East Lyme -- Graduating senior Danny Munch has a few things he needs to accomplish before heading off to the University of Connecticut in the fall.

He'll have to get stuff to make his dorm room feel like home, buy textbooks for his animal science and business courses, and figure out what to do with the four baby ducks and one baby goose that he convinced his parents he needed earlier this year.

"They're for a 4-H project this year. I haven't raised ducks before so I wanted to try raising waterfowl," Munch said. "I wanted to try ducks before I go away to college."

The four waterfowl are only a few of the animals in Munch's collection. In a coop in his backyard, Munch has eight chickens, four pigeons and a pheasant, who recently hatched five eggs. In the basement he has two 55-gallon fish tanks, one full of fresh water fish and the other full of salt water fish. There's also the family dog, a yellow Lab named Koda.

"I had a lot more at one point, but it's been slowly decreasing because I have to get rid of them before college," Munch said of the animals in his collection.

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Munch has been interested in animals since he was a kid. He joined the East Lyme 4-H club around age 7 and has been competing in shows with animals since. He got his first two chickens when he was 8 years old and kept them in the garage. And it grew from there, said his mother Stacey Munch.

"He really took care of them, and then when he was 10, for his tenth birthday, he asked for a chicken coop," said Stacey Munch. "I remember thinking 'who asks for a chicken coop for their tenth birthday?'"

Stacey Munch said Danny -- a middle child with one older and one younger sister -- has always taken responsibility for his animals, and that responsibility is something he brings to all aspects of his life.

"He has a good heart and I think that comes from caring about the animals. It's interesting to see how that responsibility really goes through every aspect of (his) personality," Stacey Munch said. "When he wants to learn about something, he dives into it."

One such interest was falconry. During a vacation to Virginia, the family met a professional falconer who was giving demonstrations with her bird. Munch became captivated by the idea of working with falcons and red-tailed hawks. The following summer, he started the process of become a state-certified falconer.

"I studied a lot because the test is actually really difficult. You have to know all these diseases that the birds can get. You have to know how to train them. You have to know all the different species and all the different laws," said Munch.

He earned the necessary licenses, passed the difficult exam, and is now waiting to find a sponsor -- a certified falconer to help him continue his education -- which are in short supply in the state. Munch said there around only around a dozen certified falconers in Connecticut. Of the ones he knows, he is the youngest.

Munch's love of animals has also allowed him to discover a passion for working with children, something he has been able to do as a volunteer at Mystic Aquarium, and as a speaker at local farms, farmers markets and local elementary schools.

"I really like teaching people about the animals. The little kids love touching them. I like making people happy with my hobbies, and being able to apply what I like to do to community service," Munch said.

Nancy Kalal, adviser to the East Lyme 4-H club, lives down the road from the Munches and has mentored Danny since he joined the club. Kalal said that, as good as Munch is with animals, he is even better with people, and as skilled as he is a showman and trainer, he is more skilled as a teacher.

"He's very kind. He will take any child who wants to learn about chickens and teach them. He takes the time to make sure each child get a little special attention. He is a natural born leader," said Kalal. "He's just one of the lucky kids who found his passion early."

j.hopper@theday.com

Twitter: @JessHoppa