This 5-hour interactive training will teach you how to handle the public’s wildlife dilemmas over the phone, in a matter of minutes! You will learn how to distinguish true “orphans” from those that can be reunited with their parent(s), how to correctly interpret wild animal behavior, and how to figure out and convey effective solutions for the variety of wildlife problems that you receive calls about. The result will be a huge savings in cost and labor, since it will prevent many of those wild animals from unnecessarily coming to your facility as intakes.

Another result is that you will literally “save” thousands of animals over the phone, and help panicked callers begin to understand and even appreciate their backyard wildlife. Vital phone-advising components will be covered, such as

  1.  making a correct over-the-phone diagnosis, since the public often misunderstands or misinterprets what they are seeing;
  2. effective rapport-building techniques
  3. dispensing advice and action steps in a way that resonates with the public, creating a willingness to do what you recommend
  4. rescue and transport tips, and how to convey these to the public
  5.  helping the public relate to the animal’s motivation, and see the animal in a new perspective, which in turn evokes empathy, understanding and a willingness to co-exist.

 

Profiles will be given which highlights each species natural history, common conflicts that they cause, and species-specific solutions. We will also utilize interactive and tricky “mystery” scenarios which challenge participants to develop and improve their phone-advising skills.

This workshop is geared to rehabilitators, animal control and shelter staff, and anyone who handles wildlife calls as part of their job.