How We Decide Which Animals to Take In

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  • Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
  • Go to curiositystream.com/animalwonders to start streaming African Animal Rescue. Use the promo code ‘animalwonders’ during the sign-up process to get your first 30 days free.
    Can we save them all? Of course not, but we wish we could. Here's how we determined if we're able to take in an animal or not.
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Комментарии • 124

  • @animalwondersmontana
    @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +23

    Head to curiositystream.com/animalwonders and use the promo code "animalwonders" during the sign-up process to get your first 30 days of CuriosityStream free!

    • @ian-sb2ny
      @ian-sb2ny 3 года назад

      What's your favorite animal

  • @elizaeliza5937
    @elizaeliza5937 4 года назад +183

    Believe it or not, turning away animals is a mark of a good zoo, rehabilitation center, wild life center, shelter, or other animal facility. The simple truth is resources are not endless for these facilities, and them recognizing this and doing the right thing by not taking in the animal in is a difficult decision, but it is admirable. There are facilities that allow themselves to become over run and the animals often suffer more because the facility can not properly care for all the animals they have. I am so happy to hear animal wonders encourages proper consideration before taking in an animal.

    • @ragnkja
      @ragnkja 4 года назад +2

      Eliza Eliza
      I also don’t think Missoula has quite the ideal climate for a tiger or an alligator.

    • @ragnkja
      @ragnkja 3 года назад

      Ranadeb Banerjee
      “Makes a better pet than a jaguar does” is hardly a ringing endorsement for pet tigers 😆
      I can still think of an even worse pet, though: a polar bear. They’re the only animals that consider humans prey. To be fair, they consider all land animals prey, so that includes humans by default.

    • @ragnkja
      @ragnkja 3 года назад +1

      Ranadeb Banerjee
      Lions don’t typically live in jungles, either, unlike tigers.

  • @Beryllahawk
    @Beryllahawk 4 года назад +73

    I wish that Animal Wonders DID have unlimited resources, though. Even better, for everyone to have great resources, to match such a strong vision and such wonderful attention to the details to make it really work. I also want to say that I'll be showing this video to a lot of people over the coming year for sure, because I'm going to at least try to persuade them to use a similar thinking process before acquiring a new animal in their lives. You make excellent points that apply just as well to domestic critters as to the exotic ones.

  • @amyjanis5794
    @amyjanis5794 4 года назад +54

    I can’t imagine how long t took to film this because almost every cut back to her has her holding another animal! Lol!

  • @fopeezy3097
    @fopeezy3097 4 года назад +130

    Are we just gonna sit here and pretend Jessi didn't seamlessly present a new animal for each piece of commentary? 🤔

    • @richardw2977
      @richardw2977 2 года назад

      Not the least of which - a gigantic roach!

  • @KMO325
    @KMO325 4 года назад +22

    I've always appreciated the fact that you all show the real deal of how running an organization like AWM is really like. I hope y'all have an amazing 2020!

  • @InfectedChris
    @InfectedChris 4 года назад +36

    It's a team effort between you, other facilities and education so that every animal can have a happy and fulfilling life!

  • @Ravenzpeak
    @Ravenzpeak 4 года назад +16

    Just re-homing all those animals would take a lot of planning and time...You're not only helping the ones you are able to take in...You're also helping to find homes for the ones you can't take. You guys rock! I did find myself wishing for a tiger though...as impossible as that is. I hope a good situation came up to re-home that beautiful cat! Thanks for everything you do!

    • @ragnkja
      @ragnkja 4 года назад

      Ravenzpeak
      As beautiful as tigers are, I don’t think Missoula’s climate would suit them very well.

    • @conradkorbol
      @conradkorbol 4 года назад

      Nillie I mean there are tigers in Russia. So it depends on the tiger.

    • @zombiedoggie2732
      @zombiedoggie2732 4 года назад +1

      Tigers wouldn't make good pets.

  • @latieplolo
    @latieplolo 4 года назад +10

    The ability to say no is the difference between a sanctuary and a hoarder.

  • @stellabelikiewicz1523
    @stellabelikiewicz1523 4 года назад +15

    Ophelia!! I love opossums so much, and I don’t live in an area where they’re common, so spotting them on RUclips is always super exciting!

  • @louisgentilucci1188
    @louisgentilucci1188 4 года назад +9

    Can the community still recommend names for the tiger that you totally don't have and absolutely never will have?

  • @himynameissara1917
    @himynameissara1917 4 года назад +18

    You're soo passionate about animal's, I appreciate that as a animal lover

  • @ragggen
    @ragggen 4 года назад +23

    I've been binging animal wonders videos a lot lately and it's really helped with lessening university stress. So thank you guys for all the great content! ❤

  • @dominic.h.3363
    @dominic.h.3363 4 года назад +5

    So many wonderful animals out there, but "we just don't have the space for all of them". I can relate. I wanted to keep everything from the tiniest fish to baby hippos. I'd probably be working in a zoo right now, were it not for my paraplegia. Instead I'm living vicariously through you, and I swear your enthusiasm makes this experience seem better as if I was experiencing all of this firsthand.

  • @I_am_Lauren
    @I_am_Lauren 4 года назад +10

    I love learning the behind the scenes of all sorts of jobs. Non profits are a tricky animal to work with. (pun intended) Museum professional here.

  • @BTFOOMNY
    @BTFOOMNY 4 года назад +2

    You certainly picked a challenging location. School programs can't be that many without turning into a two day trip. I grew up in Anaconda. If there's one thing Montana has, it is a whole lot of empty space between schools. Also, considering the balmy winter temperatures in Missoula, any animals native to warm climates will feel an uncomfortable draft. We won't mention digging through five feet of snow to go potty. 😂
    Love the videos, Jessi. I really love the porcupines. They are immensely cute, and remind me of the three times our Siberian husky was looking for a friend to play with. Each time required being put to sleep, while the vet removed a face full of quills.

  • @casperTheBird
    @casperTheBird 4 года назад +11

    Question! How do you usually prepare homes for animals that you don’t a lot about? How do you know once they’re moved in that they are happy and fully provided for?

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +22

      We usually have a little bit of prep time for species we haven't housed at AW before, so I have time to research their care requirements based on guidelines from extremely experienced zoos. Then I contact our friends who have first hand experience with them to get an idea about typical behaviors so I can be prepared to understand their communications and start to establish a trust bond from the beginning. For surprise rescues I make immediate calls to my friends and follow up on referrals to other facilities that care for the species. For the most part, reputable animal facilities want the best for all animals, even those that aren't under their roof, and they readily share information. In the past, zoos were solely focused on entertainment and would strictly guard their care guidelines so only they would be successful. I'm relieved we've come so far in the zoo/rescue/rehab world so we can all work together for the health and happiness of the animals ❤

  • @ediekoller1144
    @ediekoller1144 4 года назад +3

    Thank you Jessi and your staff and Your husband and kids for all that you do in taking care of these magnificent creatures. God Bless you with good Health and Happiness for the New Year 2020 and for always:)

  • @missflite74
    @missflite74 4 года назад

    Merry Christmas Jessi and much love to you, your family, and your rehabilitation/ education center for all that you do! You are always an inspiration to me...especially when you have a cockroach on your shirt and don't care!

  • @aprilrichards762
    @aprilrichards762 4 года назад +5

    Is Hazel named for the protagonist of "Watership Down"? That is one of my favourite books.

  • @nabilamhamdy
    @nabilamhamdy 4 года назад +2

    I love animalwonders Montana ya guys are my favourite RUclips channel and you teach us about animals ina fun way this is a thank you to your work ❤🙏

  • @michaelmelling9333
    @michaelmelling9333 4 года назад

    I sure do love what this smart and kind lady and those she works with for doing the great job they do.

  • @kiriyoplay
    @kiriyoplay 4 года назад

    Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you and everyone at Animal Wonders!

  • @auriellev8197
    @auriellev8197 4 года назад +4

    Hi Jessi, I recently read a comment in one of your threads that pertained to feeding wildlife.. it was concerning because it was promoting regularly hand feeding wildlife and as we know that can pose a number of threats. Perhaps you could briefly touch on that in one of your videos. For those of you reading this please note hand feeding might be wonderful at first, however that can create a false sense of security for the animal. They will no longer fear humans and the next human they encounter might not be so friendly.

  • @BlueAloe47
    @BlueAloe47 4 года назад +3

    Thanks for the informative and sensitive video. It's a hard subject, but it's great to get an insight into how you decide which animals to take in. In addition to the considerations you talked about, do the particulars of each animal's situation come into play at all? If the animals current caretakers are desperate, or there's a good likelihood the animal won't make it if you don't take them in, is that part of the decision-making process?

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +4

      Oh, definitely. Every situation is different and the specifics of each case play a part. For example, Frasier the mink was going to be euthanized immediately unless we said yes right then on the phone. It was a really tough call to make because we didn't have proper housing for him immediately. I wanted to at least give him a chance and amazingly we were able to find a donor to cover the cost of an outdoor enclosure, but if we hadn't secured that funding then we'd be faced with trying to find another placement (unlikely) or having our own vet euthanize him (which would have been awful!). If the situation wasn't as desperate as it was I wouldn't have said yes to taking in an animal we didn't already have housing for.
      The reptiles and small birds are currently the hardest. In many cases lizards and turtles live the roughest lives as neglected pets and I want to save them all. I've said yes to the most desperate cases over the years, but now our reptile room is completely filled and I can't say yes to any more. There's a special needs savanna monitor, 3 bearded dragons, a box turtle, a Russian tortoise, and 2 leopard geckos that desperately need homes and I can't take them in because we don't have room. It's heartbreaking. And even though we have a little open space in our bird room, I won't take in any new parrots that have a chance at finding a home somewhere else due to our ABV positive flock. I absolutely love being able to care for those we can, but there's defintely a boat load of compassion fatigue that goes with it. Thanks for being curious! 🙂

  • @seaskimmer
    @seaskimmer 4 года назад

    I like the way the animals "jiggle" when Jessi is holding them or they are holding on to her but just shrug it off as if it's nothing. When i used to have my rabbit on my lap, if i moved more than two inches she would jump off.

  • @Whiteshell204
    @Whiteshell204 4 года назад +1

    *Wish I could do what you do Jessi...it must feel rewarding every single day!*

  • @Bunnybaybuh
    @Bunnybaybuh 3 года назад

    I found your channel through another app and I loved it I love your channel and I also subscribe😃👍👍👍👍👍👍

  • @puffintube6312
    @puffintube6312 4 года назад +9

    How was your Christmas Jessi?

  • @copacetic6440
    @copacetic6440 4 года назад

    The real factors are space, money and if she's physically capable of caring for anymore. The truth is without a lot of help and a whole lot of heart humans are not cut out to take care of a zoo. This woman is worth a thousand of each of us.💗🇺🇸

  • @quantumdino
    @quantumdino 4 года назад +1

    I love tortoise's and turtles. Already in love with Phoenix.❤

  • @b21.9
    @b21.9 4 года назад

    Thank you for spreading this important message, Jessi! ❤️
    By the way, how about a collab with Snakes Discovery on a video about reptiles? I bet it'd be awesome!!

  • @Magdalena287
    @Magdalena287 4 года назад +1

    Hey if you guys could do scikids again that would be nice also, my kids ask about it literally every week lol

  • @tattooedredheadx
    @tattooedredheadx 4 года назад +4

    0:58 Oh my! lol

  • @lescbrownjmb
    @lescbrownjmb 3 года назад

    do you have any water animals beside loki

  • @dsteve54
    @dsteve54 4 года назад

    You are just such a jewel, Jessi!

  • @lumenhart
    @lumenhart 4 года назад

    God bless you and your helpers

  • @sweatpantsprincess3239
    @sweatpantsprincess3239 4 года назад

    I'd love to hear a list of the kinds of places that you refer people to for unusual exotics. All rescue and rehab? Any "professional" zoos? How do you make new contacts, and how do you decide if you trust that an organization is right for the animal? Do the humane society and wildlife rehabbers have other groups they work with as well?

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +1

      Our connections often have their own connections and that allows us to have a pretty large network to work with. We made many of our connections from the college our founders attended. Many classmates and alumni are working for animal facilities across America and internationally as well. It's incredibly important to have other professionals with experience to ask for advice because no one person, or organization, can know it all.

  • @breyanna6951
    @breyanna6951 4 года назад

    Yassss... she got a sponsor

  • @oceantide1322
    @oceantide1322 4 года назад

    How do you help them know your ok and safe

  • @aleciastar1433
    @aleciastar1433 4 года назад +19

    Could you please talk about animals that do not do well in captivity, like deer. I know deer just waste away in captivity. And others we are not able to provide a good enough environment and or food

    • @melissasmith6762
      @melissasmith6762 4 года назад +2

      You do not know that.

    • @k.drac0rex
      @k.drac0rex 4 года назад +3

      Having worked with captive deer, they thrive when provided natural enclosures, a steady and complete diet, and social care. Honestly, theyre pretty dang easy in comparison to some exotics as they tend to do their own thing!

    • @aleciastar1433
      @aleciastar1433 4 года назад +2

      Taylor Shields-Smith I guess I am referring to capture myopathy in wild deer. The charity Wildlife Aid talks about how they have to put down many injured deer because they cannot handle the long time in captivity required to repair certain things. A fox or badger would be fine in captivity for a long time to repair worse injuries.

    • @juliusroman8616
      @juliusroman8616 3 года назад

      @@aleciastar1433 I watch Wildlife aid too.

  • @michellebteeheehee
    @michellebteeheehee 4 года назад +1

    Yooo I have that plaid shirt! We! Stan!!! Costco!!!!!!!!!!

  • @pervyturtle2673
    @pervyturtle2673 4 года назад +2

    Wait. Is she Eliza Thornberry all grown up?

  • @bethaniepetitpas5699
    @bethaniepetitpas5699 4 года назад

    Strange question. What have you found to be the best litter for box turtles?

  • @kagehikari4281
    @kagehikari4281 4 года назад +1

    Thats the problem with rescues or people that try and help. once word gets out, your the place to dump animals and that gets very overwhelming. I see it all the time. Well maybe not so much physically dumping but that happens a lot to. At least if people ask, you can direct them to something better. I really hate it when people just dont even think and just dump what ever it is at the door step and expect it to be ok and the place able to do something. Same with just letting it go outside. you took in the animal. Be responsible. Especially if you can no longer care for it. Yeah, no one wants to take there animal to a shelter and it sucks and a chance it will be put down, but its a heck of a lot better then just turning it loose to get killed by something or just suffer and starve or destroy the environment. It all boils down to people needing to be smart and do there homework before taking on ANY animal and being real about there expectations and what they can handle and not just get something because its cute or cool or there kid wants it. Props to Jesse and her crew in standing firm and making the tough calls. its hard to turn animals in need away but there has to be limits or you just become another hoarder and the animals suffer even more.

  • @thomaspalmer8059
    @thomaspalmer8059 4 года назад

    Some tiger out there had the saddest Christmas!

  • @yenyaoming
    @yenyaoming 4 года назад +1

    That water dragon in the thumbnail just looks sexy.

  • @amybee40
    @amybee40 3 года назад

    Solve tiger feed problem by housing it with the extra rabbits, iguanas and wildlife that people want to give you.

  • @oceantide1322
    @oceantide1322 4 года назад

    So you can hold and handle them

  • @misslovercssa
    @misslovercssa 4 года назад +1

    Awwe cheerio looks like one of my chins :)

  • @ian-sb2ny
    @ian-sb2ny 3 года назад

    Cute bunny

  • @yippee8570
    @yippee8570 4 года назад

    So how do you pay for the whole thing, if you don't mind me asking? My daughter's life dream would be to start a place like this on this side of The Pond. We already have a rescue dog, a foster dog, two rescued rabbits, four rescued guinea pigs plus an extra guinea pig that was unwanted but well cared for.

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +1

      I'm happy to share! We get our funds several ways: fees for our public presentations and school programs, donations from foundations and private individuals, and occasionally a grant comes through. We're a nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible and we offer a service to our community. It's very challenging to make something like this sustainable, we started without a business loan and we had no paid employees for 7 years. We wanted Animal Wonders and our mission to last longer than just one dedicated family could support, so at 11 years old we now have 2 full time and 3 part time employees!

  • @NTMA11
    @NTMA11 4 года назад +9

    YOU'RE SO FRIGGIN CUTE

  • @switchgaming1503
    @switchgaming1503 3 года назад

    Dude how do you take care of all these animals dude you are sick cool 😁😁😁😎😎😎😎😎🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮

  • @Seagull780
    @Seagull780 4 года назад +1

    There should be a fucking warning if there's opposums in a video because every time I see one my heart instantly melts and I'm afraid it will end up impacting my testosterone levels

    • @BTFOOMNY
      @BTFOOMNY 4 года назад

      The biggest problem with opossums is determining if they are dead. they are very good at faking it? 😁

  • @rhys896
    @rhys896 4 года назад

    I'm still not sure what's so unreasonable about a *pet* tiger?

  • @oceantide1322
    @oceantide1322 4 года назад

    I have a question about leopard geckos

  • @kiyanhassan6013
    @kiyanhassan6013 4 года назад

    ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  • @Theboys_biggestfan
    @Theboys_biggestfan 3 года назад

    Me and my sister have a leopard gecko

  • @Travisvader22
    @Travisvader22 3 года назад

    Is it okay to take in Wild Rabbits?

  • @ian-sb2ny
    @ian-sb2ny 3 года назад +1

    I got one question is that a rabbit or a bunny

  • @niklascarlsson2841
    @niklascarlsson2841 3 года назад

    Don't I know this girl? Was she on scishow?

  • @xfgksoh2841
    @xfgksoh2841 4 года назад +1

    Hello i from to Indonesian

  • @oceantide1322
    @oceantide1322 4 года назад

    Because I have a zoo home where I have lots of animals

  • @Just_One_Tree
    @Just_One_Tree 4 года назад

    👋

  • @glorfification
    @glorfification 4 года назад

    Poor tiger!

  • @mocha8759
    @mocha8759 4 года назад

    My new lovebirds are super cute but all they want is to bite me i feed them then in a few seconds biting

    • @sweatpantsprincess3239
      @sweatpantsprincess3239 4 года назад

      did you research their needs and care before bringing them into your home?

  • @lukemarcoe358
    @lukemarcoe358 10 месяцев назад

    Are you going to ever adopt a tiger

  • @maggieedna
    @maggieedna 4 года назад +1

    more ophelia please?

  • @sptheban
    @sptheban 3 года назад

    smooch smooch I love you

  • @samanthiworth8632
    @samanthiworth8632 4 года назад

    I want to start a animal rescue device

  • @infinitecanadian
    @infinitecanadian 4 года назад

    How can animals not be loved anymore?

    • @sweatpantsprincess3239
      @sweatpantsprincess3239 4 года назад +4

      some people are just idiots who don't realize that animals require work and care. Then they're confronted with the reality, and decide it's more than they want to put in, so they get rid of them. Very few people look up the pets they want to adopt.

    • @infinitecanadian
      @infinitecanadian 4 года назад

      @@sweatpantsprincess3239 Ridiculous.

  • @Hafcofficial
    @Hafcofficial 3 года назад

    Dont worry your little head about it! I take in all sorts of exotic animals i even have pandas! I can take in anything needed! Just come to W.W. #exoticpetshappy and ill take em in in a snap of fingers!

  • @picklep9812
    @picklep9812 4 года назад

    The ad before this started disturbed me It’s 9am and it’s too early for such horrible thoughts 😕

  • @Anonymous-ux3tu
    @Anonymous-ux3tu 4 года назад

    You could feed Guinea pigs and rabbits to the snakes.

    • @BTFOOMNY
      @BTFOOMNY 4 года назад +1

      and the snakes to the eagle. caring for the rest of their lives does not mean shortening them :-)

  • @JohnCran
    @JohnCran 4 года назад

    It's just occurred to me that Jessie talks like Steve Irwin. Which raises the question is it the animals or just simply the passion for education. Either way I enjoy your videos (even as an Australian I found Steve's "crikey" etc a little cringeworthy.😁

  • @sptheban
    @sptheban 3 года назад

    why

  • @kash9544
    @kash9544 4 года назад

    May God bless you

  • @sptheban
    @sptheban 3 года назад

    can someone please tell my what a humany society is

  • @nabilamhamdy
    @nabilamhamdy 4 года назад

    Like= If you want them to take in a tiger
    Comment= if you want them to take in a panda lol
    Also uh do both if ya love jessi

  • @TheQuallsing
    @TheQuallsing 4 года назад

    will you take me in? Im friendly, known to work and won't bite females, unless asked to..

  • @cathyb1273
    @cathyb1273 4 года назад +2

    I have a solution for the lack of space : take the tiger in and feed him with the others animals, mainly the mammals and the birds. Your space problem will quickly be not a problem anymore. 😂😂😂
    I am joking of course. 😉

    • @stellabelikiewicz1523
      @stellabelikiewicz1523 4 года назад +1

      Cathy b “The Circle of Life” is now playing in my head!

    • @TheHakanDK
      @TheHakanDK 4 года назад +3

      Yolu should feed yourself to the tigers.
      Im joking of course ;)

  • @melissasmith6762
    @melissasmith6762 4 года назад

    Okay, can you just stop lying to your followers right now? The HUGE thing you left out is that you cherry pick the animals you take in, it has little to do with how much space you have. Case in point, you claim you have no space for birds, yet you took in that toucan, which I know could have easily found a home even in its disabled state because they are valuable birds. And I hope you don't take your followers to be so dense that they didn't notice you had an enclosure built for that beaver that cost north of _$50,000_ . That money could have went to making a building for iguanas and other commonly surrendered exotics. Face it, you favor the unique and interesting animals. You had space for Mimi the monkey when you previously claimed you weren't taking primates. That enclosure could have went to an iguana. From what I understand, she isn't even a valuable presentation animal, but you wanted her, and hoped she might make a good ambassador animal with training. So, get real. Some of us can put two and two together.

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +10

      Hi Melissa, this is Jessi. Thank you for your concern. I'm very open to other perspectives and opinions and welcome questions and feedback. I've covered this in previous videos, but you're right that I personally choose which animals we decide to take in. Animals that I'm not personally comfortable working with or I don't feel confident in caring for will be redirected to another animal facility. Space and funding are absolutely our biggest challenges and if they were both endless I would be thrilled to hire several more animal keepers - and a full time veterinarian! Then Animal Wonders could manage to care for many more animals. One of my responsibilities is to ensure that we have enough funding to care for the animals we have and a big portion of our funds come from public presentations. If we filled our rooms with iguanas (which realistically need an 8x6x8 space to live in) we would lose the ability to provide education about local wildlife (beavers, foxes, skunks, ravens). We'd also lose the ability to provide comprehensive 5 and 10 week courses to classrooms which require a wide variety of species from different biomes. The reality is that in order to grow bigger and get more funding to build more buildings and hire more staff to care for more displaced animals in the future, we need to be able to offer public programs that fill a need in our community. It's cyclical, we can't do one without the other, they depend on each other. When we first started in 2008, we had no backup funding and we had no paid staff for a full 7 years. Everything we earned from our small presentations and private donations went into the small animals we had rescued. As our local community grew to know us and what service we provided, our funds from public presentations increased and we were able to build a few new rooms. After 5 years we were able to build a $5k mews for our hawk and a raven (Rook). A few years later we asked for support and built a large room for our Patagonian cavy (Chili Pepper) that we felt needed more space. A couple years ago we chose to accept a marmoset, primates were a group we had previously known we didn't have time for. Mimi was an exception and the only reason I said yes to her was because we had just hired a new keeper and I had high hopes she would be trainable. She was a special case because she couldn't be housed with other marmosets so other housing options were very limited. However, she does share the space with Gaia the armadillo (which wouldn't be a good roommate for an iguana). When I chose to take in Zeema the toucan it was only because Tika the turaco had passed away leaving behind an open space in our home. Now, Huckleberry the beaver was a total surprise rescue and was a very special case. We asked our local and online community for help and if we weren't able to raise the funds needed then we were looking at finding another facility to take him in. Beavers are expensive to house and aren't highly sought after, so finding a place would have been challenging. I was overwhelmed with the support we received. The project also funded a second enclosure for another medium sized animal, so it's not just for him. And the main point is, the only reason we were able to raise the funds to build the new building was because we had a ton of people who wanted to see Huckleberry, specifically, live a good life. If we didn't have him, we wouldn't have all those donations and we wouldn't have be able to build anything new. You're right that we could have asked our community to help us build a new building to house several iguanas (or ferrets, or rabbits, etc.), but I don't think we would have made it to our goal. Another factor is we were also able to house Huckleberry for almost 2 years in a smaller 10x10 outdoor enclosure and during that time we worked on raising the funds and building the new pool house. We literally have no place to house an iguana for several years while we work on getting the funding needed to build something new. I understand your concerns and I can see how you're critical of the process and which animals we choose to take in, but there's more information than what you brought up that needs to be considered. I made this video to help everyone understand a bit if what goes into our decisions. Of course, every situation is different and I can guarantee you that I won't make the perfect decision every time because I'm not perfect. I just hope that whatever decisions future Jessi makes, they will be in the best interest of the animals and the continued sustainability of Animal Wonders and our mission.

    • @melissasmith6762
      @melissasmith6762 4 года назад

      ​@@animalwondersmontana Thank you for the taking the time to address these concerns when I know most creators would have ignored them. I want to say that I fully understand the need and desire to take in unique and interesting animals over the common surrenders, there's nothing wrong with this, it's just that this information should really be in this video. Potential donators should understand that animals are taken in for their value to human interest instead of on a 'as needed' basis like say, a regular pet shelter would do.
      I re-watched the first beaver video, and I'm a bit confused as it seems you took the beaver in before the big enclosure was even conceptualized. While I get that the beaver brought in its own donations, it's not unreasonable to consider that the attention it got could funnel away some of the donations the entire facility received (and even other causes). That being said, I'm glad to hear there is another enclosure in the $50,000 project, because it's better than one. I do wish such a hefty price tag could accommodate more. By the way, that enclosure size estimate for the iguana is the biggest I've ever seen...totally not necessary for even giganto males, but most iguanas are way smaller.
      I also just have to mention that I've volunteered with nature centers that managed to have wildlife-based classes with a smaller limited animal collection, that were mostly 'pet store' animals like ferrets, bearded dragons, ect. I was bored but the kids weren't. It seems that you have plans on expanding into a 'bigger' zoo for the future, which is great. I'd just personally like to see 501c(3)s allocate their resources more frugally.

    • @animalwondersmontana
      @animalwondersmontana  4 года назад +4

      @@melissasmith6762 Melissa Smith Hi again Melissa 🙂, I'm glad I was able to help explain things a bit better for you. This is a different issue than you had in your first comment, but I'm happy to help you understand things even more. I do believe I addressed this very specifically in the video as our 3rd consideration of potential animals being integrated into our presentations. Having 5 more leopard geckos would not help the organization and it would put strain on bringing in enough funding to care for the rest of the animals. Iguanas are just one of the many common pets that are discarded. There are also: leopard geckos, savanna monitors, bearded and water dragons, tortoises, turtles, budgies, cockatiels, pigeons, doves, chickens, ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets, rats, etc. We've taken in a herd of guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, chickens, doves, small parrots, leopards geckos, dragons, monitors, tortoises, etc over the last 11 years. So many, in fact, that we filled up all our enclosures and have no more space to take in more. If we said yes to just one iguana, we'd have had to turn away all the small snakes, geckos, and invertebrates to make room for 1 large enclosure for 1 iguana. And iguana isn't going to help us offer more presentations. Same concept for rabbits or ferrets who also take up a good amount of space. We'd have to build a whole new building to house more reptiles, ferrets, or rabbits (which are actually a huge challenge to keep due to USDA regulations being so weirdly strict with them). Though I'm happy that we've been able to take in as many guinea pigs and rats as we have. As we grew as an organization, we were able to say yes to a few bigger animals because our donor base increased and we were able to hire a full time keeper (besides myself) and an office manager to help with emails, clients, and fundraisers. The larger animals helped bring in more funding for us to do things like rescue 15 degus from euthanasia, a disabled opossum, an old horse saved from a feed lot, and 2 new ravens. It's all woven together, you have to see all the moving parts to understand how we're able to keep caring for those we have and look to the future for ways we can help even more animals.
      The second part of your comment is about the cost of the beaver building. $50k is actually not that expensive for a building of that size with the specifications needed to house non-human animals. We found companies to donate materials and our contractor gave us huge discounts. Zoos spend well over $1 million on some of their enclosures, which is totally beyond anything we could do. The beaver project is the biggest thing we've done in our 11 years as an organization and it was downright terrifying to ask for that much money from our community. When we first took in Huckleberry he was about 4 weeks old and he would have died if we didn't say yes immediately. There are no other facilities in our state that would have been able to take him. We did not have a plan for his future home at the time. We didn't even know if he would survive the first week, or if he'd be releasable as an adult. We were just focused on getting him stable and we'd see where things went from there. Again, he was a very special case, not our usual. If he was deemed releasable, I most likely would have transferred him to a rehab facility. Since he was deemed nonreleasable, we chose to see if we could raise the funds needed to build appropriate housing for him since educating about beavers is so incredibly important in our state. This was a chance to make a huge impact in the next generation of land owners. When we conceptualized the plans for the projects we also thought to include a second enclosure into the build because the biggest cost was the foundation. It was also built to last so whenever Huckleberry passes away, the space can be used for other medium sized rescues in the future. Again, it's the biggest project we've ever done, but in the big picture of animal facility projects it's pretty small beans. As a non profit, we're overseen by a board of directors and I'm so thankful to them for always being our checks and balances and ensuring the longevity of our organization. It's fine for you to have opinions about our choices, but please remember that in order to have educated input you need to see the big picture with all the moving parts. I'm always happy to answer any questions you have (though I might not always have the time, I'm so thankful to have a few days off for winter break!).

    • @melissasmith6762
      @melissasmith6762 4 года назад

      ​@@animalwondersmontana Okay, I now see that was briefly mentioned in the video about the "100 leopard geckos". It is notable that sometimes there are deviations to these criteria (15 degu, a horse that will presumably not be used in presentations and is a domesticated animal I'm certain Montana residents are familiar with). I'm guessing that the bigger zoos that can spend 1 million on enclosures are open to the public and these enclosures are the main source of income, therefore those are direct investments towards the profitability of those facilities, whereas AW is a smaller, private operation and the public is not allowed to visit the enclosures, therefore Huckleberry's presence will need to translate to increased revenue from higher demand for presentations or donations to compensate those costs. So this is what I have gathered so far, thanks again.

  • @kenj7153
    @kenj7153 4 года назад

    I marked that I liked this video. Truth be told however, it was not one of my most liked. Won't go into details but just know the tone was not good and not friendly. It was filled with excueses.

    • @sweatpantsprincess3239
      @sweatpantsprincess3239 4 года назад

      cranky because you tried to dump an animal and she called you out, are you?

    • @kenj7153
      @kenj7153 4 года назад

      @@sweatpantsprincess3239 and you are a armchair quarterback? I haven't tried to "dump" anything on anybody . I did not like the tone of this particular video. I am allowed to not like it and I am allowed to speak my mind about it. Do you really think she needs defending?