ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - A local park district turning routine care into an educational opportunity.
The Johnny Appleseed Metro Park invited the public to watch staff and volunteers feed and clean the habitats of their educational animals. People could watch turtles reaching for crickets, bass chasing feeder fish, and even snakes wrapping around their meals. For employees, this is all part of a typical work day, but opening the doors to community members gives them insight into a different side of nature that they don't usually see.
"Some of these animals really offer a unique experience with something that you could find right outside, but maybe you never got to watch that snake eat a mouse, or maybe you haven't seen stream fish in this way fighting over a piece of shrimp. So being able to experience some of these wild animals in a new light is really kind of cool," stated Dan Hodges, environmental education supervisor at JAMPD.
If you know a teen interested in animals, Johnny Appleseed Metro Park District is accepting volunteers to help care for their animals once a week. To learn more, contact them through their website.
