We have worked several adoption events for Arizona Game & Fish. Most animals up for adoption at these events are dogs. Other animals include cats, rats, occasional rabbits, and perhaps others we have yet to spot. But even though our booth is the only one with tortoises up for adoption, we have yet to be …
“Buzz used to run over any snake he saw on the road,” Shirley Gladstone remarked about her husband, Buzz. “Then he would back up and run over it again to be sure it was really dead. He thought snakes were bad and he was doing a good thing.” Volunteers Shirley and Buzz are full-time RVers …
Volunteering for Arizona Game & Fish Department has proved very rewarding and exciting for us. However, the other day we discovered that there is an element of risk to it. Adoption When we were asked if we would “man” the Tortoise Adoption Program booth at an animal adoption event, we gladly said “Yes!” As it …
“There are quite a few rattlesnakes in the area, so please stay in your vehicle and text me when you arrive.” This message from Tegan Wolf, Desert Tortoise Adoption Program Coordinator for Arizona Game and Fish Department, was likely meant as a warning. But, for us, it was an enticement. We were meeting with Tegan …
Driving home through White Tank Mountain Regional Park after engaging visitors with our snakes and skulls recently, Chuck braked when the car in front of us suddenly served to the right, barely missing a large gopher snake stretched in a serpentine shape across the middle of the road. Approaching the Snake The car drove on, …
This week’s unrest across the country reminds me of my own biases instilled in me as a child in the 1950s and how a young black boy in the 1980s helped me overcome this prejudicial upbringing. I wrote this article over 20 years ago, and it was published in AIM Magazine’s winter, 1999 issue. …
A glint against the distant hills caught U.S. Fish & Wildlife Officer Walter Duran’s eye as we drove up the dirt road through Desert National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada. To check it out, Walter veered off onto the next side road heading in the direction of the still visible glimmer. “That’s what we do,” …