Taking a break, visiting animals in Georgia

What an amazing visit I had back to my original home town, Atlanta Georgia. When I left 9 years ago, I wasn't an animal rehabilitator and barely had started my journey with birds of prey. So what a treat to visit and learn about animals with which I had no hands on experience.


This rather unique face came slowly waddling over to me at the Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell Georgia. Trust me, these animals are not usually so friendly, and I do NOT recommend trying this on your own. Because the director and I had previously communicated, I was privledged to receive a personal up close view of this amazing creature. This animal was orphaned as an infant when a trapper, ignorant of beaver natural behavior, mistakenly believed this animal's older sibling was the newborn baby. He almost died along with his brother from the time elapsed before discovered. I learned that beavers have a very close knit family structure and live together in what is called a "lodge." He has been in captivity for around 13 years and recently alone when his brother sadly died of organ failure.

This cute little guy is one of the most critically endangered freshwater turtles in the eastern United States. The bog turtle unfortunately suffers from overcollection for the black market pet trade as well as for the fragmentation of habitat which has reduced the overall variety of genetic variation. This individual is part of a breeding program to help re-establish the wild population through captive breeding. There is some great information at http://www.fish.state.pa.us/education/catalog/ab/bogturtle/bogturtl.htm

The next day was one I would not soon forget! I was again honored to get a behind the scenes visit at the Georgia Aquarium courtesy of our head veterinary consultant Dr. Gregory Bossart. I was thrilled (to say the least) to come this close to a beautiful beluga whale while it was in a training/enrichment session. Training is very important for marine mammals as they are exceedingly intelligent creatures and need varied mental stimulation and social interaction. It increases the trust and bond between the animals and handlers. Another added benefit is that medical procedures are performed with less stress when the animals are trained to present body parts for examinations and injections.

Lastly, it's no wonder that I love animals so much, considering that animals have always been a part of my life and my family too! Here's my mom's latest, Izzy, a two year old bundle of energy called a yorkshire terrier.