This is a guest post by Gretchen Hannes, the Editorial and Online Production Associate for National Wildlife Federation’s Your Big Backyard and Wild Animal Babymagazines.
“Oh yuck, it’s a skunk,” said the carriage driver in Colonial Williamsburg as I handed him my Sammy stuffed animal. He had obviously never “met” Sammy, the Wild Animal Baby Explorer, before.
Sammy is featured in both Wild Animal Baby magazine and on the Wild Animal Baby Explorers TV show, so I’m not sure why the driver in colonial garb didn’t recognize him. I guess he was a little behind the times.
I was giving the driver my cute Sammy plushie so I could snap a picture of the two of them for Wild Animal Baby’s “Where’s Sammy?” project. I had gone to Williamsburg for the weekend to catch up with friends from college and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring my favorite skunk along.
We had a blast showing Sammy around the historic area—dressing him up in a doll-sized tri-cornered hat, sitting him on Thomas Jefferson’s bronze lap, and posing with him in front of the Governor’s Palace. The only shot we didn’t get was Sammy in the stocks…not sure how we missed that photo op!
If you want to get in on the fun, bring Sammy with you on your next adventure!
You can download a “Flat Sammy” here, or if you really want to step it up, you can buy a plush Sammy from NWF’s catalog. Then, post your photos on the Wild Animal Baby Facebook page so everyone can see what Sammy’s been up to.
The “Where’s Sammy” project gives you a great reason to get outside, explore a new place, or go on a family outing. We want to see what crazy shenanigans you and Sammy can get into! Everything is more fun when that little skunk is around, as I (and the carriage driver) can attest to.
To recap:
1. Download “Flat Sammy” or buy a plush Sammy. 2. Take Sammy on an adventure and snap some photos. 3. Post your photos on Facebook.
Have fun!
Photos by Gretchen Hannes
