star eco station

I can't believe I forgot to write about our trip to the STAR Eco Station back in May! Actually, I'm pretty sure I did write an entry on it, but Blogger lost my draft and I was too frustrated to rewrite it. The time has finally come to recap it, though.

Unsurprisingly, our trip to the Star Eco Station was once again prompted by a Groupon deal. When I read up on it, I was surprised to find out that the Station is a wildlife rescue organization based in Culver City (just ~10 miles southwest of us). My first thought was, "I can't believe an exotic animal rescue can function in the middle of a big city!" and then I became immediately skeptical. It seemed like the whole thing was really geared toward kids, but I decided to buy the tickets anyway. Whether we enjoyed it or not, the money would go to a good cause. I also guessed it would make for great photo ops.

Although I'm pretty sure N and I were the only childless people in our tour, it was still worth it. The Station was a surprisingly robust organization with a good number of animals in it--huge boa constrictors, alligators, exotic birds, and even wild cats. They take in a lot of animals that are illegally smuggled through LAX and stopped by the US Fish and Wildlife service. They can't be sent back to their home countries since they have American "germs" on them already, but they're also illegal to own in the US. Those animals are given to rescues like the Star Eco Station.

The Station also receives animals from people who can't take care of their animals anymore, and they occasionally find them in boxes left on their doorstep in the mornings. At the end of the tour, we found out that they also adopt out some of these animals (since they are legal to own, of course). N has a soft spot for reptiles, and I've never owned one but have always wanted to, so we put our names down on a wait list for an iguana or small tortoise. If one ever comes up, we'd definitely take it!

And now for some photos!