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Service Learning and My Journey Back to Nature

My Experiences

The animal enclosures are where I did the majority of my work. There are a few aviary exhibits at Calusa and I was in charge of cleaning one of the Bald Eagle's cage. Both of these majestic birds were injured. One was shot by someone in Kentucky and the other was hit by a car in North Florida. They both exhibited different behaviors, however it appeared that both were flightless due to the damage that was done. The one I got to clean up after was very interesting. He was a bit curious of me, which would be expected seeing as I was a new person in his pen. My job was to clean up the catch of everything from leaves to rat carcasses to bird poop. The first part was quite easy. I raked up leaves starting by the door and slowly working my way towards this intimidating creature. Even though he was flightless and 20' away, I still had my eye on him. As I raked closer and closer to his pen he became a little more lively. See, up until now he had sat on the top of his house in the corner nearest me, watching. Once I started to rake up the rat's used up body he started to walk to the other side of his house's roof. I see him and hear him at the same time. He did not look heavy, but he sounded like it. THUD THUD THUD is what I heard as he walked across. That made me appreciate him even more. Even though he was injured and very calm, he showed that he wasn't just a bird on a roof. It felt like he was saying, "This is my area", by body motion alone. The vocal version came a little later. After I finished getting the rat body and the leaves raked it was time for the last task. I was to scrub all the bird poop off of visible structures. This included his house and the ramp up to it. Mind you, this puts me directly underneath this guy. He may not be able to fly, but I was betting he could still hop. I took the rake with me as a way to keep distance between the two of us. I started on my way around the pen towards him and realized I left my bucket of clean water and scrubber behind. As I went to get it, he started to bark at me. I have no clue what it meant, but felt it was time to finish my work and get out, which I did. This was the first task of a handful of things to do. A lot of what was required was helping the Head Anmial Caretaker with his tasks of animal clean up and feeding. Once we completed those chores, I moved on to laying sand around the butterfly pen. It seemed remedial, but once the other volunteer and I finished, I could see the difference. Selling nature to people is much like selling products. They want to see things in a presentable manner. By laying sand down on the rough path, it created a snese of pride to me. It also reminded me of my childhood working in the yard with my dad. This relates very little to my chosen major, but the things that I did with my dad relate directly to it. The more I volunteer at CNC the better chance of crossing paths with the thought of building something. Engineering is not just centered about construction. There could be many uses of my field of education to the CNC in regards to animal enclosures, how to get water from point A to B in the best way possible, and overall effectiveness of the center.

Calusa Nature Center

Calusa Nature Center is a very robust venue. They have the caged exhibits at the beginning and mostly indoors. Once you venture out a little farther you find some of the larger more frisky creatures. I feel that Calusa Nature Center, CNC, tries to at least inform the locals of our community and quite frankly anyone that will come in and enjoy this little known gem. There are plenty of trails to walk and see the world for what it is/was. The message is a subtle one, by way of letting the people observe and take it in. There is also a planetarium there, but I have yet to go into it. It is the only one in our area and should be a focal point to most children. Looking up at the stars is something all of us do. The imagination will start to run wild and ideas and dreams start to be seen. These moments are being ruined by tv and computer games, because children are not getting outside. They aren't interacting with the world around them. The Calusa Nature Center has a lot of those interactions right there in it's center.

Calusa Nature Center Home Page

Environmental Connection

This experience taught me that even though nature and the environment are getting beat down, they are still strong, powerful, and unrelenting. All we need to do is our part. We as a species need to stop the destruction and start rebuilding with the Global community as a mindset and not just us as a people. When I was growing up, our days consisted of running throgh the woods finding animals with my dog. We would also have to help around the yard with my dad. This was one of the most annoying parts when you look at it from a kids point of view. We didn't want to work, we wanted to play. Thinking back on it makes me smile and doing another one of the tasks at CNC reminded me of that. When we had to cart wheel barrows full of sand to make a more presentable trail for the patrons. This has very little to do with nature, I know, but the connection back to my childhood is what I needed. It brought back memories I haven't thought of in quite some time. This rekindled my Sense of Place in the world and made me want to work outside and volunteer as much as possible with CNC. In some ways it makes me feel like a kid again. This project is but a small fraction of the time i will spend at CNC volunteering, but I believe it will solidify my legacy as someone who wants to help the environment in any way I can and will do so to the best of my abilites.

Colloquium Reflection

The initial reason for me choosing this project and location stems from the Corkscrew Sanctuary field trip we were to do. I felt that that was where I wanted to be used at and the Calusa Nature Center was so much closer. I stopped in and got to see a few of the animals as I went to turn in my paperwork and knew I made the right decision. I've always loved the interaction between humans and nature. It used to be so much stronger than it is today. That is true as a species and as individuals. It took the Colloquium class for me to realize how out of touch I was personally. That I have to be really greatful for. My son is now 4-1/2 months old and getting to where he looks around and really sees things. The funny thing is, I believe his sense of place is much stronger than mine already. When he is fussy and my wife and I have tried evertyhing the last resort is outside on the back patio. It calms him down almost instantly. I want to build on this for him and get him in touch with nature. I want him to know what it is like to understand the world around you and not what is on TV. These things are important to me. After reading Plan B I really understand how the little things each individual can do will make an impact. It may not directly change situations, but it may change somebody's opinion or mindset and that could have a rippling affect. I believe Calusa Nature Center does this for every child that comes to visit.