|
|
||
Students see wildlife in a not-so-wild setting Date published: 4/18/2006
Buzz got displaced after his home was destroyed. Monty, a skinny runaway, was scrounging for food. Gus was picked up by the cops.
The three wound up in rehab, where they discovered a new life and a new calling--as teachers. Buzz the great horned owl, Monty the ball python and Gus the barred owl came to the Virginia Wildlife Center without much hope for the future. Buzz was injured when his tree was chopped down. Monty's owners no longer wanted him after he escaped from his cage and spent six months eluding capture and slithering around their home. A police officer discovered Gus playing with some kids. Because it is illegal to have pet owls in Virginia, he brought Gus to the Wildlife Center. Because Gus had spent time with humans, he could not be returned to the woods. None of these animals could go back to their original homes. So the Virginia Wildlife Center gave them a new home at its facility in Waynesboro. The animals no longer spend their nights hunting prey, but the center gave them a new occupation: teaching children about wild animals. Buzz, Monty and Gus went to Harrison Road Elementary School on Thursday to teach the kids about nocturnal animals. Rebecca Jones, an environmental educator for the Wildlife Center, said she usually likes to bring an opossum to schools, but the center's opossum was sick last week so she brought an extra owl. The animals' teaching appearances are rotated Jones said, so they don't get overworked. Teaching is hard work for the animals, because they usually sleep during the day. Jones and the animals work year-round, going to schools fall through spring and teaching at libraries during the summer. The Wildlife Center charges $200 to $500 per visit, depending on how many presentations will be given throughout the day, according to the center's Web site. A press release from Bluemont, a regional cultural foundation, stated that the center came to two Spotsylvania County schools, Harrison Road and Wilderness elementaries, with help from Bluemont's Artist-in-Education program. The Wildlife Center offers different educational themes. This year's include workshops on the effects of litter, nocturnal animals, the food chain, wildlife myths and birds of prey. Harrison Road chose the nocturnal animals theme. Wilderness had the wildlife myths presentation in early April.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
|
|
|||||||||||||
