In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we bring you our three educators who work here at the ESC. Tracy Delcambre, Troy Latham, and Sommer Calderone are the faces of our educational programs. The interesting thing about being a teacher here is that they are way more than teachers. If you work here, you take on so many more roles. They have tended the gardens, laid sod, replaced floors, cleaned up flooded buildings, rescued animals, removed snakes entangled in fishing netting, maintained our technology, maintained our bees, painted, done construction work, designed adult professional development ….well you get the idea. They are innovative, motivated, and dedicated to this place.
This is my 30th year in public education. When people ask me why I still work, the answer is right here. Our educators, our staff...they make it a joy to come to work daily. There are great teachers in our system. I have three of them, and for that, I am grateful and blessed.
Dr. Jay
“ I found a baby bird. What do I do with it?” That is a common question that we get at the Center. The answer is to Not bring it to the Center. Most of the time baby birds can easily be reunited with Mom and Dad. It is ok to touch the baby because birds don’t have a good sense of smell and parents don’t abandon their babies.
A makeshift nest can be made out of a hanging plant basket that has holes for drainage. Line it with grass, leaves, or pine straw. Hang it in a bush close to where the baby bird was found. The parents will find it when they hear the baby cry.
A baby learning how to fly, won’t stay in a nest. Just put it in a bush so that it will be safe.
A baby bird’s chance of survival is so much better with its parents. However, the parents are not always with the baby because they are having to find food to feed it.
We do not take a baby bird because of cats being outside. There are predators everywhere and we can keep baby birds safe by getting them off of the ground. Please lock your cats up while the baby gets situated.
It is against the law to keep a wild bird without a permit. Raising a baby bird takes a lot of time. So let’s keep it with its parents who have the best knowledge of all.
If you have any questions be sure to give us a call and we will be glad to help you. We thank you for your support and understanding.
‼️Spring has sprung and that means it's baby animal season.‼️
The Environmental Studies Center's Wildlife Rehabilitation Program is getting lots of calls regarding baby animals. We have a few things we need to share with you.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is not issuing permits for the rehabilitation of: raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, or bats.
This means the ESC is not allowed to take in any of these animals. We do not have permits. Unfortunately, there is no one in the state allowed to take in these animals, even if injured.
It is pretty easy to reunite babies with parents, even if you don't believe parents are around. Please call us at 221-5000 and we will be happy to direct you on how to do this. This is the only way we can help you with any of the above animals.
If you have further questions, we encourage you to contact the Department of Conservation at 334-242-3469. Please remember, this is hard for us too. It is not easy for us to turn animals away. However, if we violate protocol, we can lose all of our permits and not be able to help any wildlife in our area. We don't make the regulations, we just have to follow them.
We are happy to assist you with the following animals: Birds, reptiles, amphibians,
and marsupials. Remember, the very best thing we can do for babies is help the parents care for them by leaving them alone or to reunite them if they are separated. Call us and we can help.
We are so grateful for all of your support. Thank you for your understanding.
The Environmental Studies Center is hosting a Rabies Clinic on May 31st at Griggs Elementary School parking lot! It will from 2 pm until 5 pm.
Rabies Vaccinations are $15 and Toenail trimming is $15. Cash or check only. We will not have card capabilities.
Come see us! You don't even have to leave your car.
We hope to have you join us!
