Our Farmhouse Adventure

Photo by volunteer Derek Bowers

Caring for animals and the earth is not only a privilege it is our responsibility. It is responsibility we take seriously, but at the same time we feel learning about the animals is fun and rewarding. Be sure to visit often to follow our farmhouse adventures, keep up to date on what’s new at the farmhouse, learn fun facts and how to care for farm, exotic and wild animals and nature through our farmhouse blog.  Thank you for stopping by the Farmhouse blog page. Ya’ll come back now ya hear!

Kangaroos, Wallaroos and Wallabies, Oh my!

By Andreana Benitez How many of you believe that a Wallaroo is a cross between a Kangaroo and a Wallaby?  Unless you are Australian (or Kangaroo Jack) you would be wrong.  This is the biggest misconception about Wallaroos.  So how can you tell the three apart?  Let’s explore the similarities as well as the differences between these three beautiful animals. First off, all three are native to Australia.  This is their home.  They are also

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Owls, Bats & Black Cats, Oh My!

Bats, black cats, ravens, crows, and owls what do these creatures have in common? They are all associated with Halloween as evil or bad omens. Truth is, each of these creatures has many good qualities and, in some cultures, revered as symbols of good luck. Take the Black cat, in Western culture; they are viewed as a symbol of bad omens, especially if one crosses your path. This is not a new notion and dates

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Homegrown Hero: Cheryl Johnson

Meet Cheryl Johnson, a board member and volunteer for the Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch. We recently spoke with Cheryl about what she does for the shelter and why it is important for the community to have places like this. If you are not familiar with the Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch, they are an organization who rescue animals in need and find adoptive homes for them. Cheryl tells us they also educate people on

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Volunteer Spotlight: Meet Annette Laliberte

Farmhouse Animal and Nature Sanctuary (FANS) located in Myakka City, is always looking for like-minded animal lovers to help with the seemingly never-ending list of chores to be done at the sanctuary. Whether its regular maintenance like raking leaves or cleaning the feeding areas to larger projects like fence or irrigation repairs to painting FANS can always use good help. One of those helpers is volunteer, Annette Laliberte. Annette tells us that “Caring for animals and the

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Tortoise vs Turtles

by Sandra Krug What is a tortoise anyway? Is it just a fancy way to say “turtle”? Well, there is a difference. “Turtle” is the umbrella term for all 200 species of the Testudines group, which includes turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. All tortoises are turtles—that is, they belong to the order Chelonia, reptiles having bodies encased in a bony shell from which their head and limbs protrude—but not all turtles are tortoises. Reptiles are cold-blooded,

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Volunteer Spotlight: Leah Riggle

Every so often we will interview one of our volunteers. Learn why they volunteer, what they like about being a volunteer and advice they would give to new volunteers and more. Here is our Q&A with Leah Riggle! FANS: How Did you hear about Farmhouse and what made you decide to become a volunteer? Leah: My mom told me about it, and I really wanted to volunteer with animals and help take care of them.

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HomeGrown Heroes: Holley Dekmar

Holley, a full time mother of four, wanted to do something to help her local community. With the stay at home order in place, kids being homeschooled and most places closed to the public, she had to get creative. She turned to social media, starting a fundraising group on Facebook called Giving Back 941. Her goal is to help as many local nonprofits as she can by raising funds through a fun and innovative online

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Community Bag Program

We are so excited to share that Farmhouse Animal and Nature Sanctuary has been selected to be a part of the Community Bag Program, which is designed to make it easy for customers to contribute to their local community while supporting the environment. The Giving Tag Program, which launched in February 2019, is a reusable bag program that facilitates community support with the goal to make a difference in the communities where shoppers live and

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Volunteer Spotlight: Sandra Krug

Every so often we will interview one of our volunteers. Learn why they volunteer, what they like about being a volunteer and advice they would give to new volunteers and more. .Meet Sandra Krug, she, and her husband, Garrett, not only volunteer but they are both on our board of directors. Sandra was recently interviewed by Patty of Let’s Talk Pets Radio show on behalf of FANS: How did you hear about Farmhouse and what

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