Those of you with kids can appreciate what I mean when I say that this outing didn’t take us nearly as long as I wanted it to. After a few glorious rainy days, it seemed that myself and the boys were getting a bit stir-crazy. I had no energy for fending off another 12 hours of “play with me! play with me! play with me!” so, I reverted to loading up the kids in the car and driving down off the hill. I had heard of the New Mexico Wildlife Center but had never been there, so I chose it as our destination.
Conveniently located off of Hwy 285, about 30 minutes north of Santa Fe and 15 minutes south of Espanola proper, (and 40 mins from Los Alamos), the New Mexico Wildlife Center makes a nice quick stop for locals or those heading to/from Taos. The Center takes in injured or “imprinted” animals from all over New Mexico, and occasionally from other states. All of the animals currently viewable at the Center cannot be released back into the wild for various reasons. Some of the birds have lost their eyesight or have injured wings; one of the snakes has permanent injury to his scales; a vulture became imprinted and dependent on humans and would be unable to survive if released.
As well as providing information on these creatures and their habitats, the Center provides rehabilitation services to animals that are brought to them so that the animals can be released if possible. Their main goal, aside from caring for the animals, is to educate the rest of us just how fragile the lives of these beautiful creatures can be.
The caretaker of a resident bald eagle described how the eagle was shot while at a refuge in southern New Mexico. Already in a protected area, it apparently wasn’t protected enough. With his wing and talons ruined, this majestic bird is now relegated to a small enclosure in the hot Espanola Valley… this is not intended to be a commentary on the Center’s care, but I think, in a way, it is the Center’s point – the bird should NOT be there in a cage… he should be soaring over Prince Edward Sound, eyeing the waters for fish or something… but because of the selfishness and thoughtlessness of humans, he’ll likely spend the rest of his life never flying again.
To be clear, the Center is primarily a rehabilitation facility – they would take a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest or a bear cub displaced by a fire. Our experience at the Center was in no way overtly political or screaming extreme conservationism. I don’t know how many animals come in that have been intentionally injured, but their materials do put a focus on how we need to be aware of the impact we have on their habitats and food/water sources.
Caring for nature is a tricky conversation. The advancement of a society has always had an impact on the earth and we must try not to demonize humanity, but at the same time respect and protect our amazing resources and plant and wildlife. I cannot envision my kids or grandkids growing up in a world where orcas or hippos no longer existed, or where beautiful national parks had been diminished to fracked wastelands, or subdivisions and hotel complexes. To that end, we watch a lot of Planet Earth and Octonauts and Wild Kratts and we camp and travel and hope to instill in the kids a love for nature and all that it entails.
That said, the Wildlife Center is a great place to start and continue that conversation.
I love and hate places like this (zoos included). If we want {all} our kids to have up-close, personal encounters with these amazing animals, we have to provide a safe, easily accessible area. Seeing the animals in person can motivate the next generation to take greater care as well as enable the animals to live and reproduce in a controlled environment. But, I hate that these creatures have to be penned in! There is no easy answer….
The selfish part of me was really hoping that the Center would be huge and have hundreds of animals to look at so that we could spend a couple of hours there wandering around. Alas (and hooray!) it was small. There were only a handful of enclosures and maybe two dozen or so animals to check out. There is a neatly ordered cactus garden …. but let’s just say the kids couldn’t fully appreciate it yet.
My boys loved the birds -their favorites were the tiny owls and a shiny black Magpie. However, despite my efforts to further engage them, we were in and out in under 45 minutes.
During the summer, the Center hosts “animal encounters” throughout the day and offers a Nature Playtime once a week. There are multiple other programs and ways to get involved, so please check out their website. Fees are $4 for adults, $2 for children and kids under 3 are free.
If you’re heading up to Taos or have some time afterward, check out the fairly new La Arboleda Park (or “Purple Park” as my kids call it) about 5 miles up the road towards Chimayo, or stop at the McDonalds playplace 10mins up Hwy 285 in Espanola to burn off more of that endless energy.
