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Tallahassee Democrat (FL) A GOOD TIME CAN DO GOOD
FOR ANIMALS Kandy the Florida black bear will make an appearance at Sunday's Tallahassee Wildlife Festival at Chez Pierre. The featured speaker will be Jim Fowler of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom."
It's baby-animal season, and rescue groups such as St. Francis Wildlife Association are bracing for a bumper crop of critters. "The onslaught actually starts in March," said Sandy Beck, education director for St. Francis. "This is the time of year when our resources are really strained. People are bringing us hundreds of babies, and we need extra support." Beck and her fellow St. Francis staffers and volunteers hope they'll find that support at Sunday's first Tallahassee Wildlife Festival. The event takes place at Chez Pierre. It features live music by Sammy Tedder and friends Joe Hutto and Rick Ott, as well as the stellar duo of Scott Campbell and Avis Berry. There will also be a silent auction featuring 200 works donated by such local artists as Dean Gioia and Barbara Doremus. A custom-designed gold hawk pendant and matching earrings, modeled after the association's red-tailed hawk Jamaica and donated by wildlife artist Jonathan Livingston, will be one of the featured items in a live auction. Jim Fowler of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" is the event's keynote speaker. He'll be joined by a furry friend --- Kandy the Florida black bear. "Jim was in town for the Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival about a year or so ago," Beck said. "He was going to do a program for the Boys and Girls Club and needed some animals at the last minute. "Someone referred him to me, and he called and asked if I could bring some birds of prey to the program in 30 minutes. I told him I could bring him some hawks and an owl if he'd do a fund-raiser for us. So we had Jim lined up before we even had the festival." Plans for the festival came together after an afternoon brainstorming session with Karen Cooley and Eric Favier last fall on the veranda of Chez Pierre. "Everything just fell into place," Beck said. "We wanted a central location, we wanted good food, and we wanted a place where we could have a lot of artists as well as the animals. "Karen and Eric are real animal-lovers, and they just loved the whole idea." Beck hopes the event will raise awareness of St. Francis' mission, as well as the money needed to continue that mission. St. Francis expects to have 3,000-plus animals pass through its doors this year. The organization already has a near-capacity crowd of baby animals, according to executive director Jon Johnson. "We've got about 50 baby possums, 30 baby rabbits, quite a few ducklings and about 10 baby raccoons," he said. "We have three little owls, and we've already started getting other baby birds." The bumper crop of nestlings is yet to come, Johnson said. The busiest months for baby birds are May and June. The star of this year's baby-animal brigade is a young beaver found by naturalist Bruce Means earlier this month. "It's only the second time we've had a baby beaver," Johnson said. "It had an injured back leg and a cut on its tail. It looked pretty weak at first, but now it's doing really well, and we should be able to release it when it's an adult." Johnson and Beck both emphasized that folks who want to contribute can do more than just drop a few dollars in the bucket on Sunday. Volunteers are always needed to help clean cages, feed animals and birds, prep the food and do such necessary chores as laundry and hospital-cleaning. Even if you've just got an hour here and there to spare, you can help. If you're interested, call 386-6296. IF YOU GO What: Tallahassee Wildlife Festival, featuring Jim Fowler of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" When: 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday Where: Chez Pierre, 1215 Thomasville Road Cost: $20 for adults, $10 for children (includes food); limited number of Wildlife Patron tickets for $75 (includes brunch with Jim Fowler and more). Proceeds benefit St. Francis Wildlife Association. Phone: (850)386-6296 |
