In case you were wondering what happened to Mr. Whiskers (see post from August 31), we are happy to say that he found a loving home with an Omni employee! He came back so we could take him for a vet visit. He loved seeing the squirrels that we are raising, but somehow I don't think they were as happy to see him! 
This is Maize, a Miami corn snake that we are "snake-sitting" at the nature center. She's just a few years old, and is similar to Gator, our Red Rat Snake, but is smaller and has lighter, orange markings. Her (human) Dad has one more semester to teach up in Ohio before retiring here on Amelia. Visitors to the nature center enjoy seeing this sweet girl, and we enjoy spending time with her too. She's a good house guest, which for a snake means she's not messy and is eating and shedding regularly. We will miss her in December when she leaves, but I'm sure something else will come along then. 
Meet Wild Bill. He's a fully grown Gopher Tortoise, around 30-40 years old. This lucky guy showed up, literally, on our doorstep one morning about a month ago. We came to work in the morning and he was sitting in front of the door with a few grapes. We do not know who put him there, if he was kept in captivity at all or was just found in the wild. His eyes were so sunken and cloudy that we weren't sure if he had any. He was pretty much just skin and bone and could barely move. After a week at the vet's office, receiving fluids, eye and nose drops, we picked him back up, and he looked much better!
We continued to give him the drops, and now his eyes look great and nose is cleared up. We put him in a large container of sand to roam around in, and every day he gets a little stronger and walks around more. The hardest part has been to get him to eat. He'll eat a few bites of banana, and sometimes we take him out to the dunes where he can eat his native vegetation, like dollar weed. He also likes to soak in a bucket of warm water.
So here we are, trying to put our heads together and plan things for the nature center, when Buddy the macaw and Buttercup the guinea pig decided that we should take a break and spoil them. Between Buddy's squacks and Buttercup's squeaks, they can be hard to ignore! (not that we mind).
A couple of weeks ago, we received a baby squirrel, who we named Daisy. She was about 5 weeks old, so we had to feed her formula around the clock for a few days, but then she began to eat some solid foods too, like nuts and rodent block. A couple days after we got her, someone brought us another squirrel that was a little older, named Marvin. She had raised him for three weeks, and knew he needed to be released soon, but didn't know exactly when or how. So, we put him in our larger cage to let him run around until we can release him. 
A few weeks ago, a local resident was shopping at a home improvement store when he noticed this hummingbird laying upside-down in a plant saucer full of water! Thankfully the bird didn't drown, and the man brought it into us. We fed it some sugar water, and it still did not fly off. So, we tried again about an hour later, and then then she did fly off. We have hummingbirds who frequently visit our feeder and flowers, so this one should do just fine around here. 
This summer the recreation department found these little beach mice living under a trash can near the sand dunes. Unfortunately, the mother was found dead nearby. So, we took them to the Wildlife Coalition in Jacksonville where they lived with a foster mom for about a month. I picked them back up about a month later, and they were a little bigger and a lot quicker (and had sharper teeth!). So, we released them close to where they were found. 
I was driving to work a couple of weeks ago, and spotted this sea gull on the side of the bridge to Amelia Island. I thought it was an odd spot for a bird to be, so I turned around and crossed the bridge again, but decided it was too dangerous to stop on the bridge. So, I crossed again and parked at the foot of the bridge, and walked up near the top to the gull. (not fun in the August heat!). I got up to the gull, but right before I grabbed him he ran/flew into oncoming traffic. I just had to turn my head because there was a car coming that I was sure would hit him. Luckily, it didnt, and I was able to catch him. I carried him back down the bridge to my car, with him trying to peck me the whole time. Luckily I didnt have far to drive to work, because everytime I'd turn the wheel, he'd go right for my fingers! Talk about beign ungrateful to someone who saved your life! When I got it I put him in a carrier, and then we took him down to BEAKS where he could recover.
We were very fortunate this year to have two leatherback sea turtle nests on the island. Almost all of our sea turtle nests are loggerheads. Since it's so rare to have a leatherback nest, tons of people showed up to watch as volunteers excavated the nest. After the hatchlings hatch and then emerge from the nest, they head down to the surf. A couple of nights later, a volunteer from the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch digs up the nest and counts the number of eggs hatched and unhatched, and babies that hatched but did not live. Hatchlings that failed to climb out of the nest but are still alive get to hitchhike down to the surf where they're released. If you'd like to see a sea turtle nest excavation, go to www.ameliaislandseaturtlewatch.com, and then click on "excavation schedule" on the left hand side. The season is coming to a close, and we are happy to report 154 nests this year!
If you've been following our blog through the years, you know that cats have often taken over our office. We now have Mr. Whiskers, who's decided to take over the whole nature center! He is about 4 or 5 months old and was found loose in an apartment complex parking lot. Amanda Clark could not leave this sweet boy there, so he's here at the nature center until we can find him a good home. He loves everyone that comes in, and escorts them around the nature center.
He even takes phone messages for us!
A couple of months ago, this tiny gopher tortoise was found with a bad eye. Sand had probably irritated it, so we treated it with some eye drops to make sure the baby was ok. Gopher tortoise babies usually hatch in the fall, so this one was probably about 8 months old. We named her Gypsy and kept her in an enclosure with our resident gopher, Gophina, who's about 6 years old (they dont reach adult size until age 12 or older).
Gypsy acted like a typical little sibling. Gophina would bob her head at the baby and sometimes head-butt her. We scolded her, but after a few days realized that it was all due to Gypsy egging her on. The two seemed to have a love-hate relationship. Gypsy was released today close to where she was found. Does Gophina miss her? Maybe in a small way, but I'm pretty sure she's happy to go back to being the spoiled only child! And I'm sure Gypsy is happy to be free again to roam!
Exploring Fort Clinch.
Playing "hawks and sparrows"
Learning about the marsh at Drummond Point park.
We got a little possum in a little over three months ago (see previous posts). It grew really big, really fast! Last weekend we took him (yes, we learned it was a boy) to a wildlife rehabilitater who lives on 22 acres of private land so he'll be safe. She put him in an outdoor cage and then after a few days released him. He wandered off and did great! We will miss him around the nature center but know he'll be able to follow his instincts in the wild.
Here's a flashback from shortly after we got him!
As our tour guide pointed out, we were perhaps the only people in the world petting a baby white rhino right then! This is George, who could not be raised by his mother, and therefor loves people because they bottlefed him.
This female Cassowary is huge, and we got to hear her make a unique call. I felt like I was seeing and hearing a dinosaur!
There are at least 33 cheetahs in the breeding program, including this one who ran up to the fence to chase our bus! We were glad for the fence between us!
A few of the giraffes loved coming over to eat a snack of local vegetation.
After we were back on the bus, this little (well, for a giraffe) baby was eager to check us out from a safe distance, although Mom still kept a really close eye on us.
Very rarely seen in the wild, or even in zoos, we got a great look at this Okapi!
