Hi guys.  Welcome back to Animal Wonders.  Today, I have a special episode for you.  We're getting ready to go to a public presentation and I thought you might like to see how we get the animals ready, transport them, and what we do to make sure they're comfortable when we go outside of the animal center.

(Intro)

The first thing I need to do to get ready for a presentation is to check the show sheet, make sure I know which animals I'm bringing, and see if I've written myself any notes.  Sometimes I do multiple shows in a day, so I have to stay focused on what I'm doing in the moment.  The show sheet helps me do that.  For this morning's presentation, we're bringing Gizmo and Gadget the sugar gliders, Stumpy the dumpy treefrog, Freckles the leopard gecko, and Lollipop the striped skunk.

Today's show is for two groups of preschoolers.  They actually get to have ten visits with Animal Wonders, and each time, they get to see new animals.  Today we're bringing nocturnal species.  Now that I know which animals are coming, I'm going to prepare their travel crates and get them loaded up.  It's important to know that all of the animals that are what we call ambassadors have had a lot of previous training to get them used to their travel carriers and they are very comfortable being handled and riding in a car.

Getting the official label of animal ambassador means that they have learned that presentations are fun or at least that they're not scary.  Okay, let's start with Freckles the leopard gecko.  Freckles is going to get a low, flat reptile crate with a paper towel at the bottom and one more on the side, kinda like this, so she can go there if she's feeling vulnerable.  I put the paper towel on the bottom so that she has traction while we drive around.

Next up is Stumpy the dumpy treefrog and she gets a small reptile carrier and I'm going to put two paper towels in it.  I'm going to keep it nice and damp in here.  This is where Stumpy is.  I'm going to mist my hands down, 'cause I never want to--put that there--get the oils from my fingers on Stumpy, because he is an amphibian.

There we go, buddy.  And go on in.  Tree frogs naturally climb so I have to be able--make sure that he doesn't want to climb up the sides.  Get the lid snug before he gets up there.  Awesome, and then he goes up in the corner.  

Alright, next up is Gizmo and Gadget, the sugar gliders and they're actually really easy.  Since they're nocturnal, they're sleeping right now so all I have to do is unlatch their little pouch and quietly move them into their tiny little crate, and that's it.  I like this crate because it's small enough that it keeps their pouch upright so it's not swaying back and forth while we drive or it won't tip over, and for our last animal today, let's go get Lollipop the striped skunk.

Lollipop will be walking around during the presentation, showing off how she moves and eating treats, so I'll need to put a harness on her.  Part of being able to take a skunk out into the public is following some strict rules that have been put in place by the state government.  In this case, we can only bring Lollipop out if she is always controlled by a handler and never comes in contact with the public.  For us, controlled means she's either held in our arms or secure in a harness and leash.  Many skunks can be grumpy when they're woken up, but Lollipop has learned that when she comes out for a show, she can expect lots of treats and skunks love their food, so she knows what's happening and she's going to get really excited pretty soon.

Lollipop goes in a small dog crate just big enough for her to get in there and easily move around.  I put a blanket in there for her to situate and get nice and comfy for the drive, and then last thing I need to get is the treats, because Lollipop would be very upset if I forgot her treats.  Alright, I am grabbing some mealworms for Gizmo and Gadget, the sugar gliders, and I'll chop up some veggies for Lollipop.  

She loves sweet potato and she eats a variety of foods but right now she's really into these little like, dog treats, so I'm going to give her a couple of those.  Now that all the animals are crated, I'm going to put them into a large bin so I can easily carry them in one trip.  I don't want to make multiple trips back and forth because that would mean I'd leave some unattended while I fetch the rest, and I never want to leave them unattended.  

We're doing the presentation for preschoolers, so we're looking at 3-6 year olds.  I love sharing the animals with the really young kiddos because they've never seen some of these animals before.  It's so fun to introduce them to a wide variety of species and get them thinking about all the amazing adaptations that they have.  All the animals are tucked into their travel crates so they stay calm and comfortable.  I'm going to set up my table to create sort of a fort for them to be under, away from the audience until it's their turn to come out.  While I'm excited to engage with the kids, I'm always making sure the animals are kept safe and comfortable.  The private space behind the table does exactly that.

During the presentation, the animals usually take a nap.  The nocturnal species will often be asleep when I go back to get them.  They're comfortable falling asleep because they feel safe and that's because they know their travel crate is a safe space for them.  They've never been hurt or stressed out in their travel crate so they have no reason to feel nervous.  

(montage)

Ahhh!  Alright, that went perfect.  Let's go ahead and get these guys back home.  

(montage)

And that's it!  Since they're nocturnal, they're all gonna go back to sleep until the sun goes down and we serve them their meals.  On days that animals do a presentation, they will either get extra food as treats or we'll use part of their normal diet during the show.  Gizmo and Gadget the sugar gliders will get their full diet tonight.  Lollipop has to have a strict diet or she'll get overweight so what she ate at the show is half her daily meal and she'll get the rest tonight. 

Every animal that goes out to public presentations has a different routine to get ready.  We teach them that they can expect to be comfortable and that they will always be kept safe with us because we make sure every experience is a positive one.  Our animals' well-being comes first, which is why I focus on learning who each of them are as individuals, so I know how to make them happy and comfortable, even when they're in front of an audience of three year olds.

Thanks for letting me show you how we do public presentations with some of the animals.  If you enjoyed this kind of episode, let me know and if you'd like me to share how we do other things at Animal Wonders, leave a comment below.  Thank you to all of our Patrons on Patreon for helping us continue our channel and share all the interesting parts of being an animal rescue and educational outreach.  If you'd like to join our community, you can go to patreon.com/animalwonders and check it out.  Thanks, guys.  

(Outro/Credits)