Mother Nature is a beautiful thing

Hello again,

So as you know by now, I have several hobbies. Promoting environmental and wildlife conservation is my main hobby. One of the ways I do that is through photography, which just so happens to be another hobby of mine. I have posted a few pictures that I have taken for my college yearbook, but now I would like to share with you some of my nature and animal pictures. Below is a link to my Flickr page where you can view a few examples of my photography. 

PHOTO GALLERY

I live in Alabama, so when it snows here, it becomes a big deal. I have only seen snow about five times in my life. Some of the pictures that I took of the snow are from 2010 when it snowed at my parent’s house. The other half is when it snowed last year and I was at Troy.

As I have stated in the past, I am a Native American. That being said, wolves are powerful symbols in my culture. I was lucky enough to be able to get close to two abandoned wolf pups after their mother was shot and killed by a poacher. My father and I took them in and raised them. Timber and Bandit are the two wolf in the pictures.

And finally, you will get to some more pictures of the animals I worked with at the zoo. Being a zookeeper was a dream job for me. I have always loved animals and getting to work with them was a dream come true. I got to establish a personal connection with my animals, and that is something not many people can say. 

The keepers name the animals to keep track of them, as well as their information. We also think its more personal than just giving them a number. 

The names of some of the animals are: Sam, who is a Grant Zebra, and was named after the vet who was there when he was born. 

Bulwagi, an African Bull Elephant, came to us from Disney World. His nickname is Mickey. 

Next, you will see Jalil, who is reticulated giraffe, and I taking a “selfie”. He was hand raised, but all giraffes are naturally gentle. Then you will see Willow, another giraffe, who got her name after the willow tree because that was the first type of browse that she would eat. After Willow you will see our youngest giraffe, Zuri. Zuri is the Swahili word for beautiful, which fits Zuri perfectly. 

Next you will see our lioness Akili. Akili an African Lioness and gave birth to her first litter of cubs in 2011. She had five cubs, all of which survived, which is very rare for a females first littler. Shes also a camera hog. She loves to pose for pictures. As the last picture of my zoo animals, you will see Kumar. Kumar is a Malaysian Tiger and came to The Birmingham Zoo at the age of 3 and is now 14. His favorite thing to do is to chase the animals that are brave enough to come into his exhibit. He loves to tree the squirrels, but has only killed a few in his lifetime. He is a very playful tiger.

The thing that I want people to get from looking at my photography is that there is beauty in everything. Mother Nature is a beautiful thing. Not just the plants, but also all of the animals are beautiful in their own way. I encourage you to go out, even if its with your phone, and take 10 pictures of nature or animals. Then share them and let others see the beauty that is Mother Nature.

How I became a Zookeeper.

Hello readers!

I have been asked several time on exactly how I became a zookeeper at such a young age. Well I have filmed a podcast that kind of gives you the high lights of my journey to becoming a zookeeper. I hope y'all enjoy! If anyone has any questions, or suggestions on my next post, please feel free to contact me!

Have a wonderful day,
Sarah~Beth

Sophie's Story

Hello again,

So in the past I have talked about wildlife conservation, and even though that is a great way to help animals there are ways that you can help animals in your community as well. So today I want to tell you a story about a dog named Sophie.

Back in July I started to think about what I wanted for my birthday. I thought of a few things, but there was this one thing at the top of my list. That was to get a dog. I am an animal lover, obviously, so not having an animal in the house was really strange to me and made me feel like I was missing something.

But dogs are not cheap and I was really unsure if I was financially stable enough to afford everything it takes for a dog to have a good home. But still, I was determined to find a way.

So I contacted my local shelter, the Troy Animal Rescue Project, and told them my situation. They came out and looked at my apartment, saw that I had bought a crate, toys, and even had saved a few coupons for dog food. They then asked if I would be willing to foster a dog.

Foster a dog? This was the first time I had ever heard about this. They then explained to me that they would assign me a dog, or I could pick one out, and I would take him/her home with me until the dog got adopted. They told me that they would still pay for all medical bills, and transportation to the potential adopters, as long as I did the every day stuff. (Feeding, bathing, exercise, etc.)

Well that sounded like the perfect idea for me. Vet bills are not cheap, so with them covering it the price of having a dog gets cut in half, if not more. After doing a little paper work, it was time to pick a dog. We decided on a few dogs based on the dog personality, and how well we thought the dog might do living in an apartment.

The first dog that we chose was a blue pit bull named Raina, but by the time we were ready to move her to my house she got adopted. Which was even better. Then I was looking on the T.A.R.P. Facebook page and saw this cute little dog names Sophie.

(Sophie is a mix, but we think she has some black and tan coon dog in her.)

The day I went to pick Sophie up was an exciting and scary day. I had heard that Sophie was very nervous around a lot of people, especially African American males. Reason for that being is that she was extremely abused by her pervious owner who was an African American male.

She also gets nervous around a lot of people. So knowing this, and knowing that I have a lot of African American male friends, I was skeptical as to how well this foster relationship was going to go.

The first time I brought her to my house, she was too scared to walk up the stairs. So I sat down and waited for her to come to me and then I picked her up and carried her up two flights of stairs. (Workout for the day, Check!)

Once I had her in my apartment I let her sniff around the apartment and kind of get a feel for the place. After about an hour, she finally came back to me in the living room and just looked at me.

We kind of had a non-verbal conversation for a few minutes, and then Sophie climbed on to the couch next to me and put her head in my lap. This was when I knew that Sophie was not going to be just a foster dog. But I still wasn’t sure that I could afford having a dog full time.

After about three days of having Sophie, she had two families who were interested in meeting and potentially adopting her. When we went to visit the families, Sophie was terrified. She hid behind me, and wouldn’t let anyone but me touch her. Sophie is by no means aggressive, but she would try her hardest to avoid any contact with anyone but me.

After seeing those two families I decided that I could not let Sophie go. We had already bonded so much in a short amount of time, that I saw it as a sign. She was not the dog I thought I wanted, but she was definitely the dog I needed.

Today, Sophie is spoiled rotten. We are still working on her being nervous around new people and other dogs, but she has come such a long way.

The moral of this story is that no matter where you are in the world, you can make an impact. It can be internationally by donating time or money to wildlife conservation, or it can be locally by adopting or fostering a dog from your local shelter. It doesn’t matter what you can give, or how much you give, because every penny and minute counts.

To find out more information about the Troy Animal Rescue Project and the dogs that need your help you can follow them on their Facebook

Troy Animal Rescue Project Facebook

If you do not live in Troy, but would still like to adopt an animal you can go the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) website to find a shelter near you, as well as other ways you can help.

ASPCA Website

Hope you enjoyed Sophie's story.

May The Great Spirit bless you,

Sarah Graham

One of my hobbies.

Hello Readers,

Today I want to take a break from talking about conservation and share with you one of my hobbies. Although I am aspiring to become a Public Relations Specialist, one of my favorite things to do is photography. I love that with one press of a button, you can capture a moment in time. Time stands still in a way. Below are some of the pictures that I took during homecoming at my college. I work as a senior photographer for my universities yearbook, so for this assignment I was to capture the National Pan-Hellenic Council, also known as the NPHC, Greeks while they were tailgating. 

The bothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

Brother of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity In. Terry Ruggs strolling.

Brother of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Alphonzo Lewis Jr. stolling alongside Terry Ruggs. 

Brother of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Jerome Gerren .

The brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. 

Sister of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. John Onedeko and Alphonso Lewis

Brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (Winners of the Step Show)

Brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. 

Sisters of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. at the Step Show.

These pictures can give you a glimpse of what it is like to be around, or a part of, the NPHC Greeks. As a non-Greek, I still feel welcomed and accepted into the Greek world. Although I take pictures for several events on campus, the NPHC events are by far my favorite. Since my freshman year I have been following NPHC news, and have helped them become as known on campus as they are today. I am happy and honored to call most of the people you see in the pictures above my friends. And it is through photography that I have had the chance to meet these wonderful people. 

To kind of tie this back into the main topic of my blog, conservation, I not only use my photography skills to take pictures of my friends but to also capture nature and all of its inhabitants. I love taking a camera with me to go for a walk in the woods. You never know what kind of animal, or plant, that you will encounter. There is always a chance of being able to capture once in a lifetime pictures. My dream would to be able to travel the world and to show my journey through my photos. Just like the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". 

Have an amazing day,

Sarah~Beth