CRC Wildlife Ambassador’s Latest Shush: March Madness Edition
This month’s Latest Shush is provided by current CRC interns and volunteers as they have had a lot of interaction with CRC Wildlife Ambassadors Gilly, Sam and Mad Max as they have camped out on the CRC land for day and night observations. Here is what they have experienced….
Community Ecology Intern Ellie:
This month has seen our CRC Croc Ambassadors on the land become bolder and braver, with them being spotted by us every evening we are there! The CRC team ventured onto the land for a 7-day camping adventure to monitor the behavior of our ambassadors, and were pleased to see them actively exploring their enclosures. Here are some of diary entries from one of our volunteers of their time there:
Day 2: Mad Max greeted me as usual this morning, and Sam was caught basking on the land in her enclosure. Fresh slides were noted in Gilly’s enclosure, as well as footprints. Eyeshine of both crocs was seen in the evening, and Sam came up to say hello.
Day 3: Sam and Gilly both allowed us to approach and talk to them, seemingly undisturbed by our presence more so at night. Sam seen basking in the morning.
It seems our Croc ambassadors have been enjoying the sunshine, as they have been seen basking often!
Training continues with both Sam and Mad Max. Mad Max has taken to training like a duck to water and has even featured on an Instagram live! Sam has been a little shyer, taking her time with training. We also hope to feature her training more on social media when she becomes used to it.’
CRC Volunteer Kathleen:
When I first visited the CRC land in the beginning of January, Sam was still recovering from stressful relocation and would not come up if she heard voices. Now, just a couple months later, we see her eyeshine on almost every survey and campout. She has even started to come up and respond more often to target training commands! We have noticed that she is much more responsive at night, and when there are few people near her enclosure. Still, in such short period of time, watching Sam grow more and more comfortable with people via target training has been a very special experience
Gilly continues to be shy although he is starting to show himself more…unless CRC Founder Dr. Marisa Tellez shows up or speaks. Seems he is still a bit ticked off at her for capturing him and moving him to a new home…and probably because Mad Max just beats up on him now.
And as for Aemon….
Aemon continues to only show up for target training sessions for CRC Founder Marisa. He’s starting to become more comfortable coming up on land more with just her, but still a bit nervous to come fully out on land. He is really loving the command SMILE, showing off his teeth for the camera!
Have you fallen in love with our Wildlife Ambassadors? Why not Adopt-A-Croc (or Mad Max)- head to our website to find out more!