How to: have a wildlife experience close to home

 Good morning!

I’m an animal person. I make absolutely no effort to hide this. One of my ultimate bucket list items is to do a voluntourism trip to work with sea turtles, but more on that another day.

I fell like most of us love animals and so there are a lot of ways to have personal experiences with wildlife without needing to go on a photo safari in another

1. Zoos and Aquariums- most places have interactions as part of your ticket, but you can also book VIP experiences as well to get ‘closer to the action’. My only watch out is to ensure that the facility is AZA accredited so that there is accountability for the individuals there to have healthy and full lives on top of being ambassadors for their species.

2. Rehabilitation Facilities- a lot of local rehabilitation facilities for local wildlife do animal encounters as a way to keep their doors open. They’ll even come to you for events if you schedule ahead.

3. Pollinator Garden and Bird Feeders- setting up your home to be hospitable to local wildlife is a great way to see them from the comfort of your own home, you could even join some Citizen Science projects for data collection if you live in the right areas of the country.

4. Morning Walks- it’s amazing how many animals you’ll see just walking before most people get up. There’s a magic school bus episode about urban wildlife on Netflix that does a great job explaining this!

That’s all for today!

💛 Jess