SHORELINES

13 a p c s hor e l i n e s.c om | 2015 Vol :4 If you can walk through a forest and not see the wonder around you, double back and repeat the process in the company of Marianne Hudson. She's your eyes, your ears and the key to unveiling what's around every branchy twist and wooded turn in Russell Forest by Lake Martin. A naturalist, wildlife biologist and licensed falconer, Hudson can also tell you how to keep deer from eating your flowers along the lake and the measures to follow if you find an injured animal. She's the one the Alabama Department of Conservation's game wardens call for help. And the trainer who readies Auburn University's famous eagles to land on the 50-yard-line at the beginning of every home game. Hudson is, indeed, a one-stop-shop of information, discovery, education and expertise. Hers is contagious knowledge that fills you with the urge to get outside. Her own journey started in a city – Baltimore, Maryland – with summers on the Chesapeake Bay. It took some years to find her way to rural Alabama, but given the 12 years of full-time work at the Auburn University-based Southeastern Raptor Center and her part-time naturalist role for 25,000 acres of Russell Lands property on Lake Martin, we can claim Hudson as a state treasure. Opposite: Photo by tony hAll – Marianne Hudson, standing with Nova during an Auburn home game, has trained eagles with the Auburn University-based Southeastern Raptor Center for 12 years. ON W INGS OF Eagles AUBURN'S EAGLE WHISPERER AND RUSSELL L ANDS NATURALIST HAS A PASSION FOR NATURE, AND LOVES SHARING HER LIFE'S CALLING WITH OTHERS. "I BELIEVE MY DIRECTION WAS GUIDED FROM THE START. I HAD OUTDOORSY PARENTS AND FOUR OLDER BROTHERS WHO LOVED TO HUNT. I NEVER HAD A BARBIE. EVER." – M A R I A N N E H U D S O N , R U S S E L L L A N D S N A T U R A L I S T A N D A S S I S T A N T D I R E C T O R O F T H E A U B U R N U N I V E R S I T Y- B A S E D S O U T H E A S T E R N R A P T O R C E N T E R .

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