It was 10 years ago that the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Draper Museum launched its Raptor Experience and an upcoming talk will take a look back.
In a Thursday, Dec. 2 Lunchtime …
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It was 10 years ago that the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Draper Museum launched its Raptor Experience and an upcoming talk will take a look back.
In a Thursday, Dec. 2 Lunchtime Expedition, “raptor wranglers” Melissa Hill and Brandon Lewis will share tales of their adventures building and maintaining the program.
The free talk — titled “10 Years of Bird Poop and Other Stuff: Growing the Draper Museum Raptor Experience” — begins at noon at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Coe Auditorium and will run until 1 p.m. Folks can attend virtually by pre-registering at tinyurl.com/3f6vm5w4.
Maintaining a live raptor education program for a decade is no easy task and comes with many ups and downs. In celebration of their “tin” anniversary, the Draper Museum Raptor Experience staffers will discuss the foundations of the program, from choosing the right bird to their most memorable moments working with wild raptors in a public setting.
Hill is the live raptor program manager at the museum. She earned her bachelor’s in wildlife and fisheries biology and management from the University of Wyoming. While there she began volunteering for a small raptor education organization, and her love of raptors took off. During her 20-plus year career, Melissa has worked with more than 70 raptors at four different facilities. Her passion is sharing her love of raptors with others in the hopes of inspiring the next generation of nature enthusiasts and bird nerds.
Lewis is a live raptor program assistant. He holds degrees in history and zoology from UW and has an extensive background in public programming with the National Park Service. Lewis has helped the Draper Museum Raptor Experience expand its training for volunteers and has developed crossover programs with the other museums at the Center of the West. Lewis says he loves incorporating humor into his presentations and enjoys educating visitors about wildlife, their biology, and their behaviors.
Support for the Draper’s Lunchtime Expedition series has been made possible by Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation.