First post! :)

Tank- the ditzy brother

Possibly because I've flooded facebook for too long with ridiculous posts about my crazy-animal driven life did my friend suggest I direct my experiences in a blog. I've never committed to anything for over a year- housing, men, favorite color, religion. The only real thing holds any permanence in my little life in the midst of constant change is my traveling menagerie or orange pets.

Oscar the delinquent cat and Dexter- the Ladies' man brother

At work, I play with puppies and train their humans. I meet all kinds of dogs from the three pounders like little Pistol Annie all the way up to Kiboko (the Swahili word for hippo) the mastiff, who is tall enough to eat the puppy crack right out of my treat pouch

At school, I am a senior in college studying Wildlife Management. After graduating with my associates in the same thing I realized I love it so much I think I'll go for more ;) 

I used to live in the middle of a national forest! There was tons of great hiking. Even though I live in a city now while I finish school, I'm still close to some great trails!

                   

             

 

Did I mention I LOVE box turtles? They are actually disappearing from the wild because they are being taken (sometimes illegally) as pets. Taking an animal from the wild, especially a slow breeding animal like a terrapin (land turtle) can have detrimental impacts on its population due to over collection, spread of disease by taking them out of one area and putting them someplace new, and even cars! So if you see a box turtle in the wild, please take a picture and post! Or if you help one across the road by moving him across the road in the direction he is facing, please post that too! But please encourage your friends and family to leave them be :} <- turtle smile -end PSA-

Wrangling 50lb carp in March. Driving island deer for surveys in October. Radio tracking mama opossums in spring. Stumbling across Eastern timber rattlesnakes in the summer and having the teacher yell "Hey! Someone get a measurement on that thing!". Black bear den counts in February. Salamander searching in April. Migratory bird surveys. Caring for injured owls and red tailed hawks and taming them for nature center education. School group nature walks with little hands digging in soil and inspiring little minds for a better Earth. How could I ever specialize in just one thing? I love it all!

At work, at home and at school I pretty much eat, sleep and breathe animals. And cooking. And music. And wine. So, maybe just mostly animals.

These are my adventures, and I hope that you will enjoy these stories with me as my experiences grow.