Wildlife and nature conservation and education videos for the entire family.

NOTICE: PLEASE READ!! The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Australia's Cape York Peninsula is under threat for strip mining! The mining company plans to mine for a period of 10 years. The reserve is home to many endangered species, irreplaceable waterways and is a living tribute to Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin. Please sign the petition to prevent this mining from happening on the reserve, get everyone you know to sign.
http://www.savestevesplace.com
And always rember... CROCS RULE!
please copy and paste to your channel.

My name is Steve O'Neil and I am here to bring nature and wildlife to your computer screen. Through my videos I will attempt to teach you a bit about the natural world that is my passion and so important to us all.

Although my primary focus will be my passion of over 35 years--reptiles--I will also report on anything and everything that I find interesting and important and of possible interest and use to you, my viewers. I am a simply a naturalist, environmentalist and geeky citizen scientist who wants to bring the world of nature and the message of wildlife and nature conservation and environmental education to caring folks who will listen and hopefully care enough to try and make a difference as I try to do.

I am employed as an Outdoor Educator and Naturalist at Earthshine Mountain Lodge in Lake Toxaway, NC. What is Earthshine? Well, call it a rustic mountain retreat sitting on top of a beautiful ridge in the middle of a huge forest where you can hike for hours enjoying the wonder and beauty of nature or you can just sit on the deck and admire the view while sipping your favorite beverage and reading a good book. Later follow the sound of the dinner bell to a "country gourmet" meal followed by a campfire and stories or music on top of the hill. Or...bring your entire school or corporate group to the mountain for an adventure filled excursion on the Flight through the Treetops zipline, high ropes course or search for lost treasure on Kings Quest but be careful--don't get "Lost in the Wild!" Whatever you call it Earthshine is a wonderful place where you can have a unique vacation like no other.

In 2007 I started an Eastern Box Turtle rescue and rehabilitation facility at the lodge called R & R to care for box turtles that have been injured due to encounters with man, his machines and his domestic animals.
When possible, rehabilitated turtles are released back into the wild at the point of discovery. Some however must remain at the facility due to the severity of their injuries or loss of habitat. These turtles become education animals that are used to educate the public about box turtles and their plight to exist in a human dominated world. In cooperation with The Turtle Connection set up through the University of North Carolina at Greensboro I am conducting an Eastern Box Turtle mark-recapture census study and radio telemetry based habitat use and movement study. For more information on the study and on the turtles that are currently being radio-tracked just check out their playlists or follow this link:

www.geocities.com/thesolorover /Boxtrack

My playlists are divided into several sections:

Turtle Tracks follows my work with the conservation of Eastern Box Turtles.

The Wildlife and Nature Adventures with Steve playlist follows me on some of my adventures in the great outdoors searching for wild critters and wild places.

The Earthshine Lodge playlist has videos about Earthshine.

The Steve Irwin Memorial is just that.

The Music playlist is videos of myself and friends playing music.

The Travel playlist follows some of my travels here and there.

Subscribe so you can receive video updates of the R & R facility, the Turtle Tracks radio telemetry study and more.

NOTE: #1 I do all the research on my topics I am only human so if you see any content errors please let me know and I will fix them asap.
NOTE #2: Say what you will but if you feel that you must use profanity or stupidity in your logs they will not be approved and I will most likely block you:-) This is an educational site, not a chat room.
NOTE #3: If you send me a friend invite I will review your site and if it is free of profanity and questionable material I may choose to add you to my friend list--but I do not usually add friends. If you site has profanity visible on the site I will not add you to my friend list. I do this because children and those interested in genuine educational material visit my site. Although I cannot keep people from exploring other sites on their own I can keep my site free of links to those sites and I will.
NOTE #4: Sometimes you may see errors in the editing of my videos. This is because I occasionally miss them and often leave some in just to show that these are real life videos--I do not have a crew and do all my own shooting and editing. This is as real as it gets so expect a few mistakes and enjoy. Thanks for watching.