About Us
Our Founder
Miranda has a degree in Animal Science and over a decade of experience facilitating educational interactions between wildlife and children. All Wayward Wildlife programs are facilitated by Miranda. This ensures safety protocols are followed, an experienced educator is present to answer questions, and the animals are monitored properly.
Miranda grew up on a farm, where she learned to bottle feed orphaned farm animals from a young age. She was horseback riding before she could walk, and she slept with a dog in her crib. Her first job was at a children's museum where she had the opportunity to care for owls, exotic mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates. While she was working on her degree, she started and ran an animal program for a parks and recreation department. She has also interned at state parks and under various biologists. She loves teaching and specializes in animal shows, classroom visits, summer camps, and preschool. When she's not caring for her animals, Miranda enjoys exploring nature and swimming with sharks!
Choose Us
There are many companies that will bring wild animals to your home or business. Unfortunately, proper training and education are not required to operate these businesses. These companies prey upon families that love animals, and those same families would be extremely disappointed if they knew the stress the animals endured to participate in the program. The problems go beyond the stress of exposure, including: improper nutrition, inadequate housing, and unethical breeding practices.
For example, there are local Texas businesses that breed lemurs for the public to feed, hold, and cuddle with. Meeting a lemur is a magical experience, and those memories may last a lifetime. What the public doesn’t know is that once a lemur reaches maturity, they become extremely territorial and dangerous. This means that the lemurs are constantly being bred to produce baby lemurs for daily interactions with the public. What happens to the adult lemurs? Where do they go? Can the organization afford to keep feeding all the adult lemurs that can’t be “used” anymore? Petting zoos and photo ops don’t ignite a passion for learning or conservation.
The best wildlife ambassadors are domesticated animals and imprinted wildlife. They are not stressed from handling, and they even enjoy the experience. Their behaviors can be more easily trained, conditioned, and anticipated. They can continue to be ambassadors for wildlife for the duration of their lives, rather than just in their adolescence. This ensures not only the safety and wellbeing of the animals, but all the human participants as well.