From Umoya Khulula Wildlife Centre
One fluff ball became two!
The second baby wood owl was found a few days after the first one in the same area so we believe they are siblings. Both are doing so well and growing by the day.
Speaking of being reunited, this is my last day of vacation, so I should be back in full force tomorrow.
I’ve got some really cool stuff to share that I saved for when I’d have more time to answer questions, so hopefully you will enjoy that, plus I’m almost ready to let you pick the last handful of contestants for Owl of the Year!
how was your vacation? I hope it was relaxing 💕
We had an amazing time!
No airline delays, first class was awesome. Flying modestly comfortable in such a different experience!
The first half of the week was unseasonably cold. Locals were telling us the cold was breaking a 140 year record low temp. We made the most out of being from up north, going around in shorts while locals were in parkas. We cruised around with the top down on the rental car, going to beaches that had maybe a half dozen other people as far as one could see. We got in restaurants on the Gulf that are usually packed and at one had the whole outside seating to ourselves.
We went to a few shell beaches and found some really great shells. We about filled a whole shopping bag, and passed by literally thousands we would have kept from the Jersey Shore.
The Tampa Zoo and Aquarium were both nice. The aquarium was a bit busier feeling, as people escaped colder outside activities, but it still wasn’t too bad. I liked these little guys.
The zoo was a blast though. Animals looked happy, got to get a look at some manatees, baby Komodo dragons, the young elephants were play fighting in the water, they had 5 Screech Owls and 3 Barred Owls, and they had 3 shoebills! There are only 2 or 3 places in the US to see them, and Tampa has the most.
We took a party boat fishing trip to the Gulf. The weather didn’t make for the hottest action, but we each caught a few little fish and had the restaurant at the dock turn them into some fish nuggets for us! The pelican offered its services, but was denied.
We also took an airboat cruise down the river. We saw deer, lots of water birds, some turtles, and of course a few big alligators!
We even got to meet Ms Lily Pad in the gift shop! I held her for about 20 minutes. She was a real sweetheart. She was inside so she wouldn’t start hibernation early due to the weather, so she enjoyed my body heat, and I was just enjoying her company.
There was a ton of good food like smoked fish, stone crab, and lots of tropical cocktails, a dinner cruise, and general rambling around, but they are the major highlights.
For our wedding, we had a glass ceremony instead of the more common sand ceremony, so we returned the glass after we got home to get blown into some stemless wineglasses. That was very fun to watch.
Yesterday was my birthday, so we just chilled to recover from all the travel activities and then went to Red Robin for my free birthday burger. I like the pineapple teriyaki one. They also had a lot of new mocktail style drinks since we’ve last been there. The Sunset Lemonade was very tasty. It was lemonade, pineapple juice, and prickly pear juice, layered to make a nice presentation.
*Not a sponsor, but I wouldn’t object, I love those fries.
What is a glass ceremony? I’ve never heard of that.
I hadn’t seen anyone do it with glass before, but I learned the glass studio here did one, and it seemed cooler than the more common sand ceremony.
The sand ceremony has the bride and groom each have a container of different colored sand, and you pour them together into a new jar to symbolize you both coming together to make one combined, inseparable new entity.
The glass ceremony replaces the sand with colored glass chips. You still pour them together at the ceremony, and then the glass blower dipped clear molten glass into the mixed chips, and it all melts together to make a spiffy pattern and then turns it into something.
We chose wine glasses, but they did vases and some various decorative items, but the glasses were practical, so we went for something we could use together.
I went back and found the original post from a week prior:
It’s that time of year again.
This little baby Wood Owl was picked up after he was found alone, wet, hypothermic and emaciated. Unfortunately the nest could not be located so he was brought into us. But after some fluids a good meal and snuggle pad he perked up and is now doing really well.
Please remember that if you find any baby animals in need then do not keep them. There are wildlife rehabilitation centers for a reason and these animals not only need specialized care but they should also have the opportunity to return to the wild.
