Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am so honored to be joined from Fontanelle Forrest
Denise Lewis. Denise, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Well, thank you for having me. And you know, today
is a perfect day for those folks in the office
to play hooky. Yeah, and you know, come on out
enjoy the nice weather outside.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I look at this. Look at your website. You guys
have a great website. Talk about a lot of different
things that are going on right now. But before I
do any of that, you brought this to me about
an email that you got with an update on a
video where people can meet Spike. Now we need to
learn about who Spike is. And as people learn this,
(00:37):
what did this video entail? Because it looks like you
guys have had millions and millions of interactions based on
this video.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's just been absolutely amazing. So Spike and George are
two Eastern screech owls that we have on our property.
We have twenty seven birds in total. But everybody loves
little owls are very popular. You know, you can always
get a cookie jar, a T shirt, you know, all
(01:05):
kinds of you know, kotch keys, you know, with owls
on them. But Spike came to us from kind of
a harrowing He had kind of a harrowing tale. He
was found in a box car. All we know is
he was from the West coast headed east. He was
(01:27):
found by a railroad attendant in Fremont, Nebraska who looked
in the car found Spike very very thin, very dehydrated,
not too much going on. So anyway, we we took
him as an education bird and we have shown some
(01:50):
videos with our raptor care specialist l who is just
a wonderful character in her herself. She's very deadpan and
has a great sense of humor, and so we are
showing Spike the Eastern screech owl, things that he has
never seen before. So if you check these videos out,
(02:12):
it's it's really kind of funny, it's tongue in cheek,
it's educational, and it's caught the attention of once again,
over eight million people. It's just amazing to us.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, and I'm looking at some of these videos that
you have right now, and it's available on all the
font now for us, you know, platforms on social media.
But it's just him in the gift shop. I'm watching
one of him in the gift shop on your Instagram
page and just watching him just kind of wow, what
the heck is going on there? He is a tiny
little guy.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He is just a tiny little guy. He's probably about
six ounce six ounces in weight, and he has just
captured the hearts of folks across of course the nation
into Canada. We even have some European fans now for Spikes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
That is amazing. You came in wearing shirts, a shirt,
and I know that the shirts are high in demand
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So yes, we have a Spike and George t shirts
available online. So we have an online shop to sell
these really really cool T shirts.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, we're joined by Denise Lewis here from Fontanel Forest.
Fontanelforest dot Org is how you can learn more about this.
This is an incredible place and I could spend all
day talking about owls. But I'm a birdie. I'm an
all round birdie. I loved getting my binoculars out and
I love just listening to the songs. There's not a
better place in the Omahi area to watch birds than
(03:41):
the Fontenelle Forest. And I know that you guys know that,
and you have different ways that people can kind of
enjoy that with people who know a thing or two
about what you're doing. So what are some of the
different things that people can learn when they go to
Fontenelle Forest and not just see amazing little owls, but
also to see real birds that are out there in
the four or is that are just freely moving through
(04:02):
the area depending on the season.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Right well, a lot of warblers are migrating through right now,
so probably the next three or four weeks, warblers, including hummingbirds,
will make their way through the forest as a stop.
And we have binoculars that you can rent at the
front desk and go out and just be your just
(04:26):
put your total you know, bird nerd hat on and
love it. Go out and look and listen for the
different species. So there's always lots lots going on, especially
in the spring, whether it be birds, spring, wildflowers. Yeah,
all kinds of things, all kinds of public programs and
(04:49):
opportunities for people to kind of get away from the news.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Always need that.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Just unplug, leave your cell phone in your pocket, just
take a hike and just enjoy the quiet wild of nature.
That's part of our mission.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I'm looking at your website. You have an entire trail
map here so people can kind of have an understanding
of where they're going. It's not just a we're wandering
and there are multiple different areas. But one thing I
saw on your social media is that today is a
bad day to go on some of the trails because
they're closed because of a prescribed burn. And some people
(05:26):
might be like, okay, so what does that mean? So
can you explain what this is and how it's executed?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Essentially, well, our prescribed fire burns are very professionally executed.
We partner with different fire departments, we have all the permits.
We've built great relationships with our burn partners over gosh,
probably even the last ten years, and we want to
(05:57):
prescribe burn to key the forest healthy. If you don't
burn the forest, if you don't burn the fuel that's
on the bottom of the forest, all the leaf litter,
all the seedlings, all the saplings, all the all the
things that you you don't want in the forest. If
you don't take care of that in this way, then
(06:22):
it's really no longer a forest. It's a bunch of
trees that is really bad habitat for birds and bugs
and everything else that we have. So we are very
good at telling the public when we burn, we're once again,
we're very professional, and.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's to be like, yeah, the wind has to be,
wind has to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Be and there's such a science to it that you know,
I'm not really privy to with my job at the forest,
but but I do know that it's it's done, it's
done well, it's done with partners, and we we do
it every year.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
And like you said, for the health of what's living
there already, it's incredibly important. And you see, you know
other areas that are these huge ecological spaces that it's
really hard to have those controlled burns, they still do
it because they know how important it is to what's
already living there. So that's one thing that's happening today.
It's not the entire you can still go to Fontanel
Forest today, but just certain a certain area that they're
(07:24):
working on that today. Can you stick around for another segment, absolutely, Hey,
we're going to talk about some of the amazing things,
not just owls that you can see, not just the
birds you can see, not just the hikes that you
can go on. We're going to talk about a lot
of other things that are happening as well at Fontanel
Forest with Denise Lewis coming up next on news Radio
eleven ten kfab Oh. You can see their website and
all the great information we've talked about and are about
(07:45):
to talk about at Fontanelleforest dot org. And we're joined
by Denise Lewis from Fontanel Forest and we talked about
spike and el and we've talked about all the great
you know, owls that you can go see and you
can see them when you go to Fontinell Forest also
see a bunch of nature. And one of the things
that immediately attracted myself to you guys when I first
(08:06):
moved to Omaha was the full moon hikes that you
guys advertise on your website. So can you explain how
that works and how people can be a part of that,
because it sounds like such a cool idea.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It really is and it's really taken off. So our
next full moon hike, you would learn about the pink moon,
a pink moon, a pink moon, and that's coming up
on the eleventh. So you come, you get a guided hike,
you learn about the different moon phases and once again
(08:37):
the pink moon. It's a different moon every month, of course,
and you can also enjoy a seasonal snack on us.
So come out, I can eat you. Bet you can
have a snack on us. So those are a lot
of fun. In fact, they've been so much fun that
(08:58):
we have increased our participation numbers, you know, in the
busy months, So we've opened up some spots.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So I need to get in on one of those.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I mean to get in on one of those.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, that's that's gonna be awesome. And you can see
these events. You got a full calendar here. I'm also
seeing a spring wildflower hike. So what's that look like.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, i'll tell you. We're doing that on April thirteenth,
from two to three thirty. When you come out to
the forest, you know, of course in the summer you
see the butterflies, you see the really big things. But
in the spring sometimes you really have to look and
you have to know where to look. But spring is
all just really all around us. We have lots of
(09:44):
beautiful wildflowers, spring, Beauty's blood root, Dutchman's breeches. Oh, if
you've never seen those little upside down pants, that are
kind of fun to see. So that is a family thing.
But the other thing I really want to mention is
we have a Raptor Trivia coming up at that Cross
(10:07):
Train Brewery in La Vista at their La Vista location
six thirty to eight thirty, coming up on April fifteenth,
and we partner with sci Fest and cross Train on
this promotion. It's a lot of fun trivia nights.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I mean, you can't go wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yes, Charian knights are really fun. We will bring some
of course, some live birds. Yes, you get to join
a team and you can put your Raptor Nerd hats on.
Winners in specific categories get different things like t shirts
(10:49):
and passes and in different things like that. But it's
really a lot of fun. It's for families. We do
events with them every year and you know, it's a
family fun program.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Absolutely love that again, Foughtenel Forest dot org. You can
find this entire calendar with all these events on it
and all the information. You guys do such a great
job of updating on this. Before we get out of here,
another couple of things that I just wanted to ask
or inquire because I'm just such a nature person. You
talk about all the people that put this stuff on
and you guys, you need a pass to go in
(11:27):
because you take such great care of this place. This
isn't just kind of like a natural wooded area that
you just kind of pop in and like to walk around.
This is something that is very curated for the most perfect.
Like how do I say this life can exist here
and thrive in a bunch of different ways. So can
(11:48):
you explain what that money goes to? When people are
paying for a pass or an annual pass for.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Correct, when you pay for like a daily admission or
even a membership. We were supporting the really good work
that we do at font Nol Forest, be it you know,
conservation of the land with the prescribed fires that we
are doing, whether it be educating the public you know
in the raptor refuge where we have twenty seven birds,
(12:18):
or if you come to one of our programs, one
of our educational programs and learn about nature specific items.
So you are just supporting the good work that we've
been doing since we were incorporated back in nineteen thirteen. Wow,
nineteen thirteen, that's a long time, or we were put
(12:38):
together before the State of Nebraska had a park service,
so well, yeah, we've been around forever.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Well, and that it just tells you like, who's going
to know better of what is going to be a
great nature experience for anyone From somebody like me who
loves to be out every single chance I get to
somebody who I'm not birdwatched before, maybe this would be
something that would be fun. You guys can take care
of people across the entire spectrum.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
We are accessible to all from you know, the the
newly nerded, I like to say, or you know for
the for the old time burder or nature lover. So
we do, we we accept all, We talk to everybody.
It's it's a good time, it's a good cause and
(13:26):
there's nothing better, especially in today's crazy age, to just
be out in nature and unplugged.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And you really get to unplug at a place like this.
Denise Lewis is joining us here from Fontanel Forest in
before I let you go, and this is such a
great thing. I want to ask you personally, what's your
favorite thing to do out there? I mean you have
great access and I know you have a job to do,
but what's your favorite thing at Fontel?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
For us, probably to go down we we have some
really neat trails down on the wetlands and I have
been known to lay on my belly on a bridge
that it goes over a stream and watch invertebrates, so.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You can see them from the bridge.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
You can see them from the bridge, probably a couple
of feet away. And yes, and that's it's not very ladylike.
I don't really care. I like that. And that butterflies, oh,
just yeah, those and water boatmen and little minnows and
things that survive in a stream. So yes, once again,
(14:29):
we welcome all.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, Denise, I thank you so much for coming in
and talking with me about this. I can't wait to
go out there and check out some of these programs
for myself and hopefully we send some people your way
today and this week, in which it should be beautiful. Thank
you so much for giving us this information.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
All right, thank you for having me memory.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
More info at Fontanelleforest dot org about everything that's happening
there and follow them on social media. You can see
Spiked the little owl and all the fun adventures that
he's on, as well as everything else that's happening at
Fontanelle Forest
I am so honored to be joined from Fontanelle Forrest
Denise Lewis. Denise, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Well, thank you for having me. And you know, today
is a perfect day for those folks in the office
to play hooky. Yeah, and you know, come on out
enjoy the nice weather outside.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I look at this. Look at your website. You guys
have a great website. Talk about a lot of different
things that are going on right now. But before I
do any of that, you brought this to me about
an email that you got with an update on a
video where people can meet Spike. Now we need to
learn about who Spike is. And as people learn this,
(00:37):
what did this video entail? Because it looks like you
guys have had millions and millions of interactions based on
this video.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's just been absolutely amazing. So Spike and George are
two Eastern screech owls that we have on our property.
We have twenty seven birds in total. But everybody loves
little owls are very popular. You know, you can always
get a cookie jar, a T shirt, you know, all
(01:05):
kinds of you know, kotch keys, you know, with owls
on them. But Spike came to us from kind of
a harrowing He had kind of a harrowing tale. He
was found in a box car. All we know is
he was from the West coast headed east. He was
(01:27):
found by a railroad attendant in Fremont, Nebraska who looked
in the car found Spike very very thin, very dehydrated,
not too much going on. So anyway, we we took
him as an education bird and we have shown some
(01:50):
videos with our raptor care specialist l who is just
a wonderful character in her herself. She's very deadpan and
has a great sense of humor, and so we are
showing Spike the Eastern screech owl, things that he has
never seen before. So if you check these videos out,
(02:12):
it's it's really kind of funny, it's tongue in cheek,
it's educational, and it's caught the attention of once again,
over eight million people. It's just amazing to us.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, and I'm looking at some of these videos that
you have right now, and it's available on all the
font now for us, you know, platforms on social media.
But it's just him in the gift shop. I'm watching
one of him in the gift shop on your Instagram
page and just watching him just kind of wow, what
the heck is going on there? He is a tiny
little guy.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
He is just a tiny little guy. He's probably about
six ounce six ounces in weight, and he has just
captured the hearts of folks across of course the nation
into Canada. We even have some European fans now for Spikes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
That is amazing. You came in wearing shirts, a shirt,
and I know that the shirts are high in demand
as well.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
So yes, we have a Spike and George t shirts
available online. So we have an online shop to sell
these really really cool T shirts.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, we're joined by Denise Lewis here from Fontanel Forest.
Fontanelforest dot Org is how you can learn more about this.
This is an incredible place and I could spend all
day talking about owls. But I'm a birdie. I'm an
all round birdie. I loved getting my binoculars out and
I love just listening to the songs. There's not a
better place in the Omahi area to watch birds than
(03:41):
the Fontenelle Forest. And I know that you guys know that,
and you have different ways that people can kind of
enjoy that with people who know a thing or two
about what you're doing. So what are some of the
different things that people can learn when they go to
Fontenelle Forest and not just see amazing little owls, but
also to see real birds that are out there in
the four or is that are just freely moving through
(04:02):
the area depending on the season.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Right well, a lot of warblers are migrating through right now,
so probably the next three or four weeks, warblers, including hummingbirds,
will make their way through the forest as a stop.
And we have binoculars that you can rent at the
front desk and go out and just be your just
(04:26):
put your total you know, bird nerd hat on and
love it. Go out and look and listen for the
different species. So there's always lots lots going on, especially
in the spring, whether it be birds, spring, wildflowers. Yeah,
all kinds of things, all kinds of public programs and
(04:49):
opportunities for people to kind of get away from the news.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Always need that.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Just unplug, leave your cell phone in your pocket, just
take a hike and just enjoy the quiet wild of nature.
That's part of our mission.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
I'm looking at your website. You have an entire trail
map here so people can kind of have an understanding
of where they're going. It's not just a we're wandering
and there are multiple different areas. But one thing I
saw on your social media is that today is a
bad day to go on some of the trails because
they're closed because of a prescribed burn. And some people
(05:26):
might be like, okay, so what does that mean? So
can you explain what this is and how it's executed?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Essentially, well, our prescribed fire burns are very professionally executed.
We partner with different fire departments, we have all the permits.
We've built great relationships with our burn partners over gosh,
probably even the last ten years, and we want to
(05:57):
prescribe burn to key the forest healthy. If you don't
burn the forest, if you don't burn the fuel that's
on the bottom of the forest, all the leaf litter,
all the seedlings, all the saplings, all the all the
things that you you don't want in the forest. If
you don't take care of that in this way, then
(06:22):
it's really no longer a forest. It's a bunch of
trees that is really bad habitat for birds and bugs
and everything else that we have. So we are very
good at telling the public when we burn, we're once again,
we're very professional, and.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's to be like, yeah, the wind has to be,
wind has to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Be and there's such a science to it that you know,
I'm not really privy to with my job at the forest,
but but I do know that it's it's done, it's
done well, it's done with partners, and we we do
it every year.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
And like you said, for the health of what's living
there already, it's incredibly important. And you see, you know
other areas that are these huge ecological spaces that it's
really hard to have those controlled burns, they still do
it because they know how important it is to what's
already living there. So that's one thing that's happening today.
It's not the entire you can still go to Fontanel
Forest today, but just certain a certain area that they're
(07:24):
working on that today. Can you stick around for another segment, absolutely, Hey,
we're going to talk about some of the amazing things,
not just owls that you can see, not just the
birds you can see, not just the hikes that you
can go on. We're going to talk about a lot
of other things that are happening as well at Fontanel
Forest with Denise Lewis coming up next on news Radio
eleven ten kfab Oh. You can see their website and
all the great information we've talked about and are about
(07:45):
to talk about at Fontanelleforest dot org. And we're joined
by Denise Lewis from Fontanel Forest and we talked about
spike and el and we've talked about all the great
you know, owls that you can go see and you
can see them when you go to Fontinell Forest also
see a bunch of nature. And one of the things
that immediately attracted myself to you guys when I first
(08:06):
moved to Omaha was the full moon hikes that you
guys advertise on your website. So can you explain how
that works and how people can be a part of that,
because it sounds like such a cool idea.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
It really is and it's really taken off. So our
next full moon hike, you would learn about the pink moon,
a pink moon, a pink moon, and that's coming up
on the eleventh. So you come, you get a guided hike,
you learn about the different moon phases and once again
(08:37):
the pink moon. It's a different moon every month, of course,
and you can also enjoy a seasonal snack on us.
So come out, I can eat you. Bet you can
have a snack on us. So those are a lot
of fun. In fact, they've been so much fun that
(08:58):
we have increased our participation numbers, you know, in the
busy months, So we've opened up some spots.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So I need to get in on one of those.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
I mean to get in on one of those.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, that's that's gonna be awesome. And you can see
these events. You got a full calendar here. I'm also
seeing a spring wildflower hike. So what's that look like.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Well, i'll tell you. We're doing that on April thirteenth,
from two to three thirty. When you come out to
the forest, you know, of course in the summer you
see the butterflies, you see the really big things. But
in the spring sometimes you really have to look and
you have to know where to look. But spring is
all just really all around us. We have lots of
(09:44):
beautiful wildflowers, spring, Beauty's blood root, Dutchman's breeches. Oh, if
you've never seen those little upside down pants, that are
kind of fun to see. So that is a family thing.
But the other thing I really want to mention is
we have a Raptor Trivia coming up at that Cross
(10:07):
Train Brewery in La Vista at their La Vista location
six thirty to eight thirty, coming up on April fifteenth,
and we partner with sci Fest and cross Train on
this promotion. It's a lot of fun trivia nights.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I mean, you can't go wrong with it.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yes, Charian knights are really fun. We will bring some
of course, some live birds. Yes, you get to join
a team and you can put your Raptor Nerd hats on.
Winners in specific categories get different things like t shirts
(10:49):
and passes and in different things like that. But it's
really a lot of fun. It's for families. We do
events with them every year and you know, it's a
family fun program.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Absolutely love that again, Foughtenel Forest dot org. You can
find this entire calendar with all these events on it
and all the information. You guys do such a great
job of updating on this. Before we get out of here,
another couple of things that I just wanted to ask
or inquire because I'm just such a nature person. You
talk about all the people that put this stuff on
and you guys, you need a pass to go in
(11:27):
because you take such great care of this place. This
isn't just kind of like a natural wooded area that
you just kind of pop in and like to walk around.
This is something that is very curated for the most perfect.
Like how do I say this life can exist here
and thrive in a bunch of different ways. So can
(11:48):
you explain what that money goes to? When people are
paying for a pass or an annual pass for.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Correct, when you pay for like a daily admission or
even a membership. We were supporting the really good work
that we do at font Nol Forest, be it you know,
conservation of the land with the prescribed fires that we
are doing, whether it be educating the public you know
in the raptor refuge where we have twenty seven birds,
(12:18):
or if you come to one of our programs, one
of our educational programs and learn about nature specific items.
So you are just supporting the good work that we've
been doing since we were incorporated back in nineteen thirteen. Wow,
nineteen thirteen, that's a long time, or we were put
(12:38):
together before the State of Nebraska had a park service,
so well, yeah, we've been around forever.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Well, and that it just tells you like, who's going
to know better of what is going to be a
great nature experience for anyone From somebody like me who
loves to be out every single chance I get to
somebody who I'm not birdwatched before, maybe this would be
something that would be fun. You guys can take care
of people across the entire spectrum.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
We are accessible to all from you know, the the
newly nerded, I like to say, or you know for
the for the old time burder or nature lover. So
we do, we we accept all, We talk to everybody.
It's it's a good time, it's a good cause and
(13:26):
there's nothing better, especially in today's crazy age, to just
be out in nature and unplugged.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
And you really get to unplug at a place like this.
Denise Lewis is joining us here from Fontanel Forest in
before I let you go, and this is such a
great thing. I want to ask you personally, what's your
favorite thing to do out there? I mean you have
great access and I know you have a job to do,
but what's your favorite thing at Fontel?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
For us, probably to go down we we have some
really neat trails down on the wetlands and I have
been known to lay on my belly on a bridge
that it goes over a stream and watch invertebrates, so.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You can see them from the bridge.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
You can see them from the bridge, probably a couple
of feet away. And yes, and that's it's not very ladylike.
I don't really care. I like that. And that butterflies, oh,
just yeah, those and water boatmen and little minnows and
things that survive in a stream. So yes, once again,
(14:29):
we welcome all.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, Denise, I thank you so much for coming in
and talking with me about this. I can't wait to
go out there and check out some of these programs
for myself and hopefully we send some people your way
today and this week, in which it should be beautiful. Thank
you so much for giving us this information.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
All right, thank you for having me memory.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
More info at Fontanelleforest dot org about everything that's happening
there and follow them on social media. You can see
Spiked the little owl and all the fun adventures that
he's on, as well as everything else that's happening at
Fontanelle Forest
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