknown A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish and spent much of his time exploring the seashore. One day he noticed there would be a minus tide and that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand. The day of the tide he went down to the beach and began picking up stranded starfish and tossing them back into the sea. An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what he was doing, ”I’m saving the starfish” the boy proudly declared. When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish, he shook his head and said, “I’m sorry to disappoint you young man, but if you look down the beach one way, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look down the other way, the beach is also covered in stranded starfish for as far as you can see. One little boy like you isn’t going to make much of [...]