When we spotted this slogan in a café in a remote town in Colorado years ago, we realized that one key to youth is continuing education. Influenced by this objective, we recently purchased a small home near Tucson, Arizona, where abundant opportunities for volunteering and learning exist.

Live-on versus Real Volunteers

For the past seven years, we have been “live-on” volunteers, obliged to work a required number of hours to whatever refuge or agency offered us a space to park our RV and give us hookups to run the rig. Living in our own home, however, allows us to be “real” volunteers, as a friend of mine likes to refer to those who give of their time without any consideration in return. Consequently, we hope to spread our volunteer time over two or three groups and institutions to broaden our experience, as well as take advantage of classes and programs that expand and complement our interests.

Choices

Our first choice for volunteering near Tucson was Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge /(BANWR) where we had previously presented several snake programs to schools and helped with the Annual Grasslands Fair. But because BANWR is over 60 miles from our house, we plan to limit our time there to occasional special events and school programs in and around Tucson.

The Sonoran Desert Museum is fairly close to our house, and their expertise on the Sonoran Desert is well respected. For now we plan to take advantage of the classes and activities the Museum offers, a few of which we have already experienced such as a two-day course entitled “The Natural History of the Sonoran Desert,” as well as several keeper talks offered each day.

Even closer to us is Saguaro National Park, the northwest section. Exploring the visitor center at Saguaro and talking with staff and volunteers made us feel welcome and comfortable.  After checking out the schedule of programs, we decided to attend “Snakes:  The Slither Factor” presented by Park Ranger Philip Brown. We’ve been to programs in other parks and institutions, some of which were outstanding, some of which were average, some of which bordered on embarrassing. Ranger Brown’s program was everything we hoped for, and we came away with a better understanding of the snake population of the area. It was obvious that he knew his subject intimately.

We returned the next day for a presentation by Park Ranger Donna Gill called “Neighborhood Characters.” In her program, Ranger Gill introduced visitors to different plants and related them to stores and people we might find in our own neighborhoods. “This creosote bush could be considered a pharmacy,” she said. “It provided native people with what they needed to treat their diseases.”

Saguaro National Park offers us continuing education, hiking experiences, and volunteer opportunities that we hope to explore.

Expanding the Mind

While we have educated school children, winter visitors, and other travelers over the past seven years, we’re finding it refreshing to be able to expand our own education. And as we engage in continuing education for ourselves, as well as continuing to educate others with our snakes and skulls, we keep in mind advice we once received from a doctor:  “If you’ve got it moving, keep it moving.” Even though he was referring to physical parts of the body, we now know that it also applies to our minds!

Fifth Wheel Home

We love our fifth wheel home. It offers everything we need. The RV life has been good to us. We’re healthy and energetic and mobile. Our expenses are minimal. Why did we need to complicate our lives?

These thoughts tortured our minds for weeks. Each time I opened a drawer, turned on a light, delved into storage, or even went to bed, I became more aware of everything an RV offers that a house lacks. Our trailer came equipped with so many light fixtures that we still haven’t used them all. We store a full-sized keyboard, extra clothing, suitcases, backpacks, and boxes of treasures in under-bed storage. The RV came furnished with the bed and even the bedspread, as well as a built-in chest of drawers for our clothing. The windows came with window shades and valances. We tuck exercise equipment, heating pad, tax forms, old photographs, radio equipment, books, extra towels, and a myriad other necessities in built-in overhead cabinets. Chuck enjoys his built-in desk, while I read on the couch or recliner chairs that also came with our RV. And we both watch TV or listen to radio from our built-in entertainment center.

Since we sold or gave away almost everything a few years ago when we sold our home and hit the road, we’d need to start from scratch with this house. Not only would we require furniture, lamps and lighting, and storage units, we’d need to shop for second sets of flatware, dishes, cookware, towels, sheets, ironing board, and other assorted household necessities.

“We should have a shower for you,” a friend told me. Wouldn’t that be nice!

The more we realized how much our RV came appointed with compared to what the empty house would offer, the more we hesitated.

Second Look

“The house and property look great,” another friend offered. “Just go ahead and get it, go through your buyer’s remorse, and enjoy it!”

Front Yard

Back Yard

But one of the biggest selling points for us, we realized, was the RV site with full hookups next to the house.

RV Site by House

What attracted us to the property originally was not the house itself, but the acreage with pathways among the vegetation, the views, the decks, and the wildlife. That’s when it dawned on us – we weren’t buying a house on a beautiful piece of property. We were buying an RV site on our own wildlife sanctuary as we continue RVing!

For the time being, we decided, we would remain fulltime RVers, living in our fifth wheel hooked up next to the house, enjoying the property whenever we were in town before one day moving into the house and staying put. We can take our time furnishing the house. But for now, at least until we give up the full-time RV lifestyle and settle down, we have purchased a very nice RV site that comes with a large guest house for our visiting friends.

Front porch

Back Porch

Parked at the National Elk Refuge

On one hand, living in a spacious RV with many amenities could be considered luxury, far from hardship associated with “wild.”  On the other hand, some might consider living in the open spaces of a wildlife refuge as adversity and privation.

Living on a wildlife refuge isn’t for everyone.  For us it means fresh air, great views, space, and interesting work.  For others it can mean isolation, loneliness, hardship, and drudgery.  Not everyone is comfortable living miles from doctors and groceries, surrounded by wildlife and secluded from society.  Comments from our friends and acquaintances range from, “How can I get to do what you’re doing?” to “Are you nuts?”

While not all wildlife refuges are remote, we prefer those close to nature and far from big cities.  Shopping has never been a priority for either of us, and our needs are few since we live in our RV and have most everything we want.  Enough groceries can be stored after a once-a-week trip to town, and anything else can either wait or come by mail after placing an order on Internet.  We do our best to avoid medical issues by maintaining a healthy lifestyle of proper diet and exercise.  While this does not address every medical need, we rationalize the trade-off of possible medical problems with the freedom of living “away from it all.”

Wildlife Galore

Waking each morning to unlimited views and coyotes yipping or sandhill cranes chortling is just one advantage that lures us to this lifestyle.  And spotting wildlife is expected on wildlife refuges.  A bobcat once ambled by as we sat with a glass of wine behind our trailer.  At the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, a moose and her calf once worked their way across the Refuge toward the volunteer campground and finally slipped between two RVs before heading up the hill behind us.  Gila woodpeckers, Gambel’s quail, yellow headed blackbirds, white pelicans, and even trumpeter swans are a few of the birds of all kinds that surround us at different refuges.  And we regularly observe elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and small mammals.  But because our main interest is reptiles, the thrill for us is searching for snakes and lizards of all species.

Living on a wildlife refuge also means taking care.  In bear country, we must place garbage in special waste containers to avoid luring bears into human territory.  In snake country, we must carry flashlights at night to avoid stepping on a rattlesnake after dark.  While hiking in remote areas alone we carry first aid supplies, extra water, and a radio.  And on any wildlife refuge, we must remember that wildlife comes first.  We don’t interfere with it, and that includes not putting up bird feeders or artificially feeding other species.

Site at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge

Most wildlife refuges where we have volunteered have access to ponds, lakes, or rivers to launch our canoe and paddle backwaters in solitude, searching for and observing wildlife.  All refuges have or are near hiking trails we can explore without traveling great distances.  Some are near bike trails or allow biking within their confines.  In all of these activities, we find ourselves fairly isolated in the midst of wildlife on mostly pristine lands.

So how to answer the fourth grader who asked if we live in the wild?  After reflecting for a moment, I slowly nodded my head.  “Yeah,” I said, “I guess we do.”

Living in our RV makes it possible.  And for us it’s great!

 Volunteer site at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge:

View from our Trailer at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge:

Jackson National Fish Hatchery:

These volunteers bring needed skills and excellent work ethics from previous life experiences and jobs, and with some we’ve connected with strong emotional attachments that we never experienced living in a neighborhood.

Chuck demonstrating snakes at Yuma River Daze

Volunteer coordinators strive to choose their volunteers not only by their qualifications for a job, but also for their ability to get along with others. They search for volunteers with a positive, enthusiastic attitude. They look for congenial people who do their best not to alienate others who live and work with them. Such people keep their pets under control and limit the noise they create. They don’t monopolize conversations or try to “one-up” others. And they do their best to honor their commitments or contract.

Part of the excitement of volunteering at different parks and refuges is meeting new people who share our lifestyle and our interests. Many volunteers we have worked with keep in touch, and our paths crisscross as we traverse the country. As our network of friends expands, we realize that those chosen for these positions represent the values and commitment we also embrace.

Looking for Volunteers

Kristen Gilbert, Volunteer & Grants Coordinator for Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, interviews potential volunteers as she would anyone applying for a job. “I check references and look for how motivated they are,” she says. Kristen likes to give volunteers the opportunity to learn and grow, and she searches for those interested in learning experiences rather than those who merely want a space to park.

Mid-Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Complex Visitor Services Manager Sue McDonald considers the needs of the Refuge, as well as the needs of the volunteer. “I look for what the volunteer wants to do that fits with what the Refuge wants and needs,” she says. “And I look for enthusiasm and excitement in a volunteer. You need to cherish the volunteers and the needs of the volunteers, or you’re setting up for failure.”

And during a reference check, Sue inquires about their social skills. “It’s very important,” she says, “to know if they get along with others!”

“The first thing that jumps to my mind,” says Imperial National Wildlife Refuge manager Elaine Johnson, “is how well they get along with others, because many are interacting with the public.” Volunteers need to fit in with staff, as well as with other volunteers, according to Elaine. “The way I look at it is that they are full members of the staff. To me, they’re an integral part of the program.”

More inclined to recruit people she meets in person, Nancy Corona, Public Use Ranger for Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, will also consider a good resume from another facility. Nancy looks for those with a good work ethic who can function independently and may not mind being somewhat isolated if working on an assignment in the field.

Helping with biology

When Juliette Gutierrez, Assistant Manager of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, searches for volunteers, she seeks those who are optimistic, flexible, and independent. “I want hard workers,” she says, “who can see things with a new eye and come to the table with positive ideas and enthusiasm to do right by the refuge mission and its community.”

Volunteer service is invaluable, according to Juliette, and staff could not accomplish as much without their help. But she expects her volunteers to understand that, while they’re all on the same team, volunteers are a support system and need to maintain a positive frame of mind. “Truly, a positive attitude can outshine the most skilled worker!”

Ideas from Volunteers

“Volunteers don’t come in as empty vessels,” says Kristen Gilbert. “I’ve learned a lot from managing volunteers, and I like to take advantage of their strengths.”

One of the best lessons Chuck and I have learned, however, came from fellow volunteer, John Fairbank #42661, one of the first live-on volunteers we worked with. “Our motto,” said John and his wife, Joyce, “is that we are there to assist the agency’s staff in any way that we can.” That includes, according to John, monitoring our own work and volunteer hours rather than fretting over what others have or have not done.

Heeding advice from those who choose volunteers and others who are volunteers can make a volunteer experience educational and rewarding. It has more than enhanced our RV life!

A similar version of this article was published in the January/February 2011 issue of Escapees Magazine.

Too much heat can kill a reptile; and although they’re more tolerant to cold than heat, any temperature fluctuation is unhealthy. The proper temperature would keep them within a 20 degree range from 65-85 degrees.

Before we sold our home, part of Chuck’s workshop in the basement housed the four snakes we use for educational programs. Before we sold our home, controlling their temperature was easy. After we sold our home, Chuck was confronted with a new set of rules to maintain the proper temperature.

The Right Trailer

Our new 5^th wheel for full-time RVing required certain qualities for our exotic critters. Many wildlife refuges where we volunteer allow suitable areas to house the snakes – sometimes at a visitor center, other times in a heated location out of public view. For driving between volunteer assignments, however, we have to be able to maintain proper temperature in our RV.

Snake Cages in RV Basement

A spacious basement attracted us to our current fifth wheel. It not only accommodates four cages, it affords both electrical outlets for heat lamps and a heat system ducting to add warmth from the furnace. This dual heat source capability is helpful in assuring that no matter where we park, Chuck can maintain the required temperature.

Even with two sources of heat, there are times when he wants to know exactly what the basement temperature is. For around $10, he located a wireless digital thermometer that fits the bill perfectly. The sensor is attached to the basement wall, while the monitoring unit sits by our bedside upstairs. With a glance, Chuck can tell how our scaly educators are doing a couple feet below. All the heat generating systems are unnecessary when parked at a volunteer assignment, but being able to maintain healthy temperatures while on the road gives us more freedom traveling between positions.

Frozen Mice

Like their wild cousins, our snakes eat only once a week and sometimes less frequently. Chuck feeds our captive snakes mice that we store frozen in the RV freezer. This requires ample freezer space and, more importantly, an understanding spouse. A corner of our freezer, although not huge, provides space for 75 rodents. Chuck orders the mice from rodent breeders who ship them overnight to us no matter where we are.

Other volunteers and friends parked near us have occasionally brought us mice that they’ve trapped in their RVs. Although we appreciate their thoughtfulness, we explain that our snakes eat only captive-raised mice. Who knows what diseases or poisons wild mice harbor?

With adequate space, proper heating and electric, and mail-order rodents, we can travel the country with our reptile dependents residing in comfort.