30 Years of Nurturing a Love of Nature
Where on Main Street can you find a Chilean rose tarantula living with more than 25 other species of animals?
Answer: at the Connecticut Audubon Society Center in Glastonbury.
For 30 years, the Center has encouraged children and adults to get to know and become friends with the more than 30 animals who reside there.
The minute you walk in the front door you become acquainted with the loud voice and antics of Lovey, an Australian Umbrella Cockatoo. Whether she’s singing, dancing or chewing on a box, the 13-year-old white cockatoo will demand your attention.
And Sammy, a 30-year-old double yellow-headed Amazon Parrot is sure to say “Hello” – that is if she’s in her cage. Not long ago, the door was left open and Sammy decided to have some fun. She flew over to a display of green and yellow stuffed frogs on the window sill and camouflaged herself in the middle of them. We could hear her talking but had no one could find her until she finally hopped onto one of the toy frogs.
Trinity, a Red-Tailed Hawk, and Skittles, a Broad-Winged Hawk, both came to the Center to be rehabilitated.* Trinity was injured when she was hit by a car while swooping down for prey while on the Trinity College campus. She suffered traumatic brain injury and is blind and deaf on one side, so Trinity had to be hand-fed for nine months.
Skittles fell from her nest as a fledgling and broke her wing at the joint so it couldn’t be pinned. Hence, she can only fly very short distances. Originally, Skittles was thought to be a male until one day there was an egg in her cage. Quickly the sign on her cage changed from Male to Female!
It’s not often that you can get close to a wild bird of prey to see their special adaptations for survival so we’re fortunate to have two beautiful hawks. Unfortunately, neither will ever be able to live in the wild again due to the extent of their injuries.
Other favorites: everyone is drawn to Flopsey, a furry domestic gray rabbit who loves to be petted; and the youngest kids love little Tinkerbelle, a fluffy hamster who likes to roll around the floor in her exercise ball.
Our giant green bullfrog, Lucky is amazing to watch when he eats live mice! Spike, a bearded dragon, has a tail as long as his body, and Houdini, a California king snake is known for eating other snakes, mice and anything it thinks it can fit in its mouth. A few years ago Houdini escaped from her cage and was finally found four months later in the kitchen sink getting a drink of water!! Rumor has it that there wasn’t a mouse problem while she was missing. Other favorites are the chinchillas, turtles, finches, fish, parakeets, canaries, doves and mice.
The Center started acquiring animals 30 years ago when it opened its doors. One of the first animals was Posey, a blind mother opossum with babies that had been hit by a car. There was a turtle with 3 legs and several orphaned bunnies whose nest was hit by a lawn mower. Kernel, a young corn snake was the first reptile to join the others. He lived at the Center for 28 years! Now there are 2 new corn snakes, 2 ball pythons and a Pueblan milk snake.
Feeding all of these animals requires a very long shopping list: Romaine lettuce and other greens, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, broccoli, green beans, corn in the cob, and cranberries. There’s also parrot, turtle and rabbit pellets; parakeet and dove seed; crickets and fish food.
Who takes care of all of these animals? The Center is lucky to have wonderful volunteer caretakers, about 40 children, who come once or twice a week to clean, feed, water and handle or play with the animals. They take their jobs very seriously. Not only do they learn about the various animals but they also learn to respect nature. If you or anyone in your family would like to become an animal caretaker, give the Connecticut Audubon Society Center a call at 860.633.8402. They would welcome your interest!
* The Center does not normally rehabilitate animals
