By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
I had the opportunity last week to attend Wild Animal Encounters with Dan Breeding a live show at Bowman Estates, the affordable assisted lifestyle community that BMA manages in Danville, Illinois.
Dan’s show gave residents and guests the opportunity to learn about and meet exotic animals face-to-face.
Dan has a most interesting background and set of credentials. A graduate of the Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and Management program, he is an animal behaviorist, wild life educator, motivational speaker, and prestidigitator (slight of hands artist). He began performing at the age of 13, with a magic show at the local library in Hoopeston, Illinois, where he grew up. He developed his love for animals in his teens while he was working on farms and caring for livestock in between school and sports.
He operates an animal sanctuary and runs a Christian wildlife outreach program called Creatures of Creation.
I thought it would be fun to share with you ten of the things I learned about the African-Crusted Porcupine, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, the Black and White Rough Lemur and the alligator that played key parts in Dan’s show at Bowman Estates of Danville.
- Owls are not designed to fly high, fast or far. They are designed to fly silently. Of all the species of birds in the world, only owls have flukes on the inside and outside of every feather that enables them to fly without making any noise.
- Owls are the only birds to have forward-facing eyes.
- The owls’ eyes are extremely large in relation to the size of their head. If a human’s eye were as large as an owl’s in relation to the size of our heads, our eyes would be the size of a 12” softball.
- An owl’s hearing blows away their eyesight. They can hear things underground.
- Lemurs are only found in Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world. They are primarily tree dwellers.
- Lemurs have four hands and no feet.
- Lemurs use their tails for balance as well as for communications.
- Porcupines gnaw on the bones of dead animals for three reasons. Porcupines need a lot of calcium; by gnawing on bones they are able to get to the bone marrow, which is rich with calcium. Because their teeth never stop growing, porcupines gnaw on bones to grind down their teeth. Gnawing on bones also helps porcupines brush their teeth.
- Alligators are designed to live under water. They have a special valve in the back of their throat that allows them to open their mouth under water without drowning.
- Alligators have unique eyes. Their eyes are covered by a second eyelid that magnifies underwater vision.
Click here to be directed to a photo gallery of pictures of the wild animal show.
All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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