When wild animals become family: Thumbelina the squirrel and Walnut the crane

Audacious with Chion Wolf

Would you leave your family, friends, home, and job to move over a thousand miles away to take care of a pet squirrel? Meet two people who did just that for 8 year-old Thumbelina.

Then, meet a birdkeeper at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute who was chosen by an endangered crane to be her life partner for almost 20 years.

Suggested episodes:

• Wings, pouches, and snouts: The world of uncommon emotional support animals
• Birdwatching legend Peter Kaestner's journey to 10,000 birds
• Audacious kids: Stories of courage, conservation, and compassion

GUESTS:

• Christina and Michael Reyes: The human parents of Thumbelina, an eight-year-old squirrel who has more than two million followers on social media
• Chris Crowe: Birdkeeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s campus in Front Royal, Virginia, and caretaker of Walnut, an endangered white-naped crane from 2004 until her death in January 2024

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Chapters

1. When wild animals become family: Thumbelina the squirrel and Walnut the crane (00:00:00)

2. Marker 01 (00:14:00)

3. Marker 02 (00:28:10)