Aviary at Black Pine

Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

ALBION — “When I first applied to be the executive director of Black Pines, I had no idea what an animal sanctuary even was,” Letrecia Nichols told me as we played peekaboo with a little white fox. “I had a lot to learn! C’mere Marley,” Letrecia coaxed. But Marley stayed in the tunnel.

“You smell that skunky smell?” Letrecia waved me down the path. “Fox musk. People get them for pets when they’re adorable, but they aren’t so fond of the odor once they come of age at 6 months.”

The first thing you’ll notice about Letrecia is her stunning silver hair and classic, professional style. She is a marvelous spokesperson for Black Pine Animal Sanctuary which is located 40 minutes northeast of Warsaw near Albion.

Black Pine accepts exotic animals that have been confiscated by law enforcement or voluntarily surrendered by private owners. They even house three tigers from the famous Tiger King show many of you might have watched on Netflix. Many of the animals at the sanctuary have been abused or abandoned and need special care.

Letrecia checks in with volunteers.

Even though the day is quite warm, Letrecia leaves her air-conditioned office and walks me proudly through Black Pine talking in motherly tones to her animals. She knows all their names and most of their histories.

“Our bear Cinnamon was used to bait hunting dogs,” Letrecia said mournfully. “They tied her to a tree, and the poor thing has a lot of anxiety issues still.” Cinnamon did come into her indoor habitat from the outside after Letrecia’s soft tones persuaded her.

I admired the bear’s enormous bed. “Sure, we make those beds ourselves from old fire hoses. They’re tough enough to stand up to some of our apex predators.”

The sanctuary is small compared to the sizes of other such sanctuaries around the nation, so they often must improvise and create their own solutions. Even though they’re a nonprofit, money is always in short supply as they attempt to care for their animals while educating the public about animal welfare and climate issues impacting animals. They do a fair bit of working with public officials too.

“Last year we helped to pass Indiana House Bill 1248 which prohibits direct contact with tigers, lions, and bears (such as cub petting) and prohibits private ownership without a license since so many of those animals were living in poor conditions.”

Letrecia introduced me to Petronus, classified by the Department of Justice as a liger (a lion mixed with a tiger) which is nearly 15 feet long when he stretches out. I also saw Elvis, a crossed-eyed white tiger. “He’s inbred so much that he can’t see. Bumps into things sometimes. Don’t get too close to the cage. It makes him nervous.”

I asked Letrecia about the care of the animals. “Expensive,” she sighed. “One of my tigers needed five root canals just last week. Some of our animals have conditions like diabetes too. Like Mona Lisa over there.”

Henry the reptile expert.

We passed by an outdoor cage where we saw Mona Lisa, a lion-tailed macaque. She had something in her mouth.

“What’s she carrying?” I asked.

“Got your baby, Lisa?” Letrecia cooed. “Beautiful baby.” She turned to me. “We don’t think she’s ever had her own baby, but she always carries this little stuffed animal around. She was so lonely until we found her a young, abandoned macaque.” She pointed at a rambunctious monkey.

I knew a teenager when I saw one. Leo, a snow macaque, tried to peek between his legs at us shyly. “When Leo came to us, he didn’t even know he was a monkey. He couldn’t even use his own digits (fingers) and he didn’t have much hair. Mona Lisa is teaching him how to be a primate.” Leo snuck up on the older monkey and jumped on her back playfully. “See?” Letrecia smiled. “Now neither of them is lonely anymore.”

“Hello? Hello?” A voice called over the lawn. “Hello?!”

“Some of our residents are shy,” Letrecia nodded at the bird aviary. “But others, like that parrot, love to have visitors. We have a Molluccan Cockatoo, Peaches, who went viral several years ago. They called her the cussing cockatoo. Whoever had her before taught her some very bad language.” She chuckled. “You can find the video on Google.”

I did find it. Here’s another one of Peaches with her trainer which is safe for listening at work. “We get a lot of exotic bird donations,” Letrecia told me. “Birds are like little children. They bond with their owners and need constant care. Some people can’t handle that kind of commitment since many exotic bird species have a life expectancy of 80 to 100 years.”

We stopped to meet Henry, the reptile expert, coming from the reptile house. Henry owns many of his own reptiles and is passionate about them,” Letrecia explained. “Guests love to talk with him because he’s so knowledgeable. We are lucky to have him.” Henry grinned. Letrecia gestured. “Our most famous reptile is Gus the Gator who lived in the bathtub of an IU fraternity.”

Bat habitats.

Letrecia paused to unlock a gate. “We have this here because our hybrid wolf dogs are very nervous. These beauties were within hours of being euthanized by a court in Michigan before they were finally released to us. People like to have the wild look, but you just can’t train wild out of a wild beast, you know. We think they can even climb, so we must keep a roof on their outdoor cage.”

The hybrid wolf dogs were busy playing in a mud puddle and pacing around their cage. They didn’t like the audience. Trish got on her walkie-talkie to have someone check on a detail she had noticed.

“We get over 19,000 visitors a year here,” Letrecia told me after she had finished. “We have an always increasing demand for school field trips. The Purdue Biology Club from Fort Wayne volunteers here too. We feel it is so important to educate the younger generation. If we don’t, who knows what other species might disappear.”

I asked Letrecia about animal diets. “Our on-staff dietician spends eight hours a day prepping all of their meals,” she said. “Each animal has a special diet suited to its very special needs. We go through multiple cases of romaine every week plus all kinds of greens. We go through another 20 dozen eggs a week too. Food costs have risen a lot lately, so we appreciate donations of extra produce from your garden during the summer and fall. You know where you can bring all of those extra zucchini!”

TIPS — The backway to the sanctuary from Warsaw is a lovely drive through the country. If you go, plan 1-2 hours for strolling and visiting the animals. Black Pine is a deal at $17.50 for adults and less for seniors and children. They do take applications for interns every year and are always looking for volunteers to help with animal diet preparation, maintenance, tour guides and animal care. They gratefully accept donations and offer a park membership too.

Know of an interesting place or person which you’d like to see featured behind the scenes someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].

Petronius sneaks up on Letrecia.