Nature center brings children joy, education

  • Published
  • By Geoff Janes
  • Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  Sharon Batchelder said some days she feels like she works in a zoo.

But she has a good reason. As a recreation aid at the Spalding Nature Center here, she spends her time working in the only Air Force facility that is home to snakes, rabbits, turtles, a variety of birds and even a couple of squirrels named Gracie and Tinkerbell.

And even though she said she is not fond of slithering reptiles, she does not mind caring for them in a job that she says has such immense rewards.

“It really is great to see the astonishment on people’s faces when they walk in,” she said. “People just don’t realize what we’ve got out here.”

“When the kids come in here, they just light up,” said Sharron Wilhelm, the center supervisor. “There’s a connection between kids and animals. There’s so much high-tech stuff out there that it really feels good to see the children come out here and get excited about nature.”

The center opened Aug. 2, 1979, and has gone through a number of improvements during the years. The most recent include the consolidation of a number of cages in the outdoor area referred to as “Critters Courtyard.”

In the courtyard, there are a number of turtles, doves, ducks and squirrels. There also will soon be a couple of new cages for opossums, Ms. Wilhelm said.

The center will be getting an outdoor amphitheater that will seat 100. It will be available for weddings and retirement ceremonies and will also be used as part of the center’s nature program and during hunter safety classes.

Ms. Wilhelm said they are naming the amphitheater after one of the center’s most beloved employees.

“We’re naming it Oscar’s amphitheater after a black rat snake (who) was here for about 20 years before he died of old age,” she said. “We would pull him out, and the kids would get to hold him and touch him. We used to get letters from some of the children who said their favorite part of visiting was Oscar. I’m sure some of them will come back, see the name and remember him.”

The facility offers tours to local schools, church groups and Scout troops as part of the nature program. The program is designed to give visitors information about animals, and it stresses the responsibility of pet ownership.

Three cats, Pooh Bear, Sage and Tigger, are used to demonstrate the importance of taking care of pets.

“They were dumped out here, and we raised them up, and now they’re the nature center kitties,” Ms. Wilhelm said. “We call them our tour guides.”

The center has recently remodeled part of the facility as a reptile room. The new space features two boa constrictors, two bearded dragons, one Sudan plated lizard, two iguanas, a Pacific mountain gopher snake, a gray rat snake and a black rat snake.

In a space next to the reptile room, there are several birds that are members of the parrot family, a tarantula, a couple of ferrets, and some rats and mice.

Although the rats have a healthy reproductive rate, their offspring fit into what Ms. Wilhelm calls the hardest part of her job -- feeding the snakes.

The rats are part of the center’s “breed-to-feed” program, Ms. Wilhelm said of the rodents that are used as sustenance for the legless reptiles.

“Every time I feed them, I still do the ‘drop and run,’” she said jokingly. “I can’t stand to watch the initial kill, but it’s natural.”

Snakes eat more during the summer months than winter months.

“We pretty much feed them on demand,” Ms. Wilhelm said. “During the summer they eat every two to three weeks. In the winter, they can go as long as a month between feedings. In general, when they start moving around, we know they’re hungry. And, if they’re shedding their skin, we know they won’t eat.”

Ms. Wilhelm said that after 14 years, the job is still as fun as it was on Day 1.

“I love coming to work every day,” she said. “No matter what’s going on in your life, animals have a way of cheering you up.”