Paul Szmal: Now we want the music, it's 8-17, it's FLX Morning, Friday, the Friday extravaganza, and it's the Wildlife Rockstars, Bridges for Brain Injury, and Sarah's with us, we haven't talked with her in a while, good morning.
Sarah: Good morning, Ted, how are you?
Paul Szmal: And good morning, James.
Sarah: Good morning, Ted. It's good to have you both here.
Paul Szmal: Now, last month we learned a little bit about the exciting new news about the barnyard in 2025, so for people who didn't listen, remind us what this is going to mean, this is just a big game-changer.
Sarah: It is, so we have really exciting news, so we purchased a former horse farm, so it has 25 acres, we are in the process of renovating barns, working with architects to create our Wildlife Education Center and Day Program Center, but starting in June, we are offering birthday parties or just like on-site events that people are able to book, so whether that's a birthday party, that would include Bridges Barnyard Animals as well as our Exotic Animal Encounter, and you can just come over and book a presentation and check out the property, it's absolutely beautiful, so we're doing that on-site from June 7th until the end of like September, so we're super, super excited about that, we've totally outgrown our building that we're in now, it's not too comfortable to do birthday parties and those large events that we used to do, so now we have a place that we're able to offer to the public.
Paul Szmal: Man, that's fantastic, anything that people can do to help support this effort?
Sarah: Yeah, so actually right now, we are doing our football pool squares, so it's $20 a square, there's good payouts too, so $150 is the lowest for the first quarter and the third quarter, half times a $200 payout, and then fourth quarter is a $300 payout, so you can find our squares on our Facebook page, Wildlife Rock Stars or Bridges for Brain Injury, and you can send in like the cash, you can do the Venmo or PayPal, whichever you prefer. The board is starting to fill up, so that's wonderful, so if anyone wants a square, please purchase one and that goes right towards all of our efforts with what we're doing right now.
You also can donate any of your cans and bottles, so we have that ongoing can and bottle drive, and if anyone wants to just donate money to a specific animal, you know, we have animals that have specific birthdays, if you really like Diggs our three-banded armadillo and want to support his vet care, support his meal for a month, you're able to donate that way too.
Paul Szmal: Alright, and of course you're booking your outside presentations for 2025, you have all the different, you can theme those any number of ways, you've got the little critter one this year for the young learners.
Sarah: Yes, so we just added in the little critters, we did our first little critter presentation last week, it went absolutely wonderful. It's geared towards younger children, but it's made for anyone, so if you like animals, little critters is one that you would also want, just as much as the superheroes, it flies, it creeps, it crawls, and animal adaptations, and then we do our meet and greets, and starting when school's out, like June 25th, all of those Wednesdays throughout the summer, we'll be at Eastview doing our wildlife Wednesdays, so you'll be able to always catch us there.
Paul Szmal: Alright, so let's meet our animal.
Sarah: Yeah, so we have Diggs, our three-banded armadillo, he's an armadillo species native to South America, so he's not like any that we have in the United States, and he gets the name three-banded armadillo because he has these three bands of skin along his back that allows him to be the only armadillo species that can completely curl up into a ball, so that is their main defense mechanism. So his body is covered in bony plates, and then that is covered in a layer of thick keratin, so the same material that our fingernails and our hair are made of, that's what protects Diggs, and there are not very many animals that are able to penetrate through his shell.
Paul Szmal: Now is he named after Stefan?
Sarah: He is, so he was named after Stefan Diggs, and then, you know, he ended up getting traded.
Paul Szmal: Well, you're not going to trade him to another wildlife organization, are you?
Sarah: No, never. Diggs has his forever home.
Paul Szmal: Alright, so we're going to, let's get right to this. We've got on the floor, we have four squares representing the four teams in the conference championships, and so we're going to put Diggs down on the floor and see where he goes here, and we're going to see who's in the Super Bowl.
He's going left. He's turning away from the squares now, so no one's going this year, apparently.
Alright, here we go. He's walking away from the commanders. He doesn't like the underdog so far. Here we go, he's sniffing, and he's on the commander's square, so there's one.
Alright, so we'll move that aside. So the commanders win, and now we're going to see who gets in the AFC. We got two here.
Uh-oh, he's going the wrong way. Not for me, but for a lot of people. There's no Patriots square on the floor, what happened? We got a replay.
Oh, here he goes. He checked out the Bills square, and now he's turning left for the carpet. He's coming back around, we'll put him in the middle again. He's looking, he's looking, oh, he didn't really get on it, so he walked right by the Chiefs square. This is going to be a close game, that's what we're saying here.
He's in the middle, and now he doesn't want that Chiefs square. He keeps going around it, but he won't go on the Bills one. So Sarah's going to put him, oh, you're going to flip sides now, let's see. So he just flipped the squares, he's sniffing, and he's rejecting both once again. He obviously wants a Commanders-Patriots Super Bowl.
See, here we go. He went right by it, circling back. I thought maybe you'd put a treat on the Bills square or something.
Sarah: I thought about it, Ted.
Paul Szmal: Now we're sort of guiding him a little bit, and it looks like, Judges, yeah, he's on it. We're giving it to the Bills. Bills and Commanders, that will make a few people happy.
Digital Dan, our digital guru here, is a big Commanders guy. There is such a thing, if you didn't know, there are Commanders fans. And Paul Small, whose office is right across the way, is a big Eagles fan. So there you go, and we have the conference championship games coming up.
It was funny, because you called him our little football, and then you were describing those segments, and it reminds me, that's like the way some of the roofs are on the domes. They have those segments that kind of slide together. Or, of course, in Arizona, they have the field that slides out, because what was the Rams moved there because of the fires in California. So tell us a little bit more about our three-banded armadillo friend.
Sarah: Yeah, so Diggs is an insectivore, meaning his main diet comes from insects. He has a long, sticky tongue, which he is able to slurp the insects up with. Claws for digging.
Paul Szmal: Mm-hmm.
Sarah: So he has these claws on his front feet that help him if he's trying to get insects that may be under tree bark, or rip open termite mounds. And then his back feet are called hoofs. They're more flat, and they just help him move around a little bit. And as you saw, Ted, when he was walking, he walks upright on his claws, as well on his front feet.
So Diggs has his shell even on his head and his tail, so that when he completely closes, everything is protected. And being a mammal, since he still has all of the shell on top, he does have hairs on the bottom of him.
Paul Szmal: Yeah.
Sarah: And those are sensory hairs. So similar to a cat's whiskers, he's able to feel things around him, maybe insects walking by that maybe he doesn't see, because armadillos do not have the best eyesight, but they do have a great sense of smell. So using those sensory hairs and his nose that is always smelling, he's able to find those insects. And when he curls up in his defensive position, there's a little opening in the shell where his tail goes. I mean, the design was pretty well thought out.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, he fits together like a little Pokeball.
Sarah: Yeah. He's like a little puzzle piece.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And Diggs is actually one of the friendliest armadillos that we have ever encountered. So he is one that, even though he has the ability to slam shut, that he lets us give him belly rubs and he gives high fives.
Now what's it mean? Like right now, he was just kind of like opening up and kicking a little bit. He kind of just wants to sit down. Is that all?
Sarah: Yeah. He wants to get out of the hands and he wants to play.
Paul Szmal: Okay. So as you can see, Todd.
Yeah, he's on the countertop right now hanging out.
Yeah. And he actually...
Now is that little spot on him, is that a natural thing or...
Sarah: That's his birthmark.
Paul Szmal: Okay. Yep. So just a little bit of a discoloration. He's just got a little dark spot. Otherwise, he is almost football colored, like a light football, kind of a light tan.
He is. He looks just like one.
Wow. So he's picked. Once again, it's going to be the Bill...
Oh, he went right for it now. So he knows his team. And he's actually about the size of that Bill's logo too on that square. So we've got Bills and Commanders potentially going to the Super Bowl this year.
We will also, by the way, have the Super Bowl coverage from Westwood One.
Well, thanks as always. It was good to see you. I just said it's going to be the last time we visit here on this program. Paul Small will be taking over, but I will try to make a point to say I will definitely come see the new bar.
Sarah: Yes. We'll set that up. And I'm so happy. I don't know how long we've been doing this. 10 or 12 years I think now.
Paul Szmal: Yes. Yes.
Well, congratulations to you.
Sarah: Thank you. We've had so many fun segments with you, Ted, and we hope that you have a wonderful time in retirement.
Paul Szmal: Well, thank you so much. I love what you do. Dodie loves what you do. You come out to the library every year, so I'll try to make it to that visit as well. And thank you both as always.
Sarah: Thank you so much, Ted.
Paul Szmal: Thank you. And go Bills.
Sarah: All right.
