NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski with an alligator, from the Today Show’s Instagram page.

In honor of this annual celebration of National Wildlife Federation’s 40-year-old Certified Wildlife Habitat program, I brought some “backyard wildlife” on my Today Show segment this week.  But these animals are definitely NOT the songbirds and butterflies that typically show up in a wildlife-friendly garden.

Instead, I brought species that might surprise you if you spotted them in your garden.  My goal was to let folks know that species other than birds and butterflies need our help and can benefit from wildlife-friendly gardens, and also to point out what to do to avoid conflict with some of these species.

I mean, groundhogs, alligators and beavers aren’t necessarily the most welcome species in the garden.  But two other predators I featured in the segment definitely are species you want around.

Here’s the full segment.  Watch it and then head over to our Garden for Wildlife Month page and certify your garden as wildlife-friendly with NWF!

Click here to view the embedded video.

See more of David’s TV appearances and find out where he’ll be appearing next! 

My monthly appearance on the Today Show fell on Earth Day this year, which was a nice coincidence given that wildlife conservation and protecting the planet were already on everyone’s mind.

Below is the clip of the segment. As always I was there to introduce some wonderful animal ambassadors. You’ll see that some are cute and some beautiful, but as I pointed out to Kathie Lee and Hoda, even the scary or gross-looking animals are still important and worthy of our protection.

In the clip, I mention National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Adoption Program, which you can check out here.  It’s a great way to support NWF’s mission and help wildlife on Earth Day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski introduces Kathie Lee and Hoda to a critically endangered black and white ruffed lemur.

I was on the show to promote the 75th annual National Wildlife Week, and I have to say, I was so impressed by Molly when she was immediately able to identify a pretty obscure animal called a binturong (or “bearcat”) that I brought out for the pre-segment tease.

I asked her how she knew what it was, and she told me that her kids are big animal lovers, and through them she’s learned about a lot of different species. Given that National Wildlife Week is about connecting kids to nature and teaching them about wildlife, I just thought that was the coolest thing ever (and yes, I’ll be sending Molly a package of Ranger Rick and Ranger Rick Jr. magazines for her kids).

Watch the full segment:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Learn how you can celebrate National Wildlife Week and help NWF’s effort to plant 75,000 trees for wildlife >>

Today Show host Hoda Kotb, NWF Naturalist David Mizejewski, and Actress Molly Ringwald

Today, I got to see polar bears. Up close. In the wild. Holy wow!

An inquisitive female polar bear checks me out.

Today was our first day out on the tundra. At this time of year, polar bears are gathering on the shores of the bay, waiting for the sea ice to form so they can go out and hunt seals, their primary source of food.  This makes it one of the best places on the planet to see wild polar bears.

The bears did not disappoint. Within a few minutes of heading out on the Tundra Buggy® we spotted a female bear who wandered over to us and propped herself up on the tire for a closer look.

Shortly after that, we encountered two males sparring, a playful, wrestling behavior that helps males size each other up, reducing the likelihood of bloody and potentially fatal battles later when they’re competing for mates.

Two male polar bears sparring.

Not only that, you’ll also hear from and interact with polar bear expert Andy Deroscher from University of Alberta, snowy owl biologist Denver Holt of the Owl Research Institute, and climate change expert Kassie Siegel of the Center of Biological Diversity.  You really don’t want to miss this.

Get the Tundra Connections webcast schedule here.

A lone polar bear patiently waits for the sea ice to form so it can hunt seals and break its months-long fast. 

I brought along a black and white tegu, a bobcat, a black-tailed prairie dog, a barred owl and a wallaby.  Here’s the full clip.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch more of my TV appearances, find out where I’ll be appearing next and how you can help wildlife.

And as sometimes happens when working with animals, the unpredictable happened.

VIDEO: Watch this video clip of the segment to see what one of the animals did to me.

Kathie Lee and Hoda’s facial expressions during my animal segments are always priceless.

Here are two clips from my appearance on Conan last night.

Enjoy the wildlife (and Conan’s hilarious facial expressions), then click over to my webpage to find out ways to get involved helping wildlife with NWF.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you missed the segment, here it is, broken up into two clips.  Conan as always is hilarious and the animals were awesome.

Which animal is your favorite?   If I had to pick, mine has to be the baby jaguars or the black throated monitor lizard!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Today National Wildlife Federation had our first appearance on the Dr. Oz Show.  

The show theme was “surviving summer” and as NWF Naturalist I joined Dr. Oz’s “Dream Team” to give viewers some tips on enjoying the great outdoors this summer while avoiding getting bitten or stung by some of the insects and other critters that sometimes “bug” us.

Specifically, we talked about bees, wasps, mosquitoes and ticks.  If you missed it, here’s a run-down of what I talked about in the segment.

Keep Perspective
The first thing is to put things in perspective. You have far more to worry about healthwise from constantly cooping your family up indoors and being sedentary, or from spraying toxic chemicals everywhere, than you ever would from the potential of being stung or bitten by insects or ticks.

Remember, these are important animals.  Bees, some wasps and to a degree mosquitoes are important pollinators–two thirds of all the food we eat is the result of  animal pollinators (mostly bees); so no insects means no food.

Photo by Lou Gold via Flickr Creative Commons.

One more bit of perspective: there are over 4,000 bee species in North America (the honey bee is an import from Europe), the majority of which are solitary and don’t sting, and all of which pollinate wild plants that other wildlife rely on for food.

Remember this next time you are tempted to squash or spray a bee when you’re outside.

Avoiding Stings
Now, for the tips on avoiding getting stung by bees and wasps.  It’s literally about just staying out of their way.   The best way to ensure getting stung by a bee or wasp is to swat at it.  These animals don’t want to sting you. Bees die when they sting. If you threaten them, however, they are sure to sting you.  If you leave them along, they won’t.  It’s pretty simple.

Bee and coneflower

Many wasp species are omnivorous and will try to snatch a bite of your food if you’re eating outside, so simply cover your food until it’s time to eat to minimize this.

Avoiding Mosquito Bites
In terms of avoiding mosquito bites, first and foremost you want to eliminate standing stagnant water, where the insects lay their eggs and which they use as a nursery for their aquatic larvae. Some mosquito species can breed in as little as an inch of water, so check your yard thoroughly. Drainage dishes under flower pots, toys and play equipment, debris piles, and the biggie, clogged gutters that hold standing water, should all be thoroughly drained.

Mosquito larvae take five to seven days to complete metamorphosis into winged adults, so empty birdbaths every few days and fill with fresh water (something you should do anyway so the birds have clean water) and if you have a water garden, use a pump to keep the water surface moving and it will minimize any mosquito breeding.

See this guy? He actually doesn't mind global warming all that much. ( flickr | smccann )

If you choose to use repellants, formulas with up to 30% DEET have been shown to be effective, just don’t get it in your eyes or mouth and wash it off when you go indoors.  If you don’t like the idea of chemicals, go for a natural repellant with lemon eucalyptus, which is also effective if you apply it frequently.

Mosquitoes are weak flyers, so use fans if you’re eating outdoors and blow the buggers away.  And never use a bug zapper.  Traditional zappers use light to attract insects, and mosquitoes are attracted primarily by the chemical and moisture trails exuded by  their victims–not light.  Bug zappers typically kill non-target insects.

Avoiding Ticks
Of all the animals featured on the Dr. Oz Show segment, ticks are probably the one you need to worry most about, simply because they can and do transmit diseases such as Lyme and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to people.

The first thing is to avoid these tiny arachnids (ticks aren’t insects but are related to spiders).  If you live a tick-heavy area, avoid walking through tall, grassy vegetation.  Ticks wait at the tops of plant stems and latch on to hosts as they walk by (they don’t drop out of trees).  Wear long sleeves and tuck your pants into your shoes.  Again, DEET-based sprays can be effective repellents.

Most importantly, make it a habit to regular check for ticks after you or your kids have been outside.  Teach your kids to check themselves.  Some species are very tiny so be thorough.

If you find a tick, remove it immediately. NEVER douse it with vaseline or alcohol and don’t try to burn it off.  These methods will kill the tick but also cause it to regurgitate into the open wound, making it more likely to spread disease.

Instead, simply pluck the tick out with tweezers or just your fingers, and then burn it.  Don’t worry if the head breaks off, it won’t burrow further into your flesh or grow a new tick, contrary to urban legend.  Just disinfect the bite and monitor it.  If the bite gets irritated, and especially if a red bulls-eye rash appears, go immediately to a doctor.

Most tick born illnesses are easily treated if they are caught early.

Watch Exclusive Video
Make sure to check out this web-exclusive video called “Don’t Bug Out” that I did for the Dr. Oz Show website to learn about a few other insects and spiders we didn’t have time to talk about on the show.

]]> http://blog.nwf.org/2012/05/nwf-on-dr-oz-shows-dream-team/feed/ 1 http://blog.nwf.org/2012/05/wendy-williams-and-baby-animals/ http://blog.nwf.org/2012/05/wendy-williams-and-baby-animals/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 15:56:56 +0000 David Mizejewski http://blog.nwf.org/?p=55791 Read more >]]> If you’re a fan of Wendy Williams’ syndicated talk show, or saw her on Dancing With the Stars, you know that she’s a larger-than-life personality.  As a regular guest on The Wendy Williams Show, and the first to bring on animal ambassadors, I’m happy to report that Wendy’s love of wildlife is growing.

It’s my goal to get it to match her enthusiasm for wigs and celebrity gossip!

In my latest appearance, I pulled out all the stops and brought some of the cutest, cuddliest baby animals around. In the face of such adorableness, even Wendy’s natural trepidation around wild animals melted away.

And even better, she helped me promote National Wildlife Federation’s Wild Animal Baby Adoption program!

Don’t forgot to adopt a wild animal baby and help support NWF’s work to protect wildlife.