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Call her the "otter whisperer." Victoria Marr, senior farm curator at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center, has a special fondness for the creatures she calls "the clowns of the animal kingdom."
"Everything they do, whether it's eating, swimming or exploring, they make it a game," she says of the Nature Center's resident otter pair, Edie and Bert. "In the winter, when the pond is partially frozen, Edie will break the ice under Bert, causing him to fall in the water! Then they slide on the ice. You can't help smiling whenever you see them."
As leader of the centers "Otterly Amazing" education program, Victoria gets to introduce kids to the animals' silly antics. Teaching is one of her favorite parts of the job, she says. A native of Monroe who now lives in Stamford, she earned her BS in Animal Science and Technology from the University of Rhode Island and spent four years working at an animal adoption center after graduating.
"I was looking for a change and the opportunity to do more teaching," she says. The center offered Victoria just that. "I've been here for almost three years, and although I never pictured myself working with livestock, it's been very rewarding and fun!"
Interestingly, Victoria's favorite farm animal story doesn't involve otters.
"I got a call at midnight saying the cows got out of their enclosure and were trashing the Organic Garden. Our cows do manage to escape on occasion and will usually head back in when they see us. So as I drive onto the farm in my PJs, I see both Maggie and Petunia napping in the garden, quite happily. Although they had knocked stakes and a tent over, no real damage was done to the plants, except for the extra 'fertilizer.' "
Victoria was able to lead both cows to an empty field, where the rest of the night passed uneventfully. But in the light of day, it became clear that the Organic Garden had been the last stop on a veritable bovine rampage.
"They had literally visited every inch of the farm!" says Victoria.
Let's just say that Victoria didn't need to do any "fertilizing" on the farm for awhile. To find out more about the "Otterly Amazing" program, click here.
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