Going to the birds
Students at Sherwood Elementary School in Charlottetown treated to animal show
Students at Sherwood Elementary School were literally hitting the deck on Friday as birds swooped over their heads.
“That was so cool,’’ exclaimed one excited youngster after Hook, the red-tailed hawk, passed over his head, missing it by inches.
Earth Rangers, a children’s conservation organization, made a stop at the school as part of a cross-Canada tour. Demonstrations included Hook flying from one end of the school’s gymnasium to the other and Maverick, the American kestrel, doing the same.
The one-hour show also included Kookatoo, the laughing kookaburra, and the big hit of the show, Daisy, the striped skunk.
“All of our animals that we bring in to school are taken care of by us. They are with us 24 hours a day in the nationwide tours and they help us in teaching kids about animals and why it’s important to protect them,’’ said Josh Mazza, an animal presenter and handler with Earth Rangers.
“They get the kids really excited, and these presentations are just, really, a positive way for us to show that not only do the animals in the wild need help, it’s a positive experience for them so they leave excited and inspired. They want to make a difference (in protecting the environment).’’
Maverick was the first winged creature to fly over the children’s heads. Stations were set up at either end of the gym by Mazza and fellow handler Marc Cuda. Maverick flew, on command, to either station, swooping low over the youngsters.
The grand finale was Hook, the much larger bird. One student said you could feel the air move as the hawk passed overhead. Only Daisy, who is a de-scented skunk, managed to draw a bigger reaction from the assembled crowd.
Earth Rangers also has a free membership program and fundraising campaigns.
In addition to the aforementioned animals that were part of the show, Earth Rangers serves to protect the blue spotted salamanders, snowshoe hare and grey fox.
Earth Rangers has 13 P.E.I. schools taking part in a battery blitz, challenging the schools to collect dead batteries and properly dispose them. Kids have two weeks to collect batteries and at the end of the blitz, Earth Rangers will weigh what each school has collected. The school that had the best blitz will win a pizza party.
“Kids love pizza and kids love animals, and that’s what we’re trying to (do), merge the excitement of what kids love with education and trying to be eco-friendly; (to) help them learn great conservation initiatives that they can do.’’
“All of our animals that we bring in to school are taken care of by us. They are with us 24 hours a day in the nationwide tours and they help us in teaching kids about animals and why it’s important to protect them.”
Josh Mazza