Animal Sanctuary - Blog Posts

// 14/01/2024//

Finally managed to visit the chicken sanctuary I help from the distance and met Sol again, the first of 3 chickens I saved two years ago <3 she's having some health issues which the woman in charge there told us that were usual in chickens like her, animales that were used to produce eggs for human consume :( but I was happy anyway to be able to see her once again after so much time and I'm grateful that I could do it before anything happens to her. I'm still grateful and happy about the life she's having now since she was rescued and I know she couldn't be in a better place! We also met other chickens and one even jumped in my lap asking for cuddles, it surprised me how many animas she has there (+50 between chickens, baby chicks and roasters) and how different they are between one another.

Took donations to Proyecto Alas ("Project Wings" in Spanish) the chicken sanctuary and was allowed to enter

Took donations to Bastet, the cat shelter

Finished Terraria

Ate with my family and boyfriend (we're 7 months today)

Cooked

Fed and gave insulin to Odie, my dog

Caution: Habitat Improvement Ahead! 

For those of you that know us, you know that the Sawgrass Nature Center and Wildlife Hospital is dedicated to rehabilitating and releasing native Florida wildlife. Or, in other words, nursing in-need wildlife back to health, so that they have a second chance at life in the wild. Sometimes we get animals that cannot be released back into the wild. Whether it’s because they have a permanent injury that keeps them from properly defending themselves in the wild or because they are considered an exotic/invasive species (not naturally from Florida) we legally are not allowed to release it. These animals, instead, are provided a permanent home in our Wildlife Sanctuary.

This brings us to the second part of the SNC’s mission. The animals we provide permanent sanctuary to become educational ambassadors for their species. Their role is to provide the public with education on why their species is important and what their species niche (job) is in the environment.

In order to make sure we are giving our permanent residents the best care possible, we need to make sure they have the best habitats possible. For a non-profit that runs almost entirely on donations, this can sometimes be hard to do. This year though, thanks to an incredible grant opportunity from The Batchelor Foundation, the SNC is able to reconstruct newer, better habitats for some of our residents.

Please be sure to keep an eye out for construction during visiting hours. The areas will be marked off with yellow caution tape. Please do not let children climb over this.

We hope you guys are as excited about the improvements happening around the SNC as we are!

Last year our buddy Fitz needed emergency surgery for a broken arm. Thanks to some incredible donors, he is fully recovered and looking forward to a better 2021. Here he is trying to sniff out extra treats. 

Our resident yellow-naped parrots love talking to the SNC’s Executive Director, probably because they’ve known her longer than any other staff here! Their incredible memory and bonding behaviors lead to some interesting dynamics. 

Parrots are known for their impressive mimicry. Vocal mimicry is the ability to imitate speech or noises. There are many possible reasons why vocal mimicry abilities could be an evolutionary advantage. Improved communication could help with the mating process and imitating predators might scare away competition.