Nature Mystery (2 concerns)

[Jabber123]

Two Questions:

IS Nature's Whispers the same as secret sidestep (from the the Lore Mystery?) Or are they different mechanically (as expressed in the advanced player's guide) i.e. does nature's whisper apply to reflex saving throws or CMD?

And I really believe that the nature mystery should grant handle animal instead of climb or swim. Especially because without handle animal as a class skill there would be no way to handle a "bounded" animal companion provided by the bounded mount revelation.

[Aquabat Flyer]

IMHO, they only difference is that Nature's Whispers doesn't apply to Reflex saves. Well, that and the fact Sidestep Secret is supernatural while Nature's Whispers is an extraordinary ability.

As for the second concern... you can always put some ranks into Handle Animal, and your Charisma should be higher than a druid's or a ranger's, so I don't really see a big problem.

[JuliusUK]

You don't need animal handling. It has Int 6. Spend a point on linguistics and you can tell it what to do.