Wildlife Wonders Winter 2015

Wildlife Wonders LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM | WINTER 2015

Inside:

Lindsay celebrates 60 years of inspiring and eye-opening wildlife encounters

WELCOME

Welcome to Wildlife Wonders When Wildlife Wonders arrived in your mailbox, you may have wondered who sent it. The title and cover are certainly a new look for us—one that will be carried forward with a new website design and additional print materials that will be developed in the next few months.

“ In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

—John Muir

As many of you know, Lindsay has entered a period of transition with many significant changes already underway. We’re refocusing on our mission by reallocating more of our resources to directly support mission activities. For example, we now have a full-time veterinarian and have hired a part-time vet as well; we are bringing aboard additional animal keepers. And we’re dedicated to providing people with more of those special “up close and personal” wildlife experiences that Lindsay is known for.

I would describe this period of Lindsay’s continuing development as the “chrysalis” stage. With some exciting capital projects being planned, a butterfly will emerge in our 60th anniversary year, 2015. And we’ll reveal our new logo with a “polishing” of our identity, to clarify who we are and what we do. Rest assured, Lindsay will always be “Lindsay.” That’s a name we carry with pride: it’s earned the goodwill of countless over the past 60 years.

I think you’ll be pleased with the review of Lindsay’s past as well as the good news about our future that you’ll find in these pages. I’ve looked forward to establishing this new line of communication with our many members and friends, and hope that this will become another means of dialogue between us.

Please let me know what you think. This is truly meant to be a dialogue, and I look forward to the conversation that’s only just beginning!

Museum & Wildlife Hotline 925-935-1978 ­ — wildlife-museum.org info@wildlife-museum.org ­ — 1931 First Avenue Walnut Creek, CA 94597 Executive Director Norma Bishop Creative Staff Rachel Simmons, Marketing & PR Manager Produced by DCP dcpubs.com

Board of Directors Marilyn Fowler, President Gabe Togneri, Vice President James A. Pezzaglia, Treasurer Rosanne Siino, Secretary Charlie Abrams Holly Armstrong Stewart Bailey Mark E. Brown Barney Howard Nan Hudson Marc Kaplan Kramer Klabau Matt Lawson Julie Ross Kevin Schwartz David Shunick Michael Stead Martha Strock Nan Walz

Norma Bishop Executive Director | Lindsay Wildlife Museum

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W i l d l i f e Wo n d e r s | w i l d l i f e - m u s e u m . o r g

On the cover: Shadow, a great gray owl, has been a favorite at Lindsay Wildlife Museum since 1999.

C OV E R : PAU L H A R A

adults and children, and saved many animals’ lives

TRACKS

LWM Explorer

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Developed in partnership with Saint Mary’s College of California and made possible by a SENCER-ISE grant, Lindsay’s mobile app for iPhone is now available. Identify local wildlife, snap and map photos, add field notes, and share your experiences. Search LWM Explorer in the iTunes store to get started today!

MEET ARROYO! Arroyo, a Virginia opossum, is one of Lindsay Wildlife Museum’s newest animal ambassadors. Her name means creek in Spanish and commemorates the Walnut Creek Centennial. Arroyo came to live at Lindsay because she was caught by a cat and then kept as a pet, so she was not able to survive in the wild again.

50,000

SAVE THE DATE! The fifth annual Faces of Wildlife Gala is scheduled for Saturday, February 28, at Diablo Country Club. Enjoy live music, a gourmet dinner, and exciting live and silent auctions. For sponsorship and ticket information, visit wildlife-museum. org/gala.

The number of people who experience Lindsay Wildlife Museum every year through programming, field trips and on-campus presentations.

100,000

Lindsay Wildlife Museum’s 500 volunteers contribute more than 50,000 hours of service each year. Their efforts caring for patients in the wildlife hospital, working with our animal ambassadors, and offering interpretations for museum visitors and schoolchildren are what bring the Lindsay experience to life!

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60 YEARS OF WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS Lindsay Wildlife Museum celebrates six decades of education, rehabilitation and commitment—all driven by a deep respect for our wild neighbors Topaz, a golden eagle found near Lake Topaz in the Tahoe region, is one of the newest additions to the Exhibit Hall.

On a summer day in 1953, a pack of little boys with crew cuts straight out of Stand

by Me pedaled their bikes to a place where, if you weren’t afraid, you could meet a coyote face-to-face. Or a raccoon or a barn owl, or a rattlesnake.

That’s where, to the delight of his own young children and their friends, Alexander “Sandy” Lindsay collected wild animals in enclosures on his property overlooking Walnut Creek.

One of those boys, Barney Howard, can still picture the smiling, happy-go-lucky Sandy Lindsay: a man who loved the look of wonderment on kids’ faces when they met these animals for the first time. “He wanted

{ Alexander Lindsay }

to educate kids,” Howard says, “and he had this vision to create a place where they could come to learn about wildlife firsthand.”

That was the genesis of Lindsay Wildlife Museum, which opened as the Diablo Junior Museum Associwhich his museum would grow or how an entire community would discover that his vision was also theirs.

But he surely would have been gratified to learn that parents, teachers and elected officials would all make the commitment to carry on his work long after his death in 1962.

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W i l d l i f e Wo n d e r s | w i l d l i f e - m u s e u m . o r g

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ation in 1955. Nearly 60 years later, Howard says Lindsay probably never could have imagined the ways in

Now, on the eve of its 60th anniversary, the

rehabilitation hospital that is now the oldest and

museum has achieved renown as one of the

one of the largest in the country. The hospital

nation’s most impactful wildlife education and

offers pioneering health care to more than

rehabilitation centers. Early on, the museum

5,000 injured wild animals each year.

established its identity as a center focused on

“When my cat caught a beautiful California

education through providing a home for non-

quail, I had this overwhelming sense of

releasable California native animal species that

gratitude after a neighbor told me there was

could no longer survive in the wild. Today, each

a place I could take the bird,” Wendy Raggio

animal ambassador in the live collection—a gray

recalls. Days later, when she learned the quail

fox, a golden eagle, a great horned owl, and near-

didn’t pull through, she drove straight to Lind-

ly 60 more—comes to Lindsay Wildlife Museum

say Wildlife hospital. “I said, ‘What can I do to

with a personal story.

help?’ And that’s when I became a volunteer.”

“Their mission in life is to speak for their spe-

With each passing decade, stories like

What’s Next for Lindsay Wildlife Museum?

cies, and at Lindsay Wildlife Museum, we help

Raggio’s multiply. Each year, some 500 volun-

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

them share their stories,” says Norma Bishop,

teers log more than 50,000 hours taking care of

enters its 60th year with

the museum’s executive director. For example,

animals or teaching visitors.

a vision for the future.

Diablo the turkey vulture teaches visitors that

Howard remembers being one of the first

“We want to get outside,”

his species is gentle, social and misunderstood.

docent volunteers for the museum in the 1950s.

says Executive Director

Diablo was shot by an Arizona farmer who

He went on to complete a master’s degree in

Norma Bishop. “We want

mistakenly thought the bird was preying on

vertebrate zoology and enjoyed a long career

to expand beyond our

his livestock. (Turkey vultures eat only dead

as a science teacher. Howard still serves on the

walls and windows to

animals, acting as a cleanup crew that benefits

board of directors, and his wife, Joanne, is the

help people connect with

the ecosystem.)

president of the Lindsay Museum Alliance, a

animals.”

More than 100,000 people every year—

tight-knit women’s group that has raised hun-

including 40,000 schoolchildren—meet these

dreds of thousands of dollars for the museum.

milestones have involved

The next generation of budding wildlife

physical spaces, like mov-

animal ambassadors, often from just inches

Many of the museum’s

away. The visitors all go home with a new

enthusiasts is emerging at Lindsay Wildlife

ing into the water pump

perspective.

Museum through the Interpretive Guide

house at Larkey Park

program, which helps kids ages 12–16 learn

in 1965 and then to the

‘How can I coexist with wildlife, including the

about animals and explore different career

larger current location in

wildlife in my backyard?’ ” says Sarah Parnell,

opportunities. The cycle of inspiration contin-

1993. In 2014, museum

manager of interpretive programs.

ues, Howard says. “Lindsay gave me an early

staff, board members and

love for animals that shaped my entire life.”

longtime partners like the

“We encourage visitors to ask themselves,

In 1970, the museum expanded to provide a new outlet for that compassion: a wildlife

City of Walnut Creek began a dialogue on further updates to the center— new outdoor enclosures, new exhibits and new ways to engage animals.

Stay tuned for more de-

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tails in the coming year!

Above: A pair of baby hummingbirds inside the cap of an orange juice container.

Some 40,000 schoolchildren visit Lindsay Wildlife Museum each year, gaining unique experience with more than 60 animal ambassadors, including a gopher snake and a Western pond turtle.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

Left: Volunteer Peter Schmidt has a uniquely calming effect on Shadow, an occasionally skittish great gray owl.

Special Connections Lindsay Wildlife Museum volunteers are dedicated to the wildlife they care for and establishing unique relationships with the museum’s animal ambassadors

and parents seated before her at Lindsay Wildlife

handlers and the wildlife at Lindsay Wildlife Museum.

Museum. Her audience is far more excited. They

Personalities mesh, and trust takes root. Shadow, the

ooh and ahh, awestruck in the presence of this lustrous

great gray owl who can sometimes startle easily, softens

bird, one of the largest and fastest raptors in North Ameri-

in the presence of Peter Schmidt, a volunteer who has

ca. Amid the buzz, Topaz remains regal and stoic, perched

approached her with a Zen-like quiet for 15 years. Bob the

on the gloved fist of her handler, Dawn Manley.

bobcat stirs from his resting place when volunteer Carol

Manley tells the audience how Topaz came to live at

Johnson arrives on Wednesday mornings. Johnson fash-

Lindsay Wildlife Museum. She was found on the ground

ioned a cat scratcher out of a bottle brush and a wooden

at Topaz Lake, Nev., southeast of Lake Tahoe, with a dam-

dowel, which she pokes through his cage to massage his

aged wing and a serious infection. Topaz eventually stabi-

ears and neck, and help him shed fur in the spring.

lized, but like all animals in the museum’s live collection,

Nearly every weekend, Jan Bindas visits Diablo, the

she is not releasable because she could never survive

affable old turkey vulture. Bindas, a former volunteer for

again in the wild. That makes her a perfect fit at Lindsay

nine years, maintains a deep affection for the bird. Diablo

Wildlife Museum as an animal ambassador, whose job is

hops over to Bindas on arthritic legs and sits contentedly

to educate the public about her species and the need to

as Bindas talks to him. “I tell him he’s my main man and

protect wildlife. By the look of the crowd before her, she’s

the toughest guy I know, and my favorite bird of all time,”

done a stand-up job.

says Bindas. “He’s a terrific ambassador for his species,

“She’s one of the smartest birds of prey I’ve ever worked with,” says Manley, who is the curator of the live collection

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Special connections are common between human

and he’s taught people so much.”

Rapport can flourish only after extensive time spent

at the museum. “She’s always watching us and taking

with a wild animal, as well as lengthy training on proper

notes. But she’s also very giving and allows us to do so

care and respect. “These are special relationships, but

much with her. She stays calm when the museum gets

they’re not on our terms,” explains Manley. “Once you

busy, and that comes from her knowing that we’d never let

accept that, you can reach this level of interaction that is

anything happen to her.”

amazing and rewarding.”

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T

opaz the golden eagle calmly surveys the kids

ANNUAL REPORT

the past year has been filled with changes and challenges, I’m proud to “ Although report that thanks to the dedication of staff, volunteers, supporters and the board, Lindsay has come through with flying colors. During our 60th year of service to the community, I look forward to celebrating our history and future success!

”

— MARILYN FOWLER, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Financial Report FY 2013–14 (July 1, 2013­–June 30, 2014, unaudited) $3,000,000 $2,500,000 $2,000,000 $1,500,000 $1,000,000 $500,000 $0 $(500,000)

Income $2,509,581

Labor $1,472,070

Non-labor Expense $737,037

KEY FEATURES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE NEW BUDGET COMPARED TO 2013–14 ACTUALS: • Budgeting conservatively, income is projected to be down 7.1 percent; however, we are doing many things to increase our earned revenue.

Total Expenses $2,209,107

Net $189,651

Other Income, Expenses $(110,823)

100 Percent of Designated Donor Gifts Support the Activity or Program of the Donor’s Choice

• Employment costs remain essentially level (up 1.2 percent), but much more of these costs now directly support mission activities.

• Non-labor expenses increase almost 14 percent.

– More resources are focused on mission activities: Veterinary supplies and equipment (25 percent increase), hospital management, animal husbandry (20 percent increase), educational programming, volunteer support, building maintenance, and facility rental support.

How Lindsay spent contributions to the general fund in FY 2013–14 ■ Programs (Mission) ■ Fundraising ■ Guest & Member Services

10%

5%

12% 22%

51%

■ Administration ■ Marketing & Communications

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NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

WALNUT CREEK CA PERMIT NO. 525

1931 First Avenue Walnut Creek, CA 94597-2540

Event Calendar

December 5–7: Annual holiday store sale 24: Exhibit Hall closes at 2 p.m.

25: Exhibit Hall closed 31: Exhibit Hall closes at 2 p.m.

January 1: Exhibit Hall closed 19: Exhibit Hall open

February 11–16: Wild Valentines 12: Kiss & Tail 16: Exhibit Hall open for Presidents’ Day 28: Sixth annual Faces of Wildlife Gala

March 23: Mini Monday

April

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6–10: Spring Break, Exhibit Hall open daily

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT WILDLIFE-MUSEUM.ORG.

Interpretive Programs Manager Sarah Parnell works with Lindsay’s newest animal ambassador, Falco, an American kestrel.

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