Talking Animals

Glen Zipper—executive producer of the Netflix documentary series “Dogs,” whose second season begins airing July 7; Zipper also oversees a new feline-minded Netflix series, “Cat People,” which premieres July 7—describes the reaction from viewers to the first season of “Dogs”: clamoring for a second season, while another contingent blanketed Zipper with fervent entreaties for a cat-centric series. Clearly, those requests were granted. Zipper explains the process by which they search for dogs, and now, cats—and their humans—that would constitute these short documentaries, casting a wide, global net. This yields upwards of 80 doc contenders for each series, Zipper notes, outlining the criteria he and his team employ to winnow down to the six “Cat People” episodes and four new “Dogs” episodes—and how they look for somewhat different elements amidst the two series. While mindful to avoid spoilers, Zipper highlights a couple of stories from each new series, including the Butler University bulldog mascot and the humans who care for the dog (there are certainly other storylines), and a Brazilian priest’s singular devotion to unwanted stray and the network that develops to provide the dogs veterinary care, and find them homes; of “Cat People” docs, he mentions Sterling Davis, the prolific feral-cat rescuer known as “The Trap King,” and Sachi, the Japanese artist who creates commissioned 3D portraits of cats—so realistic, Zipper mentions, that some people seeing the “Cat People” trailer were worried Sachi’s enormously realistic work involved taxidermy (it doesn’t). Zipper addresses the sense of purpose that pervades the humans across these series, paralleling his own sense of purpose that, as he recalls, he himself didn’t feel until he stopped working as a criminal prosecutor living in New Jersey, began volunteering at an animal shelter, helping folks adopt dogs there—and adopted a pit bull, Anthony, and they were a formidable team for the next 17 years, helping lead Zipper out to Hollywood and into a successful, Oscar-winning documentary producer. Zipper lost Anthony a year and a half ago, and allows that he’s increasingly close to being ready to adopt another…dog. (https://www.netflix.com/title/80191036, https://www.netflix.com/title/81173728)

ALSO: I also spoke briefly with Logan Vindett, executive director of Kindred Spirits Sanctuary, a facility in Citra, Florida that provides safe refuge to disabled, abused, abandoned, and neglected farmed animals. Vindett recounts the circumstances that led to Kindred Spirits taking in 34 pigs from a so-called “sanctuary” (she was careful not to name the place or offer identifying details) that allowed its pig population to exceed 400, and then the owner apparently ran short of money to feed and care for the animals. Vindett notes some pigs have skin cancer or eye problems—conditions that went untreated at the previous place—while many did not eat daily. The upshot is there are 34 more mouths to feed at Kindred Spirits—including the cute guy pictured here, Larry—and many of the new residents will need veterinary care that extends beyond what’s available from the in-house vet. So the Sanctuary could really use some financial support—Vindett made it clear they would welcome donations of any size.  (https://www.kssfl.org, https://www.facebook.com/KindredSpiritsSanctuaryFl/, https://www.instagram.com/kindredspiritssanctuary/)

COMEDY CORNER:  Steve Martin’s “Cat Handcuffs” (https://www.stevemartin.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Rufus Thomas’s “Walking The Dog”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TAJune30Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Kris Porter–founder of Owl’s Nest Sanctuary for Wildlife, an Odessa, FL-based rescue and rehabilitation organization that tends to sick, injured, or orphaned wild birds, wild mammals, reptiles, and more, across some 11 Florida counties—describes how caring for animals is a running theme of her life, dating back to being 8 years old, even though her Mom wasn’t at all pro-animal. This passion led her to the University of Florida, Porter recalls, where she studied marine mammals, reflecting her love for whales and dolphins; this culminated in a job interview with SeaWorld in San Diego that she ultimately turned down, which in retrospect, Porter allows, represented a turning point for her professionally and personally. Instead, she went to work as a zoologist at Busch Gardens, a combination zoo and amusement park in Tampa. It was an 11-year stint at Busch, in which she looked after a wide array of animals, often working in the nursery, caring for various infants, including bottle-feeding baby giraffes. When it came time to start a family, she experienced a difficult pregnancy—including being kicked in the stomach by a baby giraffe—which brought about the end of career at Busch, a shift to an exclusively domestic phase, raising two daughters, who are now 20 and 17. A call from a zookeeper friend at Busch, Porter recounts, led to some minor steps toward wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, starting with baby squirrels and bunnies. It’s escalated considerably from there, with Porter launching Owl’s Nest Sanctuary For Wildlife about six years ago. Owl’s Nest is an all-volunteer run operation, and Porter figures there are now 300-plus volunteers. (They welcome new volunteers; their Facebook page has details.) It’s clearly a busy operation—Porter says she fields 200 calls a day, about Florida wildlife of one kind or another that’s injured or ill, and they respond as rapidly as they can, given that everyone is a volunteer and is often contending with other professional or personal commitments. (https://www.owlsnestsanctuaryforwildlife.com, https://www.facebook.com/owlsnestsanctuaryforwildlife/, https://www.instagram.com/owlsnestsanctuaryforwildlife/)

 

ALSO: I also spoke briefly with Lynne Simone, an artist who was slated to teach a “Paint Your Pet” class that Saturday afternoon at Painting With A Twist. Simone describes what happens before and during the class—the key pre-step being emailing a photo of the pet, which the instructor uses to prepare a sketch to help guide the student with the painting. She notes that most students paint dogs versus cats, and occasionally there are more exotic pets. When asked if some students repeat the class in order to paint additional pets, Simone recounts that there was a veterinarian who enrolled in multiple classes, painting all her pets, before moving onto animals that were her clients.  (https://www.paintingwithatwist.com, https://www.facebook.com/paintingwithatwist/, https://www.instagram.com/paintingwithatwist/)

COMEDY CORNER:  Matt Braunger’s “Owls” (https://www.mattbraunger.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TAJune16Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

pattrice jones —cofounder of VINE (Veganism is the Next Evolution) Sanctuary, 100-acre facility in Vermont, a self-described “LGBTQ-led farmed animal sanctuary” we wanted to spotlight as we celebrate Pride Month—outlines VINE’s history and evolution, including its initial incarnation as Eastern Shore Sanctuary, which primarily housed chickens, and was located in Maryland. jones recalls the impetus for relocating the Sanctuary, why they selected Vermont as the new location, and offered a current census: 700 animals, including 39 cows, hundreds of chickens, goats, sheep, alpacas, and “an exceptional pig.” She shares some of the early storylines of the pattrice jones narrative, including that when she was a young kid, and her father was serving in the Navy, the family lived on a base  where their house was “a de facto dog shelter.” A couple of pivotal storylines, jones reports,  arrived in her early teen years: She quit eating meat (though hastens to add it was some years later that she went vegan), and attended her first gay rights rally. She elaborates on the description of VINE as a “LGBTQ-led farmed animal sanctuary,” noting what that means, more specifically, and what that looks like. Jones also articulates the other ways VINE differs from most other farmed animal sanctuaries, including opting not to segregate the animals by species, and a work-first, gaze-later policy for visitors. She recounts some of the challenges the pandemic posed at VINE, and how she and her colleagues navigated those, citing as a direct virtue the Sanctuary’s successful launching of online educational programs, after trying to do so previously without gaining traction; now, people are conversant with Zoom! (http://vinesanctuary.org, https://www.facebook.com/VINEsanctuary/, https://www.instagram.com/vinesanctuary/)

ALSO: I also played back a brief interview I’d recorded with Nathalie Gill, of Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society, speaking from Brazil, where she is campaign leader of a newly-announced Sea Shepherd initiative to protect the dolphins of the Amazon River. A native of Brazil, Gill explains the various challenges these dolphins face, cultivating a dramatic decline in their population, and how the hope is this initiative—partnering Sea Shepherd with scientists from the National Institute for Research—will yield findings that force the government to impose new regulations or laws that will afford the dolphins far better protections.  (https://seashepherd.org, https://seashepherd.org.br, https://www.instagram.com/seashepherdsscs/, https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdConservationSociety)

COMEDY CORNER:  Drew Hastings’ “Farming 101” (portion) (https://www.drewhastings.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Part One

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TAJune9Part1.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Part Two

https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TAJune9Part2.mp3

Dr. Valarie Tynes—Veterinary Services Specialist at CEVA Animal Health Limited, in Kansas, and a veterinarian slated to deliver two lectures at VMX, the then-forthcoming gigantic veterinary education conference held in Orlando (and virtually) June 5-9—traces the arc of her career. This arc includes a small animal practice for 14 years, before deciding to act on a longstanding interest in animal behavior, undertaking a three-year residency in that field. One of the lectures Tynes will be delivering at VMX involves the behavioral changes and memory loss exhibited by senior dogs, and measures that can help mitigate, or at least slow, that decline. And in this conversation, Tynes provides a sneak preview of that lecture, starting with the various ways we define “senior dog.” She outlines signs or symptoms that might help identify canine memory lapses or other cognitive difficulties, noting that veterinarians often employ an acronym, DISHA (Disorientation, changes in social Interaction, Sleep-wake cycle alterations, Housesoiling, and Activity level changes) to make those sorts of assessments. She explains how adjustments in diet, as well as adding certain supplements and vitamins, can help ease, slow, or even stave off these declines. Tynes also underscored the importance of having the dog examined by a veterinarian, to ensure the cause of the dog’s observed deterioration isn’t rooted in a medical malady. In addition, she agreed to provide a brief preview of her other VMX lecture, focusing on the separation anxiety that may be provoked in dogs as their humans move into a post-pandemic work schedule, returning to the office, and other activities that take them away from the house…and helping the dogs cope with these new absences. (https://navc.com/vmx/)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Patrick Rose, executive director of the Save The Manatee Club, about the dramatic number of manatee deaths recorded at the halfway point of the year, as recently reported by CNN and other media outlets. Rose comments on this Unusual Morbidity Event, noting that some 760 manatees have died this year, owing to multiple factors, including careless regard for the way human waste, septic tank output, and fertilizers enter the waterways. This not only affects the manatees’ habitat in horrible ways, of course, but compromises their food sources.   (https://www.savethemanatee.org, https://www.facebook.com/savethemanateeclub/, https://www.instagram.com/adoptamanatee/?hl=en)

COMEDY CORNER:  Erin Foley’s “Dogs” (https://www.erinkfoley.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Police’s “Canary In A Coalmine”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Part 1

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TAJune2Part1-1.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Part 2

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/TAJune2Part2.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

We set aside our regular “Talking Animals” format to experiment with an extended new feature, “Ask The Trainer,” in which listeners were invited to call or email questions or concerns about their dogs—we suggested it could be a training challenge, a behavioral issue, maybe something else. The person answering those questions–the titular “Trainer”–was Glen Hatchell, the Behavior and Enrichment Manager at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay (HSTB). Formerly a longtime programmer at WMNF, Hatchell has worked with the HSTB since 2010, and is an accomplished dog trainer and behavior expert, through years of hands-on experience, and academic coursework. For example, he has held the Certified Professional Dog Trainer certification since 2014. It appears this experiment was successful: We barely had a moment for Hatchell to explain what his job title means, and what duties it involves, when the calls and emails began pouring in. Listeners posed a variety of questions, including from Hans, who has two male mini-dachshunds, one of whom growls at the other, for reasons that seemed unclear to him…to Kelli, who was concerned that, especially when out on walks and otherwise, she seemed unable to get her dog’s attention…to Curtis, who described a scene in which two dogs, on leashes, were visiting, and when her husband leaned over to pet one of those dogs, their own dog, a yellow Lab, also on a leash, became aggressive…and so on. Hatchell offered very careful, deliberate responses, spending plenty of time on each, asking multiple follow-up questions of the callers, making an array of suggestions, including, in some cases, visiting websites: https://www.ccpdt.org, https://m.iaabc.org, https://positively.com, https://aggressivedog.com. and Thanks to Hatchell’s advice and wise, measured guidance, this “Ask The Trainer” experiment proved to be a success—there were more callers and emailers than we could accommodate within the hour—and it looks likely we’ll offer another segment not too far down the road.  (https://humanesocietytampa.org)

COMEDY CORNER:  There was no “Comedy Corner” today.

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TAMay12Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Barbara Trask Lovett—president of Save Nosey Now, member of the Board of Directors of The Elephant Advocacy Project, and generally a veteran advocate for improving the lives of captive elephants—recounts part of her background and how earlier efforts for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (at times, working closely with Paul Watson) gradually mutated into parallel concerns for elephants, particularly captive ones. Trask Lovett recalls the history of Save Nosey Now, which began in 2014 as a Facebook group, focused on helping the titular elephant, who was taken from her mother in Africa at age two and forced to perform in circus acts, solo, and often under dreadful circumstances. Eventually, Nosey did land at The Elephant Sanctuary (TES) in Tennessee, and it was a wonderfully upbeat update last week that TES offered about her which partly prompted this conversation with Trask Lovett. This discussion was also brought about by the spiritual polar opposite of that Nosey update: within a couple of days, a horrific video surfaced on The New Yorker’s website of NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre hunting an elephant and botching the shooting. We discussed the video (including Susan LaPierre’s disturbingly gleeful turn killing another elephant on the same outing). Trask Lovett inventories the active U.S. circuses that use elephants, and outlines four elephants living alone in zoos across North America. Trask Lovett’s expertise runs deep and wide, so for anyone who cares about captive elephants, hearing her assessments and perspectives here should absolutely not be missed. She also responds to some listener calls and emails, including one who asked about legislation: Trask Lovett highlights and explains The Traveling Exotic and Public Safety Protection Act, or TEAPSPA. (https://savenoseynow.org, https://www.facebook.com/theelephantadvocacyproject/)

 

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Gracie Grieshop, Director of Marketing at Pet Pal Animal Shelter, who provides a brief overview of the Saint Peterburg-based organization’s mission and the various related services it offers. Addressing the way the operation is funded brings us to focusing on their 19thAnnual Puppy Love Benefit, which has gone virtual this year, including the Auction Packages that are always central to the event. The bidding is online, too, and was slated to continue through Saturday, May 8. Grieshop describes some of the array of Auction Packages available, and how to bid:  https://events.readysetauction.com/petpalanimalshelter/puppylove2021

COMEDY CORNER:  Nate Bargatze’s “Fat Cat” (https://natebargatze.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/TAMayFinal.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Caleb Smith—who, at 16 years old, is already an accomplished entrepreneur and the author of a memoir of sorts, “Peacebunny Island: the Extraordinary Journey of A Boy And His Comfort Rabbits and How They’re Teaching Us about Hope & Kindness—shares what it’s like to be a 16-year-old who has published a book, the response “Peacebunny” has generated thus far generally, as well as amidst friends, neighbors and others in his circle. Smith recounts how this whole bunny business began, when he and his family adopted a rabbit named Snickers, having decided a rabbit might work best in that house, given that his Dad was avowedly “not a pet person,” and his Mom had a pet rabbit when she was a child. Lots of people have rabbits as pets, but even in the earliest days, as a (younger) kid, Smith saw the situation differently, through a broader perspective—this becomes a running theme of the Caleb Smith saga—seeing an opportunity to do something, beyond just hang out with a bunny. He describes the presentation he made to his parents about this opportunity, recognizing his pitch would carry more weight if he was wearing his church suit. (“Shark Tank” is big in their household.) Smith explains what makes a rabbit such an ideal animal to comfort people (that they’re quiet is key), and draws the distinction between comfort rabbits and therapy rabbits. He also addresses his parents’ commitment to serving those who’ve experienced disaster and/or tragic loss, going back to 9/11, and how on one such mission, he accompanied his folks to what turned out to be the location of the Sandy Hook shooting. This was, of course, a profoundly sad scene, and Smith recalls seeing the Lutheran Church Charities’ K-9 Comfort Dogs Ministry tending to some victims’ family members and others, and having a light-bulb moment that his rabbits could provide the same kind of solace. Smith speaks to the vital role that Faith plays in his now-sprawling bunny enterprise. He also outlines the impetus for wanting an island for his rabbits, and how he went about buying the 22-acre Peacebunny Island, located on the Mississippi River, noting the rarity of being a 16-year-old holding a mortgage. (https://www.peacebunnyisland.com, https://www.instagram.com/peacebunnyisland/?hl=en, https://www.facebook.com/PeacebunnyIsland)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with LaWanda Byrd, Volunteer Services Director at Moffitt Cancer Center, where after a yearlong hiatus—owing to Covid-19 restrictions—the facility has resumed its Pet Therapy program. Byrd addressed the 20-plus history of the program, its myriad benefits not only for Moffitt patients, but also for many of the staff members, and the concerns about the pandemic that prompted them a year ago to suspend the program. She explains some of the ways she sought to fill the gap left by the pause, including fashioning cardboard cut-out replicas of the therapy dogs. Byrd describes the almost facility-wide jubilance when the dogs recently returned. (https://moffitt.org)

COMEDY CORNER:  Sean Patton’s “Emotional Peacock” (http://meseanpatton.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TAApril28Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Periodically, I table the chief component of the “Talking Animals” format—a long form interview with a single guest—to offer a debate or some other multi-guest panel discussion. As part of that occasional effort to temporarily reconfigure the program, and a parallel desire to give voice to a broader array of animal organizations and leaders, as well as provide airtime to listeners who also may have important animal-oriented information to announce or comments to offer on the news, etc.—I invite people to call into “Talking Animals” and, briefly, become the show’s guest. The eve of Earth Day seemed like an ideal time to reprise this segment, which yielded a handful of wonderful calls, and an only slightly smaller number of messages that arrived by email or text. These included Lee from the Ancient Islands section of the Sierra Club, inviting listeners to join their monthly Zoom meeting, in which they discuss alligators and other animals, the growing extinction of certain species. (For details of the Zoom meeting and more: https://www.ancientislands.org)…Peter with Friends of the Anclote River, who shared various pieces of information, and urged listeners to sign this Change.org petition (https://www.change.org/p/tarpon-springs-board-of-commissioners-save-the-anclote-74-acre-ecosystem-tarpon-springs), which aims to reverse a decision by the Tarpon Spring Board of Commissioners approving the development of 404-unit apartment complex on land bordering the Anclote…Suzanne, who’s part of a group that regularly feeds community cats in Tampa, and is seeking one more person to help with the feeding. [email protected]…Rick recounted being on a hike with his wife and seeing a bear—twice…John touted the virtues of alligators, and the need to leave old tortoises alone and give them space…One emailer asked me about any notable animal encounter I might’ve had, and I described my visits to the San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, where grey whales migrate to have their babies. And then—this is the odd, counterintuitive, magical part of this—the mother whales bring their babies up to skiffs to essentially introduce them to the humans on the board. The moms allow—even encourage—the humans to pet the baby whales, and the moms themselves, too.

COMEDY CORNER:  Mike Birbiglia “I’m A Bear” (portion) (https://www.birbigs.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Kathleen Edwards’ “Who Rescued Who,” Eels’ “Dog Faced Boy (Alternate Version), Stephanie Seymour’s “Ruby-Crowned Kinglet,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Joni Mitchell’s  “Black Crow”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TAApril21Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Peter J. Wolf—who works for Best Friends Animal Society as cat initiatives analyst, which involves helping the organization shape its community cat policies, and has overseen some of its national cat programs—starts the conversation by answering the almost-inevitable question: How did he move from holding an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, and a master’s degree in industrial design, to becoming a community cat expert? Wolf traces that unlikely path, noting that he grew up in a family where cats were not allowed in the home (though strays were tolerated, if not embraced), but leaving home for college began an extended period of making up for lost time, living with as many as 10 cats as he spent a dozen years working in the automotive industry, switching gears and going to grad school in Arizona, then started teaching, using those summers off to volunteer for various organizations, including Best Friends. Wolf recalls a pivotal experience, helping with a massive hoarding case in Nevada, involving 1000 cats. Another vital episode in Wolf’s narrative, he notes, was seeing an article about feral cats that he thought contained some erroneous information, conducted research and determined it was erroneous, wrote and submitted a rebuttal—which this journal rejected. It’s a fairly straight line from that occurrence to Wolf launching—in April of 2010–Vox Felina, a blog featuring his entries offering observations and analysis of a wide assortment of issues related to community cats, very much including Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR). Vox Felina is not only still a going concern, but a nationally important and influential voice in the realm of feral cats. That’s because—in keeping with his academic background—Vox Felina is propelled by science and research and analysis, elements often missing from discussions and debates about community cats. Indeed, feral cats can be a polarizing topic, with a commonly-voiced concern is the impact on birds, while a another is the influence on other wildlife, but Wolf says it’s often hard to reconcile the statistics and research cited by these feral cat detractors. He fields listener calls and emails about ferals, colonies with diminishing numbers of cats (and in some cases, diminishing numbers of colonies), TNR and trapping, and more. (https://bestfriends.org, http://www.voxfelina.com)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Helen Freund, Food and Dining Critic at the Tampa Bay Times, who wrote a big, deeply-reported piece (published in print that day; online days earlier), charting the dramatic increase in the embrace of vegan food in the Tampa Bay Area, at restaurants and other eateries, grocery stores, food festivals and elsewhere. Freund recalls being struck by the vegan scene in Tampa when she moved there two years ago from New Orleans—a stupendous food city, but not a stand-out in plant-based offerings, she notes—and saw evidence of an even more vibrant, growing trend since she’s lived here. This constituted the jumping off point for her story, she explains, and she does weigh in on three vegan restaurants she particularly enjoyed in the course of reporting the piece: https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/food/2021/04/08/tampa-bay-is-experiencing-a-vegan-renaissance/

COMEDY CORNER:  Julio Torres “I Am Vegan” (https://spaceprincejulio.tumblr.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TAApril14Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Dr. Justin Perrault—Director of Research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation, education, and conservation center, located in Juno, Florida—recalls growing up a landlocked kid in Memphis, Tennessee whose first exposure to a sea turtle came during a family trip to Mexico when he was 12. This serendipitous encounter spurred a profound connection with sea turtles, fastened to another, subsequent serendipitous development involving, he acknowledges, misplaying his grad school application process, and ended up attending Florida Atlantic University, which happened to have a specialty in…sea turtles. Perrault addresses what he likes about sea turtles, what attributes of theirs he finds most intriguing. Perrault provides an overview of the history and evolution of Loggerhead Marinelife Center, dating back to the late 70s/early 80s when Eleanor Fletcher who was struck by the large number of sea turtles nesting on the shore of Juno Beach, began doing the very beginnings research and the formative stages of the education programs that have become a signature element of Loggerhead. (She was later dubbed “The Turtle Lady.”) Perrault points out the Center underwent a major expansion in 2007, and is in the midst of yet another expansion currently. So even now, the facility includes a research lab, an animal hospital (a Live TurtleCam allows you to observe one of the patients; that morning, the patient was Little T.), exhibits, tanks and aquariums. He mentions that one by-product of the present expansion will be a larger, more versatile hospital, equipped to treat more patients and more maladies, as something of a postscript to describing what ailments or injuries are most commonly responsible for bringing turtles in for care.  He outlines some elements of his research, which this time of year—nesting season—involves wee-hours treks to look for, or at, nests, often noting what’s in the nests and, sometimes, what’s indicated in the tags affixed to them. (Photos Courtesy of Loggerhead Marinelife Center) (https://marinelife.org, https://www.facebook.com/loggerheadmarinelifecenter/ https://www.instagram.com/loggerheadmarinelifecenter/)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Karen Windsor, executive director of Foster Parrots (part of The New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary), a Rhode Island facility that, on April 1, experienced a major fire roaring through a section where some of the birds were housed, killing more than 80 of them. Obviously, this was a devastating tragedy, and I invited Karen on the program to see how people might help her and her Foster Parrot colleagues rebuild and rebound. First, though, she provided an overview of the sanctuary and its mission, noting their “animals don’t belong in captivity” credo, and the challenges posed by having parrots as pets, exacerbated by the bird industry that tends to obscure or slant the crucial information that prospective bird buyers would find helpful (the birds’ repetitive screaming, other striking behaviors, like pulling its feathers out, their notable longevity–they can live 60 or more years, etc). We discussed that the most fundamental need Foster Parrots has in the wake of the fire is “funding,” Windsor explained—more so than supplies or other resources—and that monetary donations can be made via their website: https://www.fosterparrots.com/support-us-page

COMEDY CORNER:  Paula Poundstone’s “Cats Puff Up” (https://paulapoundstone.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TAApril7Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window