Dr. Scott Sims—a veterinarian based on Kauai who travels across all the Hawaiian islands, treating a huge array of animals, often piloting his own plane to reach these clients, and is at the center of “Aloha Vet,” a new TV series on the Nat Geo Wild network—recounts what attracted him so potently to Kauai that he closed his Marin County practice, packed up and moved to the island.
He discusses how his new, Kauai-based practice took off immediately, in part because his 
background as an equine vet (when there wasn’t another in the area) made his services seriously sought after. Noting that he received his pilot’s license upon graduating from high school, Dr. Sims also explains how he began incorporating the flying of his plane into the practice while living in Northern California, as a way to expand, geographically, the number of animals he could treat, which has proven to be an even more defining trait of how Sims functions now. Indeed, in the initial episode of “Aloha Vet,” Dr. Sims–dubbed “The Barefoot Vet”–is shown looking after critters on Kauai, Molokai, Oahu and Maui. Not unrelated to the vast ground he covers by plane, Dr. Sims acknowledges that it’s not uncommon for him to see a wide (and wild) variety of species—on that debut episode, he treated a guinea pig, a horse, a dog, a pot-bellied pig (named Pablo Pigcasso), a goat, another dog, some rescue birds, and a deer. He also describes the steps that led to the creation of “Aloha Vet,” and what he hopes viewers take away from watching episodes of the show. (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/aloha-vet/)
COMEDY CORNER: Richard Jeni’s “Fred Robster” (www.richardjeni.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Lisa Mills’ version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” (http://lisamills.com), Booker T.’s version of Tom Waits’ “Get Behind The Mule,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: My Morning Jacket’s cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”
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