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VIC the crane flies off on a mission of his own
By BARBARA BEHRENDT, Times Staff Writer CRYSTAL RIVER -- VIC has already logged an impressive 1,200 flying miles tagging along with ultralight pilot Joe Duff of Operation Migration. But unlike the real whooping cranes the program led to Chassahowitzka earlier this month, this Very Important Crane's journey has just begun. VIC, a stuffed whooping crane toy with a backpack full of educational fliers, got a new temporary home Thursday. It will reside with the staff and students of the Academy of Environmental Science. Their job is to learn VIC's critical message about the importance of protecting endangered creatures and their habitat and then pass that message -- and VIC -- along. Organizers of the educational project hope that the first few stops on VIC's epic journey will be in classrooms around Citrus County. This area, after all, has the distinction of being the home of the first flock of reintroduced migratory whooping cranes. But after that, they say the sky is the limit on where they want the "sentinel crane" to travel. VIC was handed off from the Operation Migration team to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service volunteer Pat Casselberry after the real cranes arrived safely at their new winter home. Casselberry and her husband, Jack, are Audubon Society members and helped with last year's pilot migration of a flock of sandhill cranes into the area. Casselberry said that local U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials are hoping that VIC is passed around Citrus schools for awhile, further emphasizing the unique gift the area received when it was chosen to be the winter home for the rare whooping cranes. "We're hoping they take this and build an awareness of our fortunate circumstances here," she said. "We're so grateful to have Chassahowitzka as the final home for these guys." Already, VIC has been on a side trip. The toy went with Casselberry when she went to visit her daughter, who is studying psychology at Princeton University. Casselberry said VIC was introduced to a faculty member, Sam Glucksberg, a psychology professor who has been talking about the whooping crane project with his classes. "I was just e-mailing Operation Migration on VIC's behalf noting that he's been boning up on psychology before undertaking this mission," Casselberry said. "He's getting spoiled with all this airplane flying." Casselberry said the hope is that VIC can be an ambassador of sorts passed from person to person until it reaches people all over the country and even around the world. "Their mission will be to pass him on as a sentinel of the flock, passing on the story of the whooping crane migration and Operation Migration," Casselberry said. Lisa Merritt, the teacher who directs the academy, said the school is excited about being the first official group to participate in the program. "We're the starting point since the cranes are here," she said. "Our job is going to be to pass this along . . . kind of like the Olympic torch," she said. After receiving the crane on Thursday, students decided the bird needed a holiday vacation and they promptly decided to send him with academy science teacher Kristen Russell to Costa Rica to an education center the academy hopes to develop a relationship with. When the crane returns in January, the academy will then send him to his next location -- the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The school and those which receive a visit from VIC in the future will be asked to send photos and e-mails back to Operation Migration so they can keep the public informed of the stuffed bird's travels in the future. "We're hoping that he can travel the world," said Heather Ray, administrative director for Operation Migration. "They can choose to send him on with anyone, anywhere they like." Casselberry noted that handing off the crane was difficult to do. "It's hard to pass it on, but that's his mission. He's got to keep migrating," she said. "I'm like a mother hen and I'm going to miss him . . . I'll just have to keep up with where he goes."
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