Jeff Musial of Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics will perform at Roger Tory Peterson’s Wild America Nature Festival on July 28 and 29 at Panama Rocks.

Roger Tory Peterson’s Wild America Nature Festival, to be held July 28 and 29 at Panama Rocks, was created to help strengthen the emotional connection to the natural world and to facilitate understanding and respect for the many fascinating creatures with which we share our planet.

At a time when ever fewer people are spending time immersed in nature, it is more important than ever to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to nature. One of the best ways to do this is to meet wild animals.

One of this year’s featured presenters is nationally renowned animal expert and handler Jeff Musial. Over the past decade, Musial has been making a name for himself in the world of wild animals — from running his nationally recognized animal sanctuary to making many television appearances on CBS’ “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet,” NBC’s “Today Show,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.”

Musial’s vast knowledge of exotic animals, worldwide, coupled with his comedic styling and endearing personality have made him a force when it comes to educating people of all ages about the many different animal species that inhabit the world.

Since childhood, Musial has surrounded himself with animals.

“When I was a kid I just loved animals,” he said. “I was a zookeeper for Halloween from the time I was two until I was probably a senior in high school. That was my go-to: I’m a zookeeper Halloween costume. But anyways, I just loved animals. I wanted to make a career out of it, and I wanted to teach people about how cool animals were. As a kid I had a science teacher that had a room with like turtles and snakes and fish in it. Hamsters and gerbils, and that was like my heaven. I didn’t want to leave. I just wanted to learn about it all day and sleep over there even. When I got older I was like, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna be a science teacher with a room of animals. Or maybe I’ll be a zookeeper.”

What started with catching garter snakes and frogs in the backyard quickly transitioned to working in a pet shop, studying zoology in college and ultimately, launching his own animal sanctuary, Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics in 1999.

Through Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics, Musial has not only rescued thousands of rare and exotic animals but he’s been captivating audiences of all ages with his unique blend of education and entertainment. With his comedic style, Musial, along with his animal ambassadors, is quickly becoming a foremost national figure when it comes to animal education. He uses the term “edutainment” to describe his unique approach to teaching people about wild animals.

Musial feels that nowadays everyone is in sort of a technological coma always staring at screens. He wants to bring the animals that people see on Google or on nature shows right in front of their faces. As he puts it: “You see something, you fall in love with that something, you want to share that something or help that something, and that’s how it all comes full circle.”

In addition to Musial’s entertaining animal show, the Wild America Nature Festival will include rehabilitated and free-flying birds with Sky Hunters and Wild Spirit Education, and live animal displays with the Jamestown Audubon Sanctuary.