More than 50 exhibitors representing private and public reptile collections from around the Midwest will be on hand for the 15th annual Reptile Rampage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (March 11) at the Lake Forest Recreation Center Gym, 400 Hastings Road, in Lake Forest. Admission fee is $8 for adults and $5 for children (kids under 3 are free). Proceeds benefit the Wildlife Discovery Center in addition to the Phillippine Crocodile conservation project.  Reptile Rampage is once again being sponsored by BTG International Inc., an international specialist healthcare company that manufactures …

For past Wild Side of Wildlife columns and videos, see this handy compilation.

  As you will see from this month’s video, it showed a different side of the Wildlife Discovery Center. See the Video: Extraordinary Catch, Release of Short Eared Owl Although we are well known for our world-class exhibits, award-winning camps and programs, our field research and conservation initiatives, and the many outreach programs that we do, many people don’t know we assist with many wildlife rescues in the area.  During the summer, most of our calls involve taking in badly injured turtles (primarily common snapping turtles and painted turtles) hit by cars and trucks as they cross busy …

Welcome to the Wildlife Discovery Center (WDC). This month’s video featured our resident crocodiles: Dwarf Caiman, Siamese Crocodile, Saltwater Crocodile and the American Alligator. They will be part of a wonderful community event called CROCtoberfest! On Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., we will host this first-ever event celebrating the world of crocodiles. Come and meet “Bubba” the world famous alligator and his owner, Jim Nesci, who will give a presentation about his work with crocodiles from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. See footage of Bubba from Reptile Rampage in March. Other guests will include…

In our previous segment, we introduced Matt Most, who is a graduate student from Loyola University looking at movement patterns of our population of Eastern garter snakes. However, we held back on the details to give you a better picture in this segment of how field researchers measure and gain information on populations to make critical resource management decisions. From March through June 2011, passive sampling methods were used in this fieldwork, including meandering surveys and cover board arrays. Upon capture, the garter snake is taken back to the Wildlife Discovery Center and its …

When I started at the Wildlife Discovery Center in 1997, I always intended to offer a wide variety of educational programs and opportunities, but I also wanted to focus this very unique nature center on conservation through high-quality field research efforts. Over the past few years, we have hosted a number of undergraduate- and graduate-level students at the WDC. We hosted a pre-veterinarian student, Amanda Guthrie, who is now the chief veterinarian at a world-class zoo in the western United States. Now, we are thrilled to be hosting another top-notch student: Matthew Most from Loyola …

Reptile Rampage came to the Lake Forest Recreation Center on March 13, featuring 75 exhibitors with a wide range of reptiles like pythons, alligators and dragons, including Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch columnist Rob Carmichael, curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest. The 12th annual event attracted one of its largest crowds ever with more than 2,000 people in attendance. Proceeds from the event go to the Wildlife Discovery Center to feed and house the 150 animals cared for there. The event raised between $5,000 and $10,000, according to Carmichael.

We're going to start off this month's column with a question e-mailed in from Nicadette of Deerfield:  “I visited your nature center and found your rattlesnakes to be so beautiful and calm in their exhibits.  I always thought that rattlesnakes were very aggressive towards humans?” That’s a great question, Nicadette! Rattlesnakes get a bad rap due to misinformation and oftentimes urban legends that are passed on from one generation to the next.  Although they can be dangerous to humans, they typically only defend themselves if they feel cornered with no escape route. To avoid confrontations in…

This month we are delving into the night time world of our flying predators - Owls! The Wildlife Discovery Center (WDC) is home to two of our native owl species:  the Eastern Screech Owl and the Great Horned Owl. Both are common but not commonly seen in the wild. Click on the video link to see some footage of our resident owls. Let's meet them up close! “Squirt,” the Eastern Screech Owl, came to us in 1991 from Barnswallow, a wild bird rehabilitation center in Wauconda that specializes in owls. Found in a backyard in Lake Forest, Squirt hit someone’s patio window and sustained a permanent …

Text by Rob Carmichael Video by Bruce Himmelblau Last month I introduced myself and the Wildlife Discovery Center located at the historic Elawa Farm in Lake Forest. If you missed that segment, click here.  My hope with this column is to encourage plenty of reader involvement. E-mail me your questions or comments to:  carmichr@cityoflakeforest.com. No question is out of the realm of appropriateness if it has to do with wildlife or nature. So, please fire away.  After last month's segment, I did receive a couple of questions that I would like to answer: Q:  "Why can't Boris the Bobcat go back …

Welcome to this month's segment of the "Wild Side of Wildlife." My name is Rob Carmichael, and I am the curator and founder of the Wildlife Discovery Center (WDC) at the historic Elawa Farm in Lake Forest. Each month we will introduce one of our resident animals and also share fun and educational information about the whacky world of wildlife. Humans and wildlife can peacefully co-exist if we take the time to get to know them. My hope in this column is to generate reader involvement. E-mail me your questions or comments to:  carmichr@cityoflakeforest.com . No question is out of the realm of …