Helping Others Who Help Animals

From time to time, the Miami Science Museum's Wildlife Center is asked by another institution to participate in a very special event to raise funds. In these difficult financial times, these events loom large in the continued survival of non for profit organizations. We were honored to support the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium in their annual Spring Fling at the Ft Myers Convention Center. Pictured below are some of their reptiles featured inside.
Our friends at Calusa Nature Center have given homes to several permanently disabled raptors from our center. Although this bald eagle pictured here didn't come from our center, he was rescued in Kansas from a prison facility. Their center has been home to screech owls, a red shouldered hawk, and a great horned owl from our facility.


We were also thrilled to meet animal advocate and television celebrity Jack Hanna at this event. He presented several videos presenting various causes ranging from sea turtles to mountain gorillas. There were a lot of cool and interesting animals for us to see (other than our own). Pictured below is me with our short tailed hawk and Jack Hanna of course.

On Saturday I attended Folke Peterson Wildlife Center's annual fundraiser. There was arts, crafts, facepainters, the police department with their working animals, and tours of the beautiful display cages along the Findley trail housing birds of prey, waterbirds and grey squirrels. The highlight of my day however was meeting this beautiful swallowtail kite. This bird resides at the center as an educational ambassador. Swallowtail kites are named for their long scissorlike tail and their ability to glide along the thermals hanging in the sky motionless like a kite. Their diet is primarily insects but also small amphibians and sometimes birds.

Please support your local non for profit organization in these difficult economic times, whoever it may be, no matter how small your donation. Without these organizations, who will be there when you need help?