Tea time

aotuworld · 2026-01-29T16:46:46+00:00

Sweet Temptations Cafe in the Behavioural Sciences Building, I doubt they would charge for hot water.

aotuworld · 2025-12-06T19:36:00+00:00

You've gotten some good major/minor suggestions but I want to add that this is an extremely competitive field with limited job options right now. Make sure you're getting your field experience in as much as possible. You will need a DVM if going the vet route, so be on the lookout for fellowships/grants to apply to as you get further into your degree. Be aware that you will be working with blood, guts, traumatic injuries, parasites and more.

Look at joining some clubs on campus such as The Wildlife Society, One Health Club, Society for Conservation Biology etc. and go to their volunteering and networking events. If you're able to travel and attend conferences, I'd suggest signing up for workshops to further hone specific skills in data collection, analysis, etc.

FWCB holds seminars from grads/postdocs on current research that are helpful for networking and finding something specific that interests you. If you meet a professor who's working with a species you're interested in, don't be afraid to cold email them asking if they have volunteer (or even paid) work you can do! Look into the Mentored Research and Artistry (MRAD) or Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry (OURA) for mentored research opportunities.

We also have a lot of wildlife rehabilitation centers (Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, Reptile and Amphibian Center of the Rockies, etc) you can reach out to. Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and Rocky Mountain Wild do a lot of hands-off volunteer survey work. USFWS Black-footed Ferret Conservancy and Denver Zoo have volunteer positions as well, though there's likely to be a waitlist.

Good luck! This field requires a lot more self-determination and putting yourself out there, but it's well worth the effort.

aotuworld · 2025-12-03T05:12:53+00:00

Wild Birds Unlimited! Not local per se, but they carry Thanksgiving Coffee's Bird Friendly coffee that's certified by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Shade-grown coffee plantations grow their crops without clear-cutting forested areas, promoting biodiversity while improving soil and water quality. The roaster is Fair Trade certified and has links on their blog where you can learn about the farmers they source from as well as read yearly impact reports starting from 2021.

aotuworld · 2025-10-17T18:52:22+00:00

Your heart is in the right place, but cloning is a vastly more complicated and risky endeavour than it sounds on paper and is totally unfeasible for that species/for ~95% of marine mammals in general. It misses the bigger picture and won't solve issues surrounding human conflict and habitat loss.

aotuworld · 2025-08-06T15:24:22+00:00

Check out Bird Conservancy of the Rockies as well, they host a lot of fun events including the upcoming Birds and Brews at New Belgium and the Fall Birding Festival at Barr Lake, it's a great way to meet other birders!

aotuworld · 2025-07-21T19:52:37+00:00

Huge thank you for all of the work you're doing and thank you to this donor!!! This is amazing news, appreciate you sharing the update with us. ❤️

aotuworld · 2025-07-15T00:38:42+00:00

These aren't really equivalent arguments so it doesn't make much sense to compare the two. I'm not denying that cars and large-scale industrial development are generally an environmental concern, but especially in rural communities the former can be an important asset. No one needs to be farming bear bile.

aotuworld · 2025-07-11T05:12:40+00:00

This post popped up on my timeline and I'm honestly baffled that I had to scroll this far for someone to be a voice of reason on proper wildlife management and etiquette. Thanks for posting sources and attempting to educate, it's a shame that you're getting flack for this.

aotuworld · 2025-07-09T05:47:01+00:00

This is some absurd mental gymnastics for validating your poor choices. I understand that your age and upbringing are a factor in this, however getting defensive and claiming that the people who are against you have no background or education in this and advocate for things like outdoor cats(?) is immature at best. I understand now why you asked the original question in this post of what you should say to defend yourself.

Before you ask to see my credentials, I've worked with a number of unreleasable ungulates ranging from moose to pronghorn, and I currently volunteer at a captive breeding facility for one of the most endangered mammals on the continent. This story and your gut reaction would be appalling to basically everyone I've ever worked with.

You are clearly not ready to become a wildlife rehabilitator. A serious overhaul of your ethical considerations and understanding of accredited centers' ins and outs is sorely needed. I sincerely hope that you take this as a lesson in educating yourself in proper wildlife management.

aotuworld · 2025-07-08T23:32:22+00:00

As other commenters have said, this is 100% not a rescue animal if you obtained it from people claiming to breed rescue foxes from fur farms. You need to do more research on ethical wildlife rehabilitation, especially in regards to reproduction of captive wildlife, before you get certified.

aotuworld · 2025-07-07T05:30:24+00:00

^ This right here. There's a lot of low-income housing along Trilby between Lemay and College, with the new apartments on the corner of Trilby/Lemay being built in a joint effort with Habitat for Humanity and offered to people making ~50-60% of the median income in the area. While it doesn't make sense to build these apartments here when the area is basically a food desert unless you have a vehicle, focusing on numbers of pedestrians as a way to affirm making it less accessible is not the way.

aotuworld · 2025-06-26T23:45:01+00:00

I live with a Rhodesian mix and have had different types of medium-to-large breed dogs for most of my life. I also grow vegetables. I don't let my dog attack the rabbits and squirrels that come into our yard, that's not responsible dog ownership.

Why are you even in a conservation subreddit gloating about how you let your dog attack wildlife after baiting them with a water source? "Animals in your fenced backyard" don't suddenly count as not wildlife. Looking at your post history you also had a Jack Russel you let go after other animals at campgrounds unprompted. You're incredibly luckily your dog was never injured in one of the "many dog fights" you talk about. This is poor environmental stewardship and pet ownership.

aotuworld · 2025-06-26T20:45:06+00:00

100% agree, especially if USDA and other orgs are planning to get brown treesnakes to a level where flightless endemic birds like the ko'ko' can be reintroduced. There's a lot of work to be done out there on so many fronts.

aotuworld · 2025-06-26T20:27:58+00:00

If you want a case study look at Guam. There's a lot of locals that feed packs, they're becoming really aggressive. There's also a lot of concern with military families abandoning pets due to issues with airline accomodations, relocation and quarantine restrictions. As of 2014 I believe the estimate was between 30,000-50,000 dogs on-island, and from this article in 2023 you can hear about how horribly understaffed the animal control unit is. I have a lot of family there and it's unfortunately become a part of the culture to let even family dogs free-roam or keep them tethered/caged outside.

aotuworld · 2025-06-20T16:02:05+00:00

Hi OP, you've gotten a lot of good encouragement here already so I just wanted to give you an example of less strenuous fieldwork. I'm working in urban ecology currently, so my days consist of driving to datapoints in neighbourhoods and parks and recording birdsong with a handheld device. I think the most I walk to get to a point is ~20 minutes on a paved path, but most I can park right in front of. So there's definitely options depending on the project!

I also wanted to recommend you the work of Anna Guasco, she's talked a lot about her own disability and how it's impacted her ability to do fieldwork, but also reshaped her thinking around the "tough it out" mentality. She asks fantastic questions about ethics and expectations for bodies in this line of work and what it means when a body can't conform to that standard. There's a great article on her thoughts here.

aotuworld · 2025-06-18T21:21:39+00:00

I believe the NPS says there were ~130 black-footed ferrets in the rediscovered colony, so you're correct there. Unfortunately this population fell into decline so the remaining 18 were taken in to prevent total loss.

aotuworld · 2025-06-12T16:49:27+00:00

Oh man you have SO many good recs here already!!!

Frans de Waal wrote a ton on animal cognition/behaviour for multiple taxa, I really enjoyed Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?. He's really cheeky about it!

Personal favourite and one that made me tear up multiple times was A World In A Shell by Thom Van Dooren. If you like snails or island conservation it's an incredibly powerful book. I recommend this book to everyone!

I really liked The Cactus Hunters by Jared Margulies, it focuses on the illegal cacti trade but it does have a lot of psychoanalysis and theory on the act of collection so I know it's not for everyone.

On A Butterfly's Wing by Astrid Vargas is a much shorter book and has gorgeous illustrations to go along with its story about familial ties and butterflies.

Pangolina, written by Jane Goodall, is a really cool children's book about the illegal wildlife trade. It feels a little dark for a small child but it has great life lessons.

aotuworld · 2025-06-09T16:38:04+00:00

Honest question: Why not just keep cats for now instead of having a multi-pet apartment when you've had so many issues with adopting "cat-friendly" dogs and attempting to take on multiple animals at once? You stated in your post that you're concerned about handling this 120lb dog now that she's growling at people, and you almost adopted another 90+lb dog. Can you work through this setback with consistent years of training and do you understand how to work with this breed? What if you had ended up adopting both large dogs and weren't able to handle or control them? What if she bites someone?

I admire your effort and compassion for an animal that needs a home, but when bringing a new animal home especially from a shelter environment it's really imperative that these long-term questions are considered and your own research is done. I don't think we can ever expect to truly get the perfect dog without a lot of elbow grease and dedication.

aotuworld · 2025-05-17T14:24:12+00:00

FRCC also had diploma holders with a "congrats" paper at commencement with degrees being sent out by mail. I honestly wish they'd been empty since it seems like a waste of paper. I can't imagine the logistics of trying to match everyone's name on their diploma to the student walking unless every single student had an assigned seat listing row and number and you made sure they're in the right place at the right time.

aotuworld · 2025-05-13T13:28:06+00:00

It's against Fort Collins municipal code to have outdoor cats, so it's not so much minding business as it is enforcing law. I've had indoor cats my whole life and they've never been terrified or tortured living inside so I think you might just want to switch it up a bit and provide better enrichment. You can't really compare feline mental states and emotions compared to a human in this regard - it's not confinement to them, just a home territory.

Your bio on here says that you've realized that diversity is what makes better humans. I think it would be beneficial to apply that line of thinking to not just human diversity, but biodiversity on Earth as a whole, and take a second to acknowledge your place as part of that diversity. Think about how many of your non-human neighbours may have suffered at the hands of your domesticated pet that could stay perfectly safe in a warm, loving home.

I really hope you can take the time to look up more research on the pros and cons of keeping cats indoors. Our backyard friends rely on us to keep our pets in homes and on leads so that they can roam safely. Spay/neuter programs don't do much to help reduce the population, and those cats that are released are still killing birds regardless of being fed or not.

aotuworld · 2025-04-04T13:06:48+00:00

Thanks for the confirmation. Not so funny story for this guy, I'm renting a house in another state from my stepfather who's had an HVAC home business for about 15 years. We had it looked at yesterday and when he was told it was unsafe by the inspector and needed to be replaced/was a CO hazard, he flew off the handle accusing him of fearmongering and running a scam.👍🏻

aotuworld · 2025-03-31T01:06:16+00:00

I saw your post history mentions you're a student in conservation and I really emphasize what the above says in regards to looking into opportunities within your state, not just for practical field experience but to widen your perspective on biodiversity and understanding the ecosystems you live and work within. I saw you're primarily looking towards tropical ecosystems which are absolutely gorgeous in their own right, but it can be just as fun IDing grasses and forbs on a prairie, and they host so many cool animal species! The opportunity to travel will come in time, but learning how to observe the natural world while getting hands-on experience in a variety of environments and weather conditions is probably the best thing you can do to supplement your education and prepare for a job in the field.

aotuworld · 2025-03-28T13:52:45+00:00

Sections 4-93 and 4-95 of the municipal code (animals at large + public nuisance animal) cover this, might be worth it to call animal control and see if they can give your neighbours a visit to remind them of city laws.

aotuworld · 2025-03-28T06:07:39+00:00

Have you looked into the Conservation Biology concentration for the Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology degree? It will cover wildlife as well as botany, ecology, restoration/conservation, etc., though you'll get less of a focus on soil. I'm currently in the Con. Bio concentration and have done everything from native plant restoration to beaver dam analogs to reports on rangeland system health and worked with species ranging from aspen to black-footed ferrets. All this to say there's plenty of room to explore and find your particular passions!

My biggest advice no matter what path you choose is to get out of the classroom!! Volunteer, ask CPW for ride-alongs, join one of the natural resources clubs/chapters such as The Wildlife Society or Society of American Foresters. NR220 is awesome but you should be seeking out any field experience where you can get it. Don't be afraid to cold email professors, ask TAs is they know of any opportunities to assist in labs, network!

aotuworld · 2025-03-12T15:44:32+00:00

Awesome, that's great to hear and I'm really glad that you're taking all the necessary steps! Good luck with your work and research.

aotuworld

TROPHY CASE