Blake Dowling
I fall into the category of loving animals — and not just the cat that stares at me every morning at 5 a.m. nose to nose demanding meal service.
His name is Pete, by the way, named after the greatest shoes on earth: Glide V3 Sneaker Peter Millar.
I have always had pets like Pete and took a lot of trips to the zoo as a kid (and as an adult too); those combined experiences have guided me into that category.
My most recent adult zoo experience was in Chicago.
I was on the road with my friend Paul, putting on a corporate Maroon 5 show in an actual zoo. We had a couple of days to prepare and each night they would lock us, the tour bus, and the animals in the zoo.
Total horror movie script, right? What could go wrong?
Hold my beer.
We would visit the tigers at night and, man, they smacked that paw on the glass HARD. I am no cat whisperer, but I don’t think they wanted to high-five.
I was a big, tasty-looking tiger snack with a side of IPA sauce (in my hand).
Regardless, being that close to such a powerful animal was something I won’t ever forget.
In our state, we have an abundance of wildlife and there is a plethora of places to visit to get up close and personal with our animal friends and neighbors.
I was on a committee to select a distinguished alumnus for our high school a few years back in Tallahassee (Maclay School). We selected Matt Hill for the award, who left Wall Street to live in Madagascar and work with the environment via the Green Again Madagascar Foundation.
We chatted a great deal in the coming months leading up to the award; he told me GAM had a partner outside Tallahassee called the North Florida Wildlife Center.
A few months later, I called them up and headed out to Lamar, Florida, to see what they were up to. Since returned and brought our team with me here at Aegis. One of their most impressive guests is an anteater named Bumi — who is super cool.
Executive Director Ryan David Reines runs the North Florida Wildlife Center. I asked him about his mission at NFWC and he shared some thoughts:
“The North Florida Wildlife Center started out as a small refuge for non-releasable, reduced native wildlife. Today, the NFWC houses animals from around the globe and supports conservation efforts both near and far. The North Florida Wildlife Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that strives for the highest standards of animal care, education, conservation, environmental service and operations. We are active in education initiatives, breeding programs, and ecosystem recovery around the world, as well as in its own community. The NFWC has been a top attraction in North Florida since its opening in 2019.”
Their location is home to kangaroos, lemurs, sloths, zebras, birds of every walk of life, and much more.
You can check them out at the North Florida Wildlife Center and if you want a deep dive into their activities, I spoke with Ryan on our podcast recently to discuss his career and the daily operations of the center.
There are wildlife sanctuaries and zoos all over our state as we know but have you been lately? The Miami Zoo in fact is the largest in the nation.
VISIT FLORIDA can help you find what you are looking for if you are ready to hit the road and visit some wildlife.
The Giraffe Ranch looks awesome in Dade City; despite graduating from the University of Florida, the gator exhibit is probably a pass. You can choose your own adventure: Your guide to Florida zoos, refuges and preserves.
Florida is a leader in conversational efforts, not just with places to visit but with the overall protection of natural areas by our state. Last year, the Governor signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act which protects those areas between green spaces and the wildlife that use them to navigate the various regions of our state.
It is a complex act with thoughts about agriculture, water, air as well as animal life.
As we roll out of 2022 and into another year, I hope you find the time to explore our state’s wildlife; it is vast and most impressive. Those visits should also have a secondary effect that U.K. media star David Attenborough alludes to in our closing thoughts today.
“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all — including Pete the cat whose vast list of skills (besides wake-up service) also includes murdering Christmas present bows.
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Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies and can be reached at [email protected].
