Intro (00:03):

Welcome to practice O Matic where doctors and practice owners share business, lifestyle and marketing stories. All well, guiding you to more patients. Here's your host, Zach Greenfield.

Zack G. (00:17):

Welcome everybody. I'm Zach Greenfield. Thank you for joining us on practice somatic. We're here with Samantha Little, who is celebrating 16 years, uh, just yesterday as the Raptor conservation specialist at the Autobahn center for birds of prey in Maitland, Florida, just outside of Orlando. And she is the proud owner of two rabbits and two cocktails. And, uh, more importantly though, uh, Samantha has an interesting career story and position that most people wouldn't even be aware of, which is why we had her on the show, uh, working to help rehabilitate birds of prey at the Raptor center. And, uh, interestingly enough, pretty much leads up the hands-on every day in that role, um, because there actually is not a veterinary doctor on staff. So welcome Samantha. Thank you so much for being on the show with us today.

Samantha (01:19):

Thanks for having me.

Zack G. (01:20):

Me. Yeah. So tell, tell us, tell me a little bit about where you started and what sparked this interest to really specialize down and to just essentially kind of one type of animal.

Samantha (01:37):

So I originally went to school up in Wisconsin to be a vet tech and thought I'd be working with exotics. I had pet rats and loved pet rats started a rat rescue in high school. Um, loved it, uh, went to college. And then when I got into the vet practice that I ended up working at, uh, one of the vets was an avian vet and her husband was a falconer. So we got in a bunch of burgers and I just kind of fell in love. And I ended up being one of the only ones that would even touch them when she wasn't there.

Zack G. (02:12):

Okay. I was going to, I, I mean, that's on my list of questions here is like, you know how, um, I mean, maybe you could just tell us right now. I mean, I was definitely going to ask you that. I mean, how, um, you know, how dangerous are these birds and, and what, and, and, you know, I mean, cause I don't think a lot of people know this. I mean, what kind of precautions do you need to take on, uh, you know, to handle and care for the bird?

Samantha (02:38):

I mean, they can be dangerous if you don't know how to hang, hang on to them. Um, like our Eagles exert 300 pounds of pressure in their feet, but it's not like sometimes working with cats and dogs can be just as dangerous, dangerous, if not more dangerous because once I get a hold of my bird and I put a hood on it, it falls asleep. So,

Zack G. (03:00):

Oh, that does make it easier. So, so getting their eyes covered that's, that's, you've pretty much won at that point.

Samantha (03:10):

Yeah. So we use gloves to grab them and then while we're doing any treatments that don't involve their head, we'll have their head covered, whether it's a towel or a hood or something like that.

Zack G. (03:19):

I see. I see. Yeah. I want to tell you, I recently had, uh, our black cat shaped and, um, it was like rage in the cage too. It was, I mean, I kind of regret it. I mean, I think it was a little traumatizing for everybody. I'm personally still recovering from the experience the groomer came to the house and um, which I thought was cool. Uh, you know, and she does it that way. Cause animals are too, I guess, more comfortable at home. I, but either way the cat was fine for the first like five minutes and then decided to flip out and uh, and then actually kind of got bold. And you may experience this sometimes with your birds, is that once he felt that the groomer, you know, that he kind of might have control over this situation, then he really started to crank it up.

Zack G. (04:11):

And um, I ended up having to help her with the gloves from my fireplace, which are like, I think the same ones that you use probably they're like, they're like gauntlets, you know, they go all the way up your arm and uh, they're like thick leather. And anyways, next time he's definitely getting a pill or something because we tried to cover his eyes and it didn't seem to make any difference. Uh, he was still fighting tooth and cloth. So, uh, so tell me though, do do once the birds are asleep though, they're fairly easy to care for. And then, and what's the main, what's the sort of main, what's the bandwidth of stuff that you're seeing at the recovery center? What, like what, what, what brings those birds there?

Samantha (04:58):

So most of the births that we get in are going to be babies. So right now we're just finishing up our baby season and we have mostly baby spray. They don't care if the hoods up they'll bite you regardless. But like, they were super like, I don't know how to use my feet. I'm just going to try and bite you or, you know, they're super dorms.

Zack G. (05:16):

Okay. I got you. And then, and so you get babies because from the storms and things and them falling out of NES or what, how is it that this all happens down there in Florida?

Samantha (05:26):

A lot of times we have like spontaneous thunderstorms that come through and babies fall out of their nests. It could be a nest fire. It could be something as simple as a lot of the birds that we get in our red shoulders. And they tend to be like little jumping beans when they get to a certain age and they just go hop, hop, hop out and people go, oh, it's hurt. And then bring it in when it probably could have been okay. If there wasn't dogs or cats in the area.

Zack G. (05:51):

I see. Okay. Cause the, the mother will still take care of the birds, even though they're on the ground. Isn't that correct?

Samantha (05:59):

Yeah. As long as there's an, a food source around and it knows it's there and it's safe, it will.

Zack G. (06:03):

Okay. I got you. So, so you, a lot of it down there in Florida is Osprey. Those are sea birds pretty much correct.

Samantha (06:13):

Right now it's all spray season. Yeah. A lot of red shoulders and also Eagles. We specialize in Eagles.

Zack G. (06:19):

Oh, okay. And are those American Eagles or other types of, I mean there are, is that

Samantha (06:23):

The only,

Zack G. (06:25):

Oh, that must be amazing. I mean, I've been up close to it. I've been up close with one of those words and it was pretty, pretty incredible.

Samantha (06:32):

Yeah. We ever, I think it was like a hundred equals a year and so far we've gotten 60, most of them babies.

Zack G. (06:38):

Wow. And then, so they come to you and it's babies and that you're basically just raising them for, until they're able to fly and hunt or who teaches, what happens

Samantha (06:52):

If they're injured, then that's kind of the more work. Uh, if they're babies that are, we try and get lunch back into a nest, we work with tree climbers to put them back up. If the baby's like, when they're fledgling out of the nest, sometimes they do like getting hit by cars is really common for our adults and older babies. So we might have to care for them while they're recovering. Um, and then we'll do mouse school where we kind of teach them how to hunt by leaving mice in a big giant flight enclosure. And they have to try and hunt for it, or we fish for the spray and put it in a pond and make sure that they can catch those fish.

Zack G. (07:28):

Really. So you, you actually simulate hunting training at the center? That's pretty cool. I mean, I don't think I I'm pretty sure everybody that's listening. I had no idea this was going on

Samantha (07:43):

And we also have like surrogates, so we'll have bar ELLs that can help raise barred, owls and things like that. If they can't go back to the nest. So they have an adult that helps teach them as well.

Zack G. (07:53):

Oh. And do you keep surrogate Eagles around or, I mean, or is that just something you get lucky with or is there anybody on staff that's doing that job full time or

Samantha (08:04):

So? Yeah. Um, we don't have surrogate Eagles per se. We do have five that live with us. They're not great with parents. Usually we lock out and we'll have an adult that just happens to be in rehab. That's kind of a longer term that can help show the younger ones what's what's going on.

Zack G. (08:21):

Oh, that's amazing. So, so a lot of what you're doing, I mean, and let me ask you, is this, are these ideas that you're telling us, are they, things have been going on, you know, for a long time or is this stuff you guys have developed there at the center through your, you know, just trying to figure out well, how to do the best thing for these animals.

Samantha (08:42):

This is something that a lot of Raptor facilities do. It's, uh, people will wear camouflage, use puppets, do bird calls just to simulate the parents. And as soon as they get out, yeah, the, the mouse school was pretty common to, to have them learn how to hunt once they're out.

Zack G. (08:58):

Okay. And then for the Audubon society, you have your location in Florida. Do they have other places just like your facility in other spots in the country

Samantha (09:12):

We're really kind of unique, um, in that, uh, there are some other facilities that might do small amount of rehab might have some birds on property, but we're one of the very few that actually do the large-scale rehab, um, that we're doing here at the

Zack G. (09:28):

So, and, and I think, you know, then that's the next natural question. Is, does that mean that you guys are getting birds from all over the country or is most of the stuff just coming to you from the local area there?

Samantha (09:41):

Uh, from the state promote early, we might get some from out of different states because of, um, things get cold up north and they can't rehab something, but that's very few and far between most of the birds that we get are within the state, but it could be anywhere in Florida.

Zack G. (09:58):

Right. And, and do you think, I mean, is Florida the place where there is the biggest acute need for this type of center versus other parts of the country? I mean, what I'm just trying to get to the bottom of, it just seems interesting that this whole awesome thing is happening in one spot. I mean, I imagine there's a need for it. Like we certainly have Eagles here and, um, and we have Peregrine Falcon that visits my property here from time to time. Um, so they're around and I just,

Samantha (10:34):

That there's a lot of different rehab centers all over the country. So I know there's some in Virginia and up in the Northeast and in the Northwest and Midwest, they're all over the place, just depending on the need. They just see different patients based on what's in,

Zack G. (10:49):

What's in there. Okay. So for folks that might want to pursue what you're doing, they're interested in this, there probably is something around that they could get involved with or do something. And you mentioned that you also, and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of build this up here, but I want to hear about your daily stuff. You mentioned to me also that you have a lot of volunteers that help out at the facility. So what's that like? And what's that like and how do they participate in helping you guys out?

Samantha (11:17):

So, yeah, so we have about 80 to 90 volunteers that help us for the week. Some of those are in our clinic. They help clean our cages. They feed our birds. So we work really closely with them and train them. A lot of them are students that are trying to go into vet school or interested in becoming a vet so that they can learn more about birds before they actually get to school. And other volunteers might be those that are just had an interest in birds and are helping clean our enclosures outside.

Zack G. (11:48):

Okay. So, and it's like 80 or 90 people a week. So are you in charge of coordinating all that?

Samantha (11:54):

I am not fortunately, but I do work very closely with them.

Zack G. (11:57):

You do. Okay. So, but there's another person that heads up the volunteer end of keeping all that. And then, and then are they when they're on site who's responsible for them? Is that fall on you?

Samantha (12:13):

Yeah, it depends on which, which section, uh, so like today we've got, we don't have somebody who's overseeing outside, so we kind of do both. Uh, so it just depends on who's here and which staff can help, which volunteers

Zack G. (12:27):

I got you. I got you. And then, and so you kinda got them, it sounds like doing a lot of the, the nitty gritty work, cleaning, feeding, you know, the stuff that kinda just has to happen at mass. What, what's your, you know, what's your typical day? Like, what's it like when you, when you hit the ground there in the morning? Like what, how does your day flow in this sort of unique, uh, role that you found yourself in? What's it, what's the day like, and what's kept you there for 16 years.

Samantha (13:02):

So, uh, in the morning we get out all our cleaning supplies, meds, all that kind of stuff, and kind of organize it for patients that require more intense work. We'll do first and then move towards burns that may not need meds are only eating once a day type of thing. So we can be feeding these guys once to four times a day, depending on their need. Um, so we'll do patients through the morning. Uh, once we finished patients, we usually have second and third feedings before lunch. Um, and then we've got all our projects. I love getting in the lab. We do our own lab work and fecals in house for all of our birds, um, teach our volunteers how to do knee Cropsey so we can see why a bird might have passed. If we didn't already know, um, help with research projects that are ongoing, things like that. And then we kind of start the afternoon in reverse where we take care of the least intense patients and feed that into the evening.

Zack G. (13:58):

And then, and then what time does your day, and is it kind of like normal working hours is this is just go on until it's done.

Samantha (14:05):

It's pretty much normal working hours. I mean, we do have some times where birds come in, you know, later, or they need beds at a specific time. It's a little later, but for the most part, we're like eight to 5, 5 30.

Zack G. (14:18):

I got you. And then who brings these birds in? Like, how did they end up with you guys? Is that animal control or just regular folks put them in a cardboard box? Or what, how did they show up on the doorstep? I guess?

Samantha (14:31):

Yeah, that's a lot of it. We do have a really great animal control in our county that we get birds from, that will rescue, uh, the general public brings them to us. We even get birds from fish and wildlife and from other rehabbers that, uh, we work with that may not have the, uh, expertise with that species. So they would send it to us instead.

Zack G. (14:56):

I got you. So they kind of come in from everywhere, but it sounds like, I mean, I think if there's some regular, you know, citizen finds like an Eagle, they're probably gonna make a phone call. I mean, I can't imagine like most folks like going after trying to, you know, um, get control of a humble, like that depends,

Samantha (15:17):

Right. Well, the, the main birds, the red shoulders, the owls, the Osprey, they're actually very easy to catch. If they're injured. A lot of times if you approach them, they just kind of roll over on their back and put the feet up. It's actually easy to put like a box over them. Eagles are a little bit specialized. So yeah. Sometimes we'll go out for rescues. I've gone out at like at night to help rescue in Eagle.

Zack G. (15:42):

Oh, wow. Yeah. I recently caught a headline here in Arizona that a guy, um, saw one that was injured on the side of the highway, this so in American Eagle and, um, apparently pulled over and got the bird, you know, kind of up and oriented and it was completely docile and fine and they got it to animal control and it went to the hospital for recovery. It had been hit by a car, like you said, but I mean, maybe it was just stunned or whatever, but they had this picture of this like regular guy with this Eagle on his arm, on the side of the freeway. And it's just not what you would expect. Now. You think that thing we want to tear your eyes out, you know? But, um, apparently not, maybe they understand when they need help and they're more receptive to getting close to humans at that point. It's hard to say, but I thought it was interesting. It's definitely something for folks to know. They're listening to this. Like if you get, you know, she had close to one of these, you know, I don't know. What's the best thing that you would tell somebody to do call somebody? Or what, what, what, what would

Samantha (16:51):

Yeah, Colleen, somebody, I was helpful if you've never worked with them. Cause again, an Eagle can exert like 300 pounds of pressure in their feet. You don't want to be near those feet. Um, they're less likely to bite. Um, but a lot of these birds will use their feet first. So you don't want to necessarily grab them without gloves or put a box over them or something like that to contain them. You don't want to like handle them as much.

Zack G. (17:15):

I see. Okay. Yeah. So there, there fee. So for everybody that's learning while we're listening here to Samantha, the feet are the bad end of an Eagle.

Samantha (17:27):

Pretty much any bird of prey, the feet are going to be the danger.

Zack G. (17:31):

Okay. So not like a parrot because parents tend to go after what their beaks. Right. Which is the birds that most people have experiences with, you know, like macaws and things like that. They seem to be biters. Right. Okay. So the, so these Raptors are used to using their feet as their primary weapon. That's I made this, you know, this is interesting stuff. I mean, I, I just don't think a lot of people know this, most people don't, um, get to interact with.

Samantha (18:01):

Right. It's like thinking about the natural history of these birds, they have to hunt to kill and they grab this things with their feet. So obviously their feet, it's going to be a lot sharper.

Zack G. (18:11):

I got it. That's like their first point of contact. Right. Like they, as they come down to hot, that's their method of attack is with their feet. That's awesome. So, um, what is the big, like what's the overall for the Audubon society? What's the, you know, higher, how involved are you in the sort of, you know, high-level vision and, and kind of where this program is headed or is it evolving or is it kind of in Stacy's office or, you know, what's it been like for the last 16 years? You know, how are things developed down there? Tell us a little bit about that.

Samantha (18:48):

I think things have definitely evolved over the years. Um, we get to be a part of the decision from where the clinic is going, which I really love, um, that not only are we the small little center, but we're a part of Florida Audubon and we're a part of national Autobon. Uh, so we get to kind of be there and available and say there's things going on throughout the state. And we can be a part of the data that we've collected on our patients and to help communities and environments throughout the state. So I really love that part of it. Um, and I love the research part as we're able to look into microplastics and heavy metals and blood parasites, and where is that going to affect, uh, the birds in our environment as well. Um, and that just helps step our game up as to how we're going to treat those patients as well.

Zack G. (19:47):

Yeah. Let me ask an interesting question. That is from another conversation I had about domestic animals, where, um, in another conversation I had the doctor was, you know, really experiencing over her similar, you know, career, you know, multiple decades of practicing that the instances of cancer were really on the rise with domestic animals. Are you seeing anything like that? And you're working with wild animals are, are our pollution, is our environment, how's it impacting these birds in the 16 years that you see in sensei, you know, day one to, you know, recent.

Samantha (20:34):

Yeah. Um, the biggest thing that we found again was through one of our research projects that we helped with was the increase in microplastics, um, in our birds. So like every single bird that they tested came back positive, and that was just central for birds. Those were not birds, there were on the coast. So it's everywhere, which if it's in these small little birds, it's in us and how is that going to impact us?

Zack G. (21:03):

So, and just to define microplastics, so that's plastic, the birds have ingested, or what, how is that? Is that just what floating around their guts? Or how, how is it test, give me some specifics a little bit.

Samantha (21:15):

So yeah, it would be stuff that's found in their stomach and because these are animals that hunt to kill, that means that something else had to have eaten that before they ate it. So it had me from a mouse or a bird or a fish.

Zack G. (21:31):

I see. Okay. So they're picking it up through prey, especially because the birds you see are all prey animals. And that means that the prey, which yeah, I can imagine are picking through basically our garbage. It sounds like unfortunately whether they like it or not, and picking these prostitutes up, ingesting them, and then the birds are then eating the plastic again. And what are the, what are the health effects of all that? I mean, what, how is this affecting the animals?

Samantha (22:01):

So the more plastics that they get into their gut, the less they're able to absorb into their system. So you're getting first, they become sicker and sicker because they're not able to absorb and digest.

Zack G. (22:14):

Wow. So it's preventing their uptake of nutrients from the food that they get. What, how do you guys detect that? And then what's the, you know, what's the protocol like what we, you know, what's the solution for the whole thing? Or is it, I mean obviously besides littering, not littering, you know, for everybody listening please, but yeah, but what I mean, where, where does that take you in trying to resolve that on your end?

Samantha (22:42):

So for us, I mean, a lot of times we're only seeing it on me. Cropsey because we have to look at the gut contents. So anything that they've digested and it's still in their stomach. Um, but like I said, we're finding it and everybody, so we're trying, you know, trying to, um, evaluate the overall gut health when birds come in and making sure that they're, um, like coughing up a pellet, like the ALS will cough up a pellet. And so getting some of that out of their system. Uh, but there's not a lot that we physically can do for each of the birds. They come in. The biggest thing, like you said, is not littering and the amount of small amount of litter, like even things that go down our sink that end up in these,

Zack G. (23:32):

That's an interesting to think about, huh. So it's not even what people would think, you know, like, oh, I'm not going to throw this bag of potato. You know, this potato chip bag, obviously you want to make sure it gets in the cart, but it's even the smallest things that might get down the drain or blow off a picnic table or something like that. Huh. So, I mean, this just kind of, I mean, I'm like thinking of like, you know, I, I only know this strange fact from living out here in the west, but ranchers put a magnet in a cow's gut.

Zack G. (24:09):

It's like, you can actually great magnets by the way, but they slide those down. And because I guess cows apparently eat barbed wire, uh, which has been going on for, since we've had barbed wire apparently, and the barbed wire and the nails and all the other things that they apparently just, as they're grazing get stuck to this magnet. And I guess just sort of eventually just ride around in there for the life of the cow. It's a shame that there's no way to come up with a sort of livable solution for, for, you know, animals are dealing with the plastics situation. I guess it's just not as easily resolved. It sounds like a very complicated problem, you know, from its source to even trying to resolve it, does plastic show up on x-rays and scans is there. So it's just, yeah, there's just a small microplastics.

Zack G. (25:06):

So you don't even really see them until the animal's past and you can do, you know, an exploration of their digestive track. Yeah. Right. Man, that's tough. So, yeah. So that, and that's the biggest thing that you're seeing right now, but are you seeing, are you seeing instances of cancer and things like that? Is that on the rise or I'm only asking because it came up in another conversation and I happen to have two animals that both suffered from cancer and, and, uh, it's just, you know, we kind of, there's a lot more data on domestic animals. So it's interesting to hear your thoughts on what's going on out in the wild, as we continue to poison the planet.

Samantha (25:47):

We only deal with cancer so much because our birds don't have that kind of lifespan and they're not, you know, it's not the breeding like cats and dogs where you've got some sort of like a generational breeding. These are tend to not have that. So we don't see cancer that often we're dealing more with diseases. So fungal infections, um, without something right now, like that is on the rise this year. It may not be next year called avian pox. That kind of comes in waves. It's very similar to chickenpox. And so things like that, like different diseases and things that they get that kind of go in waves that we'll see sometimes, but maybe not another year. Um,

Zack G. (26:32):

So you got, see, just have regular wildlife sicknesses that are part of the repertoire that you're needed to handle. How does it work since you're kind of the head tech there? How does it play out that there's not a primary doctor on site? Does that become a challenge for you? Or how do you handle that? I mean, I think it must give you a lot of room to, to practice with a good amount of authority. Tell, tell me a little bit about how that kind of functions internally and what you guys need to do to make sure everything's going well.

Samantha (27:10):

Fortunately, we have a really great relationship with a vet that's only like three miles away. Um, that's been in relationship with us for like the lifespan of the center, so that's been amazing. Um, so, but at this point again, I've been here for 16 years. Uh, my coworker has been here for 18 years. We have the knowledge base on what's coming in and how to treat it that most of the time, if we have a question and go to our vet, they're like, well, what are your thoughts? I really love that aspect that the vets are asking us first. What are your thoughts on this? Uh, so we do do like probably 90% of it here. The only thing that like, I don't personally do surgery, uh, but we do all the main check the bird out, get the x-rays do the lab work all on our own. And then if we had questions on treatment, then we have the vets available.

Zack G. (28:04):

I see. So you're yeah, it's kinda neat. So you kinda found your self in this spot where you're really getting to practice exotic animal wildlife, you know, care, you know, with a ton of bandwidth, like you have a lot of room and you have a lot of, you know, the other thing I think that I'm observing is you have a lot of throughput, so you're, you know what I mean? You literally have a lot of volume, hundreds of birds per year. She, you must have gathered just so much experience by, I mean, in your career. I mean you've treated thousands and thousands of birds, correct? Correct. Yeah. Okay. Well, so are people like calling you up all the time from all over the country to check in and find out what you have to think about things?

Samantha (28:51):

No. I mean, I've got a few people who do call about different things, but for the most part, we're, we're a very centrally located area. Uh, we work with the state, you know, other rehabbers and things like that. Um, but

Zack G. (29:05):

So for somebody or surf surfer, a veterinary for tech or for somebody that is interested in kind of what you do, where do you think they would start? You kind of followed your heart with all of this and ended up where you ended up, um, tell us, like, I mean, how does somebody, maybe that's younger, that's still in school or, or that is looking to change the direction of their, you know, practice or career, you know, what, what would you say to those folks?

Samantha (29:34):

It's really a great base to have that, you know, vet tech knowledge. I think that really has helped me this type of career because I had all of that knowledge base from being a tech in a vet practice. And, you know, the anatomy of cats and dogs are different, but like learning what the differences are in birds and the different species you'd be working with and then taking an interest to learn, you know, what are those birds or animals do out in the wild? What is their natural behaviors, uh, goes a long way and then find a facility that's near you, uh, that does internships or does volunteering to get your stuff in the door.

Zack G. (30:15):

Got you. Yeah. So it's like, it's kind of, I mean, it sounds like this is really a labor of love. I mean, you obviously get paid and you know, it's a job for you, but I mean, you can tell by how many volunteers and what's aggregated around you, that this is something that for you and for the folks that are involved in the center and that want to volunteer there and so forth, it's really a passion project. It sounds like in a lot of ways. And the whole thing is funded through grants donations. And I mean, cause Audubon's non-profit right. So right. So you guys are running the whole thing on donated funds basically,

Samantha (30:51):

Basically. Yeah, we do have a couple of, uh, our educator will do educational programs goes here onsite and offsite. We have a couple of different events a year, but for the most part, it's the guests that come in and donate money to our facility, the grants and those,

Zack G. (31:09):

Ah, that's amazing. So, and I think everybody, I mean, I certainly had an awareness about it and I think everybody knows about it, but tell me just a little bit, I mean, do they specialize mainly in birds or what, what's the sort of mission of the organization, if you will.

Samantha (31:22):

Mom's main goal is to protect lands so that the entire environment and all of the species that live there have a place to live and that safe and can produce and, and be out there. Uh, we're kind of unique because we are just looking at that individual and I think it's a really cool mix because we get to do a little bit of books. We get to help, uh, Florida Audubon at national on looking at those areas and those environments and what are some areas that we're seeing some problems with, what are some things that we can do? And then they help us by, you know, supporting the causes that we're doing with caring for these birds.

Zack G. (32:01):

Okay. So that's pretty interesting. So Audubon is about land and, and conservation of space as what I heard, but this Raptor conservation is like kind of a specialist thing, specialized sort of thing that they must have been born out of that mission in the local Florida area. I mean, was there just that much demand? What was it that, I mean, was the center, the center was there before you started, correct? Yes. What do you, I mean, you must be aware of this. What was it that kicked the you? Yeah, exactly. You've been there for awhile. What was it that kicked off them deciding to dive deep into Raptor specifically and bird conservation in that area versus anything else that could have been doing?

Samantha (32:55):

Well, this is a great story. You'll love this. So Florida Audubon Maitland specifically is kind of the area where on kind of started is one of, so we have like our history of Audubon kind of starting here in the central Florida area. And there were offices here on this property and one of, and like a little gift shop and stuff. And one of the staff that worked here would take in birds into her house because she would get a call on the phone and be like, Hey, I've got this injured bird. What do you do? And so she would take a few birds in her, home, her home and care for them. And then she asked to see if we could like build an Avior to keep some of the ones that weren't able to be released. And in order to raise money for that, uh, her name is Doris Mager. She sat in an inactive Eagle's nest for three days to raise money, to build the first aviary that's still standing today.

Zack G. (33:50):

Oh, wow. Okay. So she did like a sit in fundraiser in a nest. Okay. So she got some headlines raised the money and got the first aviary belt there. And that was the beginning of the whole thing. So it was actually sounds very organic. It wasn't like from top-down management or anything, it was like one, one soldier sorta decided to create a movement.

Samantha (34:18):

One person can make a difference.

Zack G. (34:21):

Well, that's it. That is a good story. And so she sort of pushed this thing forward. And what year was that at? Like how long, how long ago was that?

Samantha (34:28):

1979.

Zack G. (34:30):

Oh, okay. So that's a little ways back. Um, yeah, you know, I mean, it's not forever ago. I mean, it could have been like 1930 or something, but you know, 1979 is, you know, the, actually I think in that area, outside of our Orlando where you're at in 1979, it was still pretty rural. Um, there wasn't a whole heck of a lot going on out there. So that was, you know, Florida countryside, if you will probably doesn't feel that way now. But I think at that time it definitely was. So she, uh, she just pushed the whole thing forward and, and, uh, pulled it off. It sounds like, and then it's just grown since then. And what's it like now? They're like, how, how expensive is the facility? Like what, what kind of describe that to us?

Samantha (35:12):

So, yeah, we're on three acres of land that, uh, the only building that used to have offices that still exist is now our clinic building. So our x-ray is in the old safe, like, it's kind of an interesting building that way that we've refurbished and made it into a hospital. Um, we have a 1920 style bungalow house that our, as our education slash, uh, guest area. Uh, so that's a pretty neat little area. It used to be the gift shop downstairs offices upstairs, and now it's kind of like a guest area. And then we have, uh, one other building where we have got our walk-in freezer and, you know, most of our volunteers work out of there has got kind of our food and prep area. Uh, and then the rest of the facility has large muse throughout the facility. We have 45 permanent residents that live here that do education permit programs, both on site and off site. Uh, and then we've got 14 rehab use and three flight cages, including a hundred foot flight cage. Oh,

Zack G. (36:22):

Wow. Okay. So now it's a big thing.

Samantha (36:24):

It sounds a big thing.

Zack G. (36:25):

Yeah. Wow. And that's a, that's a, that's it that's awesome story did. So can the public come there? I mean, are they just coming anytime when you have like hours or is there, I mean, how does that work?

Samantha (36:38):

Yeah, we're open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 to four for guests to come.

Zack G. (36:43):

Okay. So they can just come and obviously see the birds and kind of what's going on and all of that and, yeah. Okay. That's neat. And so does that interrupt your work on a daily basis or is that kind of working in a way that's not a problem?

Samantha (37:00):

Not really. It is fun. I've been in, so our lab areas kind of open so the people can see while I'm working. And I have one time I was sitting in county blood cells and somebody was like, oh, it's animatronic like Disney. No.

Zack G. (37:17):

Oh my God. So they thought you were a robot. Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. So, and then did you like scare them or what? Yeah, like I guess

Samantha (37:30):

I looked up as they walked away and like somebody else started laughing.

Zack G. (37:33):

Oh my God. That's funny. All right. Cool. Well, Samantha, I want to thank you for being on the show and sharing your unique story and position within the, you know, veterinary care world. Um, it's not many folks that I get to talk to her that we hear. I don't think anybody really gets to hear about this behind the scenes and your career and this sort of a special place that you found in it. And it just goes to show that, you know, caring for animals has many faces. Um, there's a lot more out there than just cats and dogs and wildlife care and wildlife conservation and preservation, and trying to, you know, get back a balance with mother nature is something that anybody can get involved with, whether they want to volunteer or follow it as a career path like you have, which I, I don't, I don't think many people understand, you know, how to get there, how that works. So it's, it's a honor to be able to share your story with everybody that's listening. I appreciate you.

Samantha (38:33):

It was fun.

Zack G. (38:34):

Yeah. Thanks for being on the show. All right, guys. So we'll see you guys on the next episode and let's thank for Samantha and I'm

Intro (38:41):

Sure she's going to get back to the Raptors this morning. We'll just, we'll wrap it up with that. Thank you for listening to this episode of practice. So subscribe to the podcast. So you don't miss any future episodes for additional help and resources for your practice. Visit Zack greenfield.com to connect with Zach. Visit Zach greenfield.com/z G.