I can tell you one thing.

This place is amazing.

We've definitely been looking at some opportunities for our child just to have more exposure to animals, and she really enjoys them.

And we wanted to show her some of the opportunities there are in Florida for taking care of wildlife who's maybe endangered or, their breeding programs as well.

Like, even if they're not injured or anything, just kind of providing in that way to natural wildlife.

I started as a volunteer and I got hired as an animal care specialist, so I have been doing that for about two years.

And recently I took over as curator of birds and small animals.

So, I've done a lot of growth at my time here at the Wildlife Center, and it's been great to see all the guests here, how they enjoy all of our animals.

And I've loved getting to know all of our animals here as well.

I am Ryan David Raines, and I'm the Executive Director and Founder here at the North Florida Wildlife Center.

I would consider myself a bird nerd.

I am absolutely obsessed with birds.

I also really enjoy strange, unorthodox animals.

Animals, like giant anteaters are something I would expect to see walking around the deserts of Mars, where there is still life there.

As the founder of the wildlife center, this is certainly a labor of love.

This place was created with blood, sweat and tears many years ago with the help of some incredible people, family, friends, volunteers, and of course, the community.

Our visitor experiences, such our animal encounters, are incredibly unique to the area.

For instance, our giant anteater encounter is hardly something you can experience anywhere else in the world, and also the animals that are housed here and that are rescued here are incredibly rare and endangered species that you are very unlikely to see anywhere else, not just in the area, but in the country or even in the world.

I did not intend on starting what is now the North Florida Wildlife Center, but our volunteers in the community are what really, really drove the growth of this place.

I was originally rescuing and rehabilitating birds as an individual in Tallahassee, but the organization grew to a point that we decided to move outside of city limits so that we had more room, more quiet, and it was much more beneficial for the animals.

There are many needs for a place like the North Florida Wildlife Center.

First and foremost, people don't care much about things that they don't love or care about or have experienced for themselves.

And so visiting the wildlife Center is an incredibly unique and important opportunity for people to be in touch, not just with Floridian nature, but wildlife and the environment around the world, and also being able to see these conservation efforts in the flesh and seeing ambassadors of, for instance, our tree planting efforts in Madagascar by seeing our endangered lemurs here at the wildlife center, really gives people that special touch and care and inspiration that they wouldn't get from watching TV or reading a book.