Animal Experts Inc. was established in 1991 by Marc Hammond and Jeff Carver. They have been working with wildlife and domestic animals for over 40 years. Their company offers a unique service that humanely captures and removes wildlife. This includes mice, bats, rats, squirrels, pigeons, javelina, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, and much more.

 

In addition to wildlife, they offer preventative maintenance services and education that prevents unwanted wildlife from entering your home and establishing residence on your property. Their passion is doing wildlife presentations on wildlife safety prevention and wildlife conservation. They believe that education is the key to creating a balance in our ecosystem in order for humans to live with wildlife. They practice what they preach by posting weekly videos on social media about the animals they’ve captured, their relevance to the ecosystem, and fun facts about the animal.

 

Marc and Jeff had the opportunity to educate millions of viewers by being featured on 9 episodes of National Geographic’s “Animal Extractors”. Several years later they were featured on 8 episodes of Nat Geo Wild’s “When Nature Calls”. They’ve been featured on three separate wildlife documentaries on wolves, badgers, and “how roadrunners eat rattlesnakes”. There is nothing they love more than being on all four local news stations. They love sharing exciting animal stories and giving advice to the community they love and adore.

 

Marc and Jeff were featured on National Geographic's series "Animal Extractors". They have also been featured on CBS, NBC, and ABC news affiliates. Tucson News Channel 4 (KVOA) regularly features the Animal Experts on "Early Show".

 

 “I have lived all over the world. While traveling, my father would stop at every historical marker and attraction along the way. He would teach us to be curious about the world around us. My parents encouraged their children to explore and learn all they could about what interested them. My interests went towards animals, as I would bring home snakes, frogs, and tarantulas. I would tell my mother “they followed me home!” I'm married now to a wonderful woman named Roni who shares my love for animals and encourages me in all that I do. Roni no longer jumps when a container growls, hisses, or rattles as she walks past. She has even gotten used to those long days and midnight phone calls that send me off to capture the beast and play the part of the hero to a family in distress.

 

I truly believe that I am exactly where God wants me to be in life. No where else could I do what I love all year round than in Southern Arizona. This was evident while filming for the shows “Animal Extractors”, “Wild Animal Removal”, and more recently “When Nature Calls”, all featured on Nat Geo Wild. Southern Arizona has such a diverse variety of wildlife and it has adapted very well to the human population that has moved into their habitat. At Animal Experts Inc. we love being able to resolve the conflicts that inevitably occur when humans and animals occupy the same wild and rugged environment.”

Miss the meeting? Or want to re-live the magic? Click here and scroll to our Wednesday live stream- no account needed! http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubTucson/

 

Our meeting started on a somber note as PRESIDENT BOB called for a moment of silence in honor of honorary member CHAR ERNSTEIN, who passed on Saturday, July 20^th. All members are invited to celebrate CHAR’S life on Saturday, August 10^th at 1 pm in the chapel of Angel Valley Funeral Home.

 

VICKY JACOBS led us in the pledge and song, and after a rousing rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” played by master musician GARY HIRSH, EMPEROR BOB honored GARY’s years of keyboard servitude with a mug depicting two German shepherds on bicycles.

 

Our inspiration was the story of Malcolm Mitchell, “the bookish football star”. The New England Patriot overcame his own challenges with reading as an adult, and went on to write a children’s’ book on the magic of reading and formed his own literacy foundation. Be inspired and watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spUXAZp5sQ4

 

COMEDIAN BOB then kicked off birthday festivities with a knock-knock joke! “Alpaca Who?” “Alpaca the suitcase, you load up the car!” Each birthday girl and boy celebrated in a different way- CINDY GODWIN highlighted Help and Hope for YOUth and their work destigmatizing and improving mental health for teens, ROBIN STODDARD remarked that through his program Wright Flight he has flown 40,000 kids to new possibilities, and we discovered that skydiving enthusiast ANDY KIEL has jumped out of a plane 700 times! Don’t let him near your students ROBIN!

 

We were then introduced to our newest member by JOHN LEWIS, and were amazed as JIM MURPHY took the podium to give her a Blue Badge immediately after! Who is this Rotary superstar? JEANNE FLOWER, who is already a very active member of three committees, and earned her blue badge in 5 months.

 

NINA TRASOFF earned a hearty Rotary thank you for her work pulling together the Mayoral Debate. If you missed it, go to our Facebook page linked above and watch the debate!

 

Rotarians were reminded to report to the Sheraton on Grant next week- lest they be shamed. JASON GRABOSCH kicked us into gear with Car Show ticket sales and revealed that ticket teams will be by birth month. Hey- did you know that since our club has over 70 members there is a 99.9% chance two people share the same birthday? But we better aim for growth because the only way to 100% is with 367!

 

JON WANG and EL HEFE BOB shared a moment of Club history with life-saving the San Carlos ShelterBoxes, and how our gifts from Santa had already benefited two generations.

 

SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE BOB introduced John Adams, Deputy Director of Biosphere2, who gave our club a fascinating overview of one of Time Life’s Top 50 Marvels of the World. John shared that “there is no such thing as a failed experiment” and that the Biosphere2 is the only large scale facility to study earth’s ecosystems in the WORLD! Want to see the UofA’s research on water, corals, ecology, and food in action? John is giving every Rotarian and one guest free admission! Contact CHIEF SCIENTIST BOB for details.

 

After John signed “Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years” for the MWFB library, we were left with this all too appropriate quote: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”