(dynamic music) - Growing up for me, what it was, was I always spent a lot of time with my older brother.

And while he'd be fishing I would be on the shoreline studying, and searching, and just looking for wildlife.

I'm so lucky to work with a variety of animals.

And just talking about 'em I get excited.

It really fires me up, because you know what?

When there's wildlife that's in danger I get to go help 'em.

And that's what makes me feel great about it.

Sometimes it's a rattlesnake that needs to be cleared from a trail because there's guys working on the side of the road and you don't want them to get hurt.

So it gives me the opportunity to go in there, save the snake, help the guys, and it's a great day.

Sometimes it's a skunk, sometimes it's a goose that might have an injured leg.

We're gonna get you back to your family.

No, you're good.

Okay.

I get in there.

I gotta save that goose 'cause it means the world to me, 'cause I want that goose to live, you know?

Put that foot down, there ya go.

Oh, you didn't do that before, did ya?

(goose hissing) I know.

Human safety is always the number one most important thing.

And it's then, when the safety measures are in place, we can go and save wildlife, and make a difference together.

There's other times it's a woodchuck that's in a spot it shouldn't be in.

So I gotta go in and do a hand capture, and get him out of there before he gets hurt.

Other times there's an owl, baby owls, that might be getting a little too close to coyotes or fox.

So I gotta get 'em out of the way, so they don't end up getting eaten for dinner.

But there's really been a wide variety of animals.

There's been deer in wells.

It's always an adventure.

(upbeat music) Several years ago, when I was young kid, I just started to take a fascination to wildlife.

And I'd always come across wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets that were scavenging for food.

Sometimes I'd get too close and I didn't really understand them.

You hear people talking about, oh don't go near the nest, don't go near the nest.

You're gonna get stung.

And growing up, a lot of times what happened was I got a little too close to the nest, and there were times I got stung.

'Cause I didn't know what they were doing.

What was their purpose?

I didn't know any of that.

As time went on, I started studying them, watching them.

Well, for me, it gets, as soon as I see a nest, I get really excited 'cause you know what?

They're amazing creatures and they're so misunderstood.

Believe it or not, I bet you didn't know it, but they're just as important as the honeybee.

And they're really amazing because they're out pollinating, not as much as a honeybee, but they're still contributing to wildlife, to helping the world out, to making a difference in our environment.

Without them we'd be in big trouble, we really would be.

'Cause they're so important.

Well, what happens with me is, if it's a ground nest, I'll end up going, after I assess the situation.

Because from a structural point, you gotta think of it this way.

All you're seeing is a hole on the surface and there's a big, it could be, depending how old the nest is, it could be a big nest right on the ground.

It could be huge.

It could be thousands of yellow jackets.

And it's really cool because what happens is, after I assess the situation, it's time to go to work.

And I, in a case like that with a ground nest, I have a vacuum that I created.

It's a vacuum for gently pulling them out of the nest.

And as they're flying out I'm sucking them into the vacuum.

So it doesn't hurt them at all or anything.

Now the sad part about it is a lot of people just go and destroy them.

And the reason why they do is 'cause they might not have enough knowledge about them.

I gotta tell you something really important.

We're only here for so long, and you know what?

This is our chance.

We can make a positive difference for the environment.

Just like us, they all wanna live.

This is our chance to make a difference.

And we're all in it together.

So let's make a positive difference for the environment, and save wildlife, and the territories they roam.

(upbeat music)