Shayne began
volunteering at The World Bird Sanctuary on a cold winter day in February of
2012. Youngsters can become Junior
Volunteers at the age of 13.
Junior Volunteer Shayne Sifford
Shayne is usually a
Sunday volunteer. He is an awesome
kid. Joy radiates from him. He loves animals and
that love shines through when he shares his knowledge and love of the creatures
he cares for with our guests.
Shayne is especially
fond of our display and program Rats.
Yes, I said Rats. He
cuddles them, lets them crawl all over him and shares them with guests who come
through the front door of our Nature Center. Does the thought of cuddling Rats and letting them crawl
on you make you shudder? It is not
something that I go out of my way to do, but Shayne does it every weekend, and
by sharing his love of these misunderstood creatures with guests he helps to
dispel some of the fears and misconceptions many people harbor about rats.
When you walk into the
Nature Center and see Shayne beaming with joy, peek up on his shoulder to see
if the rat named Betty is up there.
If not, maybe it will be the rat named Veronica.
Shayne’s Mom, Lisa, is
also a wonderful volunteer with a great spirit.
Former Staff person
Emily Hall and I brought our Free Flight Bird show called Raptor Awareness to Sperring Middle school, which is the school
Shayne attends. Shayne was in the
audience for our presentation as we had the trained birds fly over the middle
schoolers’ heads. We acknowledged Shayne during our presentation. We brought Shayne up to take some
photos immediately after the program.
Shayne Sifford with Mischief our
White-necked Raven and former Staff member Emily Hall.
We love seeing Shayne
on Sundays at World Bird Sanctuary’s Nature Center. He brings joy to us all of
us and to our animals. Come in on a Sunday morning and meet Shayne and his
animal friends.
Photos and
story by Michael Zeloski, Director of Education
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