“Job description: Tricking bobcats into eating their spinach” |
| Job description: Tricking bobcats into eating their spinach Posted: 23 Dec 2010 09:03 AM PST By Beth Sears, Contributing Writer 12:04 PM Thursday, December 23, 2010 When Molly Slack volunteered at Brukner Nature Center, she didn't know she'd be preparing meals for eagles or feeding 15 baby possums. "When I first came in, I didn't know what I'd do," the Troy resident said. "I got out of my comfort zone. I'd never been around a fox or bobcat or eagle." This year, Slack has volunteered more than 250 hours at Brukner Nature Center and performed a variety of activities — from preparing meals for the animals, to working with owls, to rehabilitating injured or orphaned wildlife. "The opportunities here are endless," Slack said. Slack began volunteering at Brukner Nature Center in 2008. The stay-at-home mom said her sons, Sean, now 14, and Ethan, now 11, were getting older and she was looking for volunteer work. While the family had cats, dogs, guinea pigs and fish at home, she wasn't used to being around wild animals. That changed when she began volunteering at the nature center. Her first duties were cleaning out the animal cages and doing laundry. Because the center uses cloth rags instead of paper towels, there's a lot of laundry. Then, Slack moved on to preparing the meals for the animals, including snakes, a possum, bobcat, eagle, crows, squirrel and others. Each of the animals has a special diet that is listed in the food room. The eagle may get two rats while the crow gets some cat food, seeds and fruit. Others may get a grape, peanut, mice and greens. Slack said it took some time to get used to getting the dead, frozen rodents from the freezer and placing them in the feeding bowls. "Everything has to eat," she said. Soon, she learned the idiosyncrasies of the animals. "The bobcat doesn't like spinach," she said. Because greens are included in his diet, Slack finely chops the spinach and mixes it with the bobcat's other food. "It's a trick you would use with a kid," she said. Preparing the daily meals for the animals takes about an hour each day. As time went on, she also started helping with the care of the outside animals and working with the barred owls so they could become accustomed to people. Then, she became a raise-to-release volunteer. She brings home injured or orphaned wildlife and cares for them until they are ready to return to the wild. In the past, she's fed baby birds, rabbits, squirrels and possums. She said her sons thought she was pretty cool when she brought home 15 baby possums that needed care. Her volunteer work sparked an interest in her eldest son, Sean. The teen is now a junior volunteer with the center. "It's neat to see him doing things he's not used to doing," she said. Slack said she enjoys working with the animals, the volunteers and the staff at Brukner. She's learned so much in the past few years. "If you're ready and willing, they'll educate you," she said. Do you know of someone who should be featured in Hereabouts? Send an e-mail to Beth Sears at sears@erinet.com or call her at (937) 448-0101. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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