{"id":933,"date":"2016-03-03T18:49:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T18:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=933"},"modified":"2016-03-07T12:09:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T12:09:34","slug":"nature-preserved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/03\/03\/nature-preserved\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature preserved"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We got into the truck a little after 9:00am&#8230;thats really good for us!! \u00a0And it was a good thing because we spent the WHOLE day at Ellie Schiller Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Springs. \u00a0The rangers here clearly love their jobs. \u00a0Several times throughout the day they have programs where a ranger speaks about the animals. \u00a0They were entertaining, educational and really left you fascinated by an animal that just moments before you thought to be ordinary. \u00a0Other than the hippo, all the animals here are native to the area. \u00a0And unlike a zoo, the animals here have been rescued from injury or other circumstance.<br \/>\n<a title=\"We loved this presentation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/24898507923\/in\/album-72157663155503503\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1513\/24898507923_7d31875ea3_n.jpg\" alt=\"We loved this presentation\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I am not a bird guy&#8230;I don&#8217;t bird watch&#8230;and I can only identify a few common birds. \u00a0But the birds here really intrigued me&#8230;especially the water birds: flamingos, spoon bills, pelicans, herons, egrets, ibises (is that what you call more than one ibis?) and probably some others. \u00a0Pelicans remind me of pterodactyls&#8230;.they look prehistoric. \u00a0This one had a nest with a couple of eggs that it was working so hard to adjust twigs and feathers for&#8230;it was sweet but it was awkward looking labor. \u00a0A mama pelican fed its baby (that was seriously the same size as mom) by opening up its beak and that throat pouch and, no crap, the baby stuck its head ALL THE WAY IN mama&#8217;s mouth to get the little fish. \u00a0Come on&#8230;if you can do that surely you can stick your head under water to get a fish can&#8217;t you?<\/p>\n<p>This was a really fun day at a very nicely done park. \u00a0Again the people working at the park obviously love what they do and it shows in many ways!<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157663155503503_2254\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1442\/25432462441_200ea8d79a.jpg\" title=\"Boat ride\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Boat ride<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1517\/24894685884_2df2807ae9.jpg\" title=\"Me and Brie\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Me and Brie<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1580\/25235085570_2f6d1bcd35.jpg\" title=\"Happy sailors\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Happy sailors<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1531\/25157680779_55dd7a371f.jpg\" title=\"Its a gator!\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Its a gator!<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1474\/24900174714_3f963537ab.jpg\" title=\"Cute kids and cute opossum\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Cute kids and cute opossum<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1687\/24898509153_cc5e8d004c.jpg\" title=\"Opposum lecture\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Opposum lecture<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1491\/25499089886_1677603043.jpg\" title=\"He is sorta cute\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>He is sorta cute<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1513\/24898507923_7d31875ea3.jpg\" title=\"We loved this presentation\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>We loved this presentation<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1664\/25157676119_5b2db1cb0a.jpg\" title=\"Gator presentation\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gator presentation<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1505\/25163162209_87bb7e95f6.jpg\" title=\"What the?\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>What the?<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1489\/25432454361_189ff2b85c.jpg\" title=\"Manatees\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Manatees<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1675\/25499084076_ef51b7e267.jpg\" title=\"Photo bomb\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Photo bomb<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1553\/25157669389_9360beeaa3.jpg\" title=\"Reptile house\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Reptile house<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1637\/25229593920_736ee37d71.jpg\" title=\"Gator\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gator<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1702\/24894672834_46b591e548.jpg\" title=\"Rubbings\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Rubbings<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1690\/24898500933_15a6a30a26.jpg\" title=\"Rub rub rub\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Rub rub rub<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1470\/25157668529_2c43d5d23b.jpg\" title=\"My girls!\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>My girls!<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1674\/24898500683_599c3bd891.jpg\" title=\"Watching the birds\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Watching the birds<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1718\/25525210455_ec234a22a4.jpg\" title=\"Falcon\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Falcon<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1676\/25157524059_f4e5f8b01c.jpg\" title=\"Bald eagle\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Bald eagle<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1470\/24898356183_1ab237aaec.jpg\" title=\"Checking out the eagles\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Checking out the eagles<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1485\/25498933296_ac9da78975.jpg\" title=\"Gross!!\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Gross!!<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1518\/25432293221_42129688e4.jpg\" title=\"Lu the hippo\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Lu the hippo<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1637\/24894515544_fc9952f3e8.jpg\" title=\"Watching Lu eat\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Watching Lu eat<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1610\/24900174464_bca6dc7147.jpg\" title=\"Huck the volunteer\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Huck the volunteer<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1522\/24900174154_9ffcb3bfb9.jpg\" title=\"Brie and a manatee\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Brie and a manatee<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1568\/25163161499_5ab94b03ab.jpg\" title=\"Pelican with eggs\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Pelican with eggs<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1554\/25595336360_644f106e6e.jpg\" title=\"IMG_20160303_130555727\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>IMG_20160303_130555727<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1584\/25895892625_541b8f6940.jpg\" title=\"IMG_20160303_131429008\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>IMG_20160303_131429008<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1492\/25267163833_cab8b77ddb.jpg\" title=\"IMG_20160303_131611286\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>IMG_20160303_131611286<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157663155503503_2254\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":3000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We got into the truck a little after 9:00am&#8230;thats really good for us!! \u00a0And it was a good thing because we spent the WHOLE day at Ellie Schiller Wildlife State Park in Homosassa Springs. \u00a0The rangers here clearly love their jobs. \u00a0Several times throughout the day they have programs where a ranger speaks about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[13,15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933\/revisions\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}