Past President
As a child my favourite line was “Mum, this clam followed me home – can I keep it?”
Early experiences feeding Grandma’s back yard grey squirrels and seeing the Disney movie African Lions at 2 years old probably got it all started. An early dislike for caged birds started with a nasty biting budgie. My wildlife interest really blossomed when we moved out of Hamilton to acreage on the Grand River. There summers were spent wandering around and in the river-which also lead to my first encounter with raccoon ‘orphans’. One was a teenaged raccoon that followed a friend home from a bush party-the others were orphaned by my Dad’s gun club. The teenager returned to the wild – the beagle kicked him out when she had a false pregnancy one winter, the others a long sad-ending story at the vets. Evidence of the temperament of the former is carried as a scar through my left ring finger nail which was bitten off when I tried to bring him in for the night. At university I studied biology and then traveled. I worked for a small animal vet clinic in Sydney, Australia. I came to Saskatchewan to study Veterinary Technology at Kelsey because of the practical experience they offered at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). Then came the lab slave years, interrupted with a year of teaching at Kelsey, and all the while I was volunteering for the Zoo Society and setting up their Tour Guide, Volunteer and fundraising programs. When I developed the Grade 1 program I knew I wanted to teach- but mainly to teachers. So back to university at 40 years old and working with Peter Jonker. At which time I asked to lead trips to see and learn about wildlife; thus a nice job.
My interest in bats started with programs at the zoo. This year I overwintered/hibernated 6 Big Brown bats – 4 of which are now free and feeding themselves! To date I have been involved with 24 bats. June 2006, I went to Arizona for a week to study identification and conservation with Bat Conservation International.
I am dedicated to Keeping Saskatchewan Wildlife Wild!