This Week at Liberty
October 21, 2025
Hoots, Howls, and Hollers
Megan Mosby
Executive Director
Buy Tickets, Have Fun, and Help Animals
Someone asked me the other day why they should come to Wishes for Wildlife. They emphasized the notion that they really weren’t much of a “party” person. What would be a good reason for them to stretch their ‘comfort’ zone.
Easy answer. This is a fund raiser in support of Liberty Wildlife’s mission….to nurture the nature of Arizona. And, beyond that, it will be fun. Here are just a few reasons to bite the bullet and buy a ticket:
- The proceeds go to buying the medications and items needed to bring an unhealthy, injured, or orphaned animal out of its suffering and hopefully into full recovery and release.
- Education Ambassadors need their best life supported, too. They have traded in a life in the wild (grounded through no fault of their own) and assumed the role as chief educator for the public in our orb.
- All these mouths need to be fed quality food….year ‘round.
- Your ticket purchase and donations allow us to keep a mega qualified staff to care for these animals in the way they should and deserve to be cared for.
- Proceeds allow us to provide a space for you to visit, to find your calm, and to reconnect with the natural world.
- Your help allows us to remain the “go to” place for advice and assistance for wildlife caretakers across the country.
- Funding is utilized to send protected feathers to Native Americans across the country.
- Your donations to this fund raiser allow us to be the place where you can come in curious and leave inspired.
As for the fun part, here’s what will be happening, and there is something for everyone. If you are a member not only do you get 10% off of your ticket or table, you also get to attend the pre-party where you will listen to the music of Ashley Creighton, experience the up close and personal introduction to the new mammals on display, be at the ribbon cutting for the new enclosures, see the auction before the crowds, enjoy passed hors d’oeuvres, meet personally with our honoree, Dr. Brooke Bessesen, get a head start on telescopic observations of the night time constellations, be the first on the education trail, beat the crowd to visit the Non-Eagle Feather Repository and enjoy the beauties of Liberty Wildlife’s campus. You will also get your pick of the goodie bags to go…
So, for one of many, many good reasons, now….right this minute….is the time for you, your friends and family to follow this link and support the mission of Liberty Wildlife. Help us care for your wildlife neighbors when they need it. Support our education programs to satisfy your curious mind, and leave inspired. That is enough to motivate you to join us…right?
And thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors for this event: SRP, Rob Walton Foundation, Weese Foundation of Arizona, Freeport McMoRan, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, ARC Document Solutions, and Canción Tequila.
This Week @ Liberty
The intake total for the year is now up to 8700.
It’s here…the holidays (well, sort of). Halloween is next Friday, and after that, we’re in for the last of 2025. We’ve just hit 8700 intakes, and we’re taking bets on what that number will be as we end the year. Of course, that also means our new mammals enclosures (which are done!) are ready to be revealed with our mammal ambassadors inside. And if you’ve been with us for any length of time, you’ll know that this year, our annual silent-auction Wishes for Wildlife, aptly themed, Mammals in the Moonlight, is set to be a huge night for us. You’re definitely not going to want to miss this one!
Make sure to grab your tickets for this 21+ event on Saturday, November 1st starting at 5:30pm! (Members have a pre-reception starting at 4:30!). Get tickets here!
By: Acacia Parker | Public Outreach Coordinator
An Unexpected Guest
At Liberty Wildlife, there are the usual guests; pigeons, doves (of all kinds), sparrows, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls…you get the picture. But there are some occasions where the unexpected happens and we get, you guessed it, an unexpected guest. Sometimes it’s a snake (long-nosed snakes are some of my favorites and we might get in a few a year), or a male cardinal (gosh how bright red they are!), but I have to say, this one topped it for the year. Here are a few fun facts about this little dude for you to guess who it might be:
- This cute little guy only gets to about three inches in size, and dons black/brown spots on a yellowish/greenish, smooth-skinned complexion. The belly is white and has no markings
- It has a “spade” on each hind foot that is dark in color
- The pupils are vertical
- They range from southeastern California, through Arizona, southern New Mexico and into some parts of Texas and prefer sandy, well-drained soils that inhabit mesquite trees and/or creosote bushes. They also do well in grasslands, prairies, and along desert highways (the key to this part is that it’s during thunderstorms)
- They tend to remain dormant most of the year until big rains/storms hit; it’s not the water that awakens them, however, it’s the low frequency and vibration of the rainfall!
- The spade on their feet is a tool to help bury themselves in the soil they prefer to hide in; when they do wake, they eat as much as they can in a short span of time before finding a good hiding spot once again
- They have a skin secretion that can cause allergic reactions in some; if found, it’s best not to handle directly (both for your and the animal’s safety)
Have you guessed who our unexpected friend is?! If you guessed a spadefoot toad, you’d be right! This newest intake was brought in after being found in a pool. After assessment and monitoring, release was decided as the best course of action. This adorable little amphibian is now free to hide in our wetlands…so make sure to keep an eye out after the rains because you might just see his cute little face!
PS: want to know one of the best ways to tell the difference between a frog and a toad? Frogs are smooth and moist with a slimy feel, where-as toads are dry and bumpy; frogs also have long, powerful hind legs (for leaping and swimming), where toads have shorter hind legs for walking, hopping and crawling!
Notable Mentions
You made it! As always, thanks for reading and hanging with us week in and week out. We appreciate you! Make sure to stop by public hours on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 10am-1pm to check out all your favorite animal ambassadors, and say hi to all our amazing volunteers.
Without further ado, here are this week’s notable mentions:
- another rare visitor, an American bittern, comes in with a broken right wrist (1 picture)
- hey there! A family of Harris’s hawks hangs on a light pole (with what appears to be dinner) in my neighborhood (1 picture)
- Volunteer Tim hangs with bald eagle ambassador Cochise to talk to the public about this amazing raptor
- Big things are happening at Liberty Wildlife! (2 pictures)
Thanks again for hanging with us. Hopefully we’ll get to see you in a few short weeks at Wishes for Wildlife!
Until next time!
More Posts from Liberty Wildlife
October 7, 2025
Amazingly and all of the sudden, we are just weeks away from our biggest fundraising dinner event of the year, Wishes for Wildlife.
December 31, 2024
Well, it’s official. 2024 is coming to an end, and it appears we’ve pushed well in to the 10,000+ intake range (the super official number will be given in the next blog, since we’re still taking in animals for the remainder of the day).
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