We are thrilled to announce another installment of our popular Winter Wildlife Mingle with our friends at Center For Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education organization located in Cape Neddick, Maine. We started what has become an annual event as a way to provide adults some up-close time, not just with the center’s live animal ambassadors (who doesn’t want to meet a Screech Owl!), but also with the professional rescuers and rehabbers who work with them. This year’s Mingle is on Thursday, February 16.
It turns out that live wildlife educators love the idea of adult-oriented programs that celebrate their work, but also help educate people about the sometimes harsh but compelling truths we all need to address and confront—rapid development, toxins, climate change, etc. Center For Wildlife always knows how to keep it positive, and our friends at Allagash supported us from the first program with beverages to keep our learning palatable. Five programs and a pandemic later, we are still going and growing strong.
This year, we’ll have the best of all of our past events. At the beginning of the evening, we’ll be joined by Center For Wildlife’s Executive Director Kristin Lamb for a dynamic indoor slide presentation (with brief appearances by several live animals) aimed at adults and community leaders. The lecture will be followed by casual outdoor mingling with multiple live bird ambassadors and their expert caregivers.
Our colleagues at Center For Wildlife and other wildlife rescue organizations have a unique and important perspective; through their intake of injured and orphaned wild animals and work in conservation medicine, they see firsthand how wildlife is adapting to the many changes brought about by humans to Maine’s historic wildlife habitats. Sharing their data and stories is a powerful way to engage with the issues and challenges Maine’s birds and other taxa face.
There is much we can learn about conservation science from the massive trove of records and data related to animals that end up in their care, season after season, year after year, location after location, etc. But what drew us even more were the stories behind wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, not statistics. Maine Audubon colleagues were involved in several human interventions which led to the rescues of a Snowy Owl and a Blanding’s Turtle, as featured in our Wildlife On The Move children’s books. We’ve had so many conversations with professional rehabbers, wildlife officers, and even unwitting interveners trying to help an injured animal. Early every summer, we field dozens of calls from people reporting “abandoned” baby birds (most of which have fledged their nests and are still being tended to by nearby parents, as long as we humans get out of the way). Together with Center for Wildlife, we hope to educate people about how humans can have positive interactions with wildlife.
We hope you’ll join us on February 16. Our friends at Allagash Brewing Co. and Blue Lobster Urban Winery will be on hand pouring beer and wine, and light appetizers will also be provided. The patio outside the Visitor Center, with heaters aglow, will be a safe place to congregate and mingle amongst live wildlife and friends. Please note this is a 21+ event. Purchase tickets here >
We’re thrilled to be back hosting in-person events like Winter Wildlife Mingle, and look forward to the deeper connection and engagement with Maine Audubon’s mission and partners that special events like these afford. We hope that you will join us at Gilsland Farm on February 16, or for another in-person program soon! Check our Events Calendar and sign up for our weekly events newsletter.
