Our Last Southern Blog (That We Know Of...)

A tarantula we found outside our dorm

 

We are finishing up our time in the Ozarks and will soon be heading back to Nebraska.  Last weekend was an exciting one though, a wonderful blend of Ligers, Lions, and Luck (Jesse ate a four leaf clover).  We visited the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, a home for rescued big cats and bears.  It turns out you used to be able to buy baby wild animals as easily as you could buy candy cigarettes for a minor.  But of course, wild animals don't make the best pets and are difficult to take care of.  Many of these animals end up abandoned and in poor health when their elderly owners no longer can take care of them, and that's where the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge steps in!

The highlights of the refuge included a liger, Bam Bam the grizzly bear, and knowing that the money spent on our snow cones went to a good cause.  If you want to find out a little more or even donate to a good cause, then click here.

It was a lot different than a zoo.  To us, the animals seemed far more active, and enjoyed showing off for people (probably because they grew up being handled by them).  We got to hear tigers growling, pumas snarling, lions roaring, and see Bam Bam balancing on his head.  What a ham...I mean bear!



One of our fishing trips in the kayaks

We cliff dove from the very top!  First you have
to swim to the base of the cliff, then there
 is a rope you have to use to climb
 to the top.

Our first time out in the resort kayaks

A Bug's Life

 

En-to-mol-o-gy:  The branch of zoology concerned with the study of insects



Our cool bug exploring hats

In May Jesse started taking Master’s classes studying science for educators with a focus in entomology.  So far he has completed one semester of summer classes and is getting ready for fall classes.  It is not uncommon for our co-workers to see us chasing around butterflies, moths, beetles…basically anything with six legs, and freezing them.  He has been doing a GREAT job balancing classes and work and I will do my best to continue supporting him even when his bugs take up my freezer space and I find one  forgotten in the warm oven after 3 hrs …*ahem



Of course out of all the wonderful bugs out there, I would have to agree with my husband that butterflies and beetles are my favorite.  Beetles are fun to pin and butterflies…even though they are stupid…are great for practicing photography.  Jesse and I had so much fun the other week visiting the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO and working on our photo skills!

 

 

*Warning:   Even though people considered our time in S. Korea to be dangerous  because of nuclear threats and what not…It seems to us that Korea is nothing compared to all the venomous snakes, tarantulas, black widows, poison ivy, and scorpions we have found crawling around and getting into our homes while in the South.