The wildlife in a Costa Rican MANgrove…
How it all started. #animallover#host
This is the best of the best of my animal hosting career – minus my favorite animal in the world- my dog.
My life. Animals. And laughter.
Live on The Home and Family show!
If you are like me you were PARALYZED by this year’s elections. However, you really have not seen anything till you see what happens when a spider gets paralyzed by a tiny wasp. A spider wasp. Not to mention have you ever seen a scorpion dance and what makes him glow in the dark? Find out what happens when I explain it all as handle both of these amazing creatures LIVE on national tv in under 6 minutes…
Tarantulas. This is a species where you might want to be a lady. The females live to be 20-25. The males live barely over 8 years if they are lucky. What does this say about the strength of female….not to mention the females might decide to eat the male after they mate. This might be a great example of why you want to take the female to dinner first, although it rarely happens in the human world anymore. Hey, you can’t blame a woman for needing to be fed. But let’s talk about growing…. the way they grow is to molt. This means that they rid themselves of the body they have and leave it behind. This would put all the plastic surgeons out of work in L.A. I can tell you that. The crazy thing is that they can replace even missing legs as well as replace the internal organs, stomach lining and even genitals. I wonder if you can rent another spiders body after they are done? All I know is that when Angelina Jolie Molts, I want to be on the list. Or if I can not get her body I at least get her Italian vineyard. That seems fair. Since she just devoured Brad and will be full for a while. However, what I am about to tell you will make you forget everything else….The worst enemy of the tarantula is the Tarantula Hawk. ( which is not a tarantula or a hawk- it’s a wasp)The female wasp will paralyze the spider by stinging it. She then drags the tarantula to a secure private place and places her egg on the abdomen of the spider then leaves. When the egg hatches, which might take weeks, the baby wasps will eat away at the paralyzed spider avoiding the organs to keep the spider alive as long as possible. I mean WHAT? I needed a while to digest this. But then I thought about it and realized this might be a strange way of natures balance. Since tarantulas paralyze their prey, vomit digestive enzymes all over it to then suck it up like a fruit smoothie with their fangs- this might be the best example of Karma I can possibly think of. But I still would rather think of molting into the next Angelina Jolie.( If you want to see it with your own eyes and remember we only have 2- here is the link. But beware, it is not for the weak.)
SLOW DOWN! YOU MOVE TOO FAST….
1. SLOW DOWN you move too fast!!! The SLOTH- It’s scientific name “Bradypus” means”slow feet”. A pretty good name for me lately. After breaking my foot a few months ago, I realized that maybe the universe is telling me to just slow down. (Or stop being clumsy) This was right after I spent time with one of the slowest creatures on the planet- and I can tell you that one of my favorite animals is the SLOTH!! This animal is so amazing to see in real life AND on camera. Simply MESMERIZING. So cartoonish in person it was made into a cartoon in the movie “Zootopia” portraying hysterically slow creatures taking minutes to finish a sentence. Trust me I have dated some men very similar. As slow as sloths are though, they only sleep 10-13 hours a day. Well, I can do that. However, these creatures are so slow that algae grows on them. Four weeks after………KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
Read More50 acts of love in 50 days UPDATE!!!
Many people ask ” Hey Rachel- what happened to the 50 acts of Love in 50 days?” Just to be clear- I never gave up the mission. AND- I never said “50 acts of love in 50 days” IN A ROW :)But I have now reached over 50 and thought it was worth posting about!!! The last few months I have continued to do acts of love each day in dedication to the lives lost in the Orlando shooting. But what I learned about consciously doing acts of love in the moment, is that not every act of love could be filmed. In fact some of the acts of love if I posted them,would have broken a persons anonymity, or the moment would have passed trying to get it on camera. I learned that experiencing the act of love seemed far more important than making sure it was filmed. However in retrospect I have………KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
Read MoreDay 9- 50 acts of love in 50 days
If you have only seen this version on facebook this pop up video YouTube version is much funnier- Dedicated to “Top Hat Eddie” who died in the Orlando shooting. He was said to be a man who always shared music and humor, so I am sharing mine as DAY 9 of the 50 acts of love in 50 days. And there is even a a moral to the story if you watch the video you will see…oh U will see
Day 8-50 acts of love in 50 days
Day 8- in the 50 acts of love- this one dedicated to Jimmy Dejesus killed in orlando shooting and was 50 -and one of the few older male figures in his family left. Today’s act of love really opened my eyes…and ears. Just play video to see why.
Day 7-50 acts of love in 50 days
For those of you who are NOT on Facebook I will continue to post the acts of love here on my blog. Just put your name in and subscribe so they come to you each day if you like! For those ON Facebook I apologize for “over-posting” but ya can’t have too much love. Even repeatedly. Day 7 act of love- dedicated to the youngest Orlando victim who was killed -Akyra Murray only 18. This lovely girl that received my act of love today was also 18. Find out how the tree of life is on its way to her ….
Day 6- 50 acts of love in 50 days
Knowing what it is like to be in the service industry, what happens when you give a surprise award to an unsuspecting waiter? You will have to click to find out…
Day 5-Oprah teaching me what the best act of love is
This act of love by Oprah is dedicated to Frank Hernandez who was one of the victims in the Orlando shooting- age 27- and had “love has no gender” tattooed on his arm. I dedicated today to him because what his tattoo said was very much what today’s act of love taught me. What my dog schooled me about in this video kind of changed my life, I hope it changes yours too.
Day 4- the award goes to… 50 acts of love
This act of love brings a little Hollywood to Colorado…. What happens when you have to give a trophy to a stranger? You might be surprised…
Day 3- 50 acts of love
Today is dedicated to Paul Terrell Henry 41 years old who lost his life in the Orlando shooting. What happens when a little turtle needs to deliver a big message to a total stranger …..
50 acts of Love Day 2-Giving flowers to a stranger
Click to see what happens when I gave flowers to a stranger. I challenge you today to do the same! Especially today on fathers day.You never know what this day means to someone. Where an act of love might go or who it might touch. When I gave these flowers to my uber driver and told him to pass them on…where would they end up? You ight be surprised to see! Todays act of love goes to Antonio Davon Brown, an Army captain who was one of the victims in the Orlando shooting. Treating hate with LOVE IS the only answer. Join me each day and let’s all BE the change. And here’s to you DAD. I LOVE YOU.
Day One-of 50/50/50 “Get the message”
Today my first of 50 acts of LOVE in 50 days is dedicated to Kimberly “KJ” Morris age 37 who was one of the victims in the Orlando shooting. I decided to pass out inspirational messages to total strangers to spread the love..click to see what happened! if you want to join just write on a piece of paper something positive and put it on someones car or, as I did… hand it to them! Now watch this video and see what happens when I walk up to a coffeehouse full of strangers and hand them their “message”…
I love all the faces, before uncertainty, then the smiles....you made so many of these folks day a little better.....…
How to heal a broken heart…
Watch this video. I couldn’t believe it, but when I found out that even trees deal with issues of the heart- I knew there was something to learn. I always ask my followers to share with me how you LOVE your wildlife- and this was a really good video sent to me by David Sampson. Not only is he an epic world wide guitarist and musician but he loves his wildlife too. He taught me that a tree can get heart rot- which is a fungal infection causing decay that enters through wounds on the branches- but somehow it is still possible for the tree to bear tons of fruit. David decided to help out the tree he lives next to, and protect the open wounds with some pruning sealer. He does this because he loves the wildlife around him and knows if he protects the tree, it will live longer and provide more oranges.
This made me think about people and how we are still able to lead amazing abundant lives even if our heart has been hurt and can feel like it is rotting. I realized how important it is to protect the wounds that we have by not allowing any fungus (negative people or thoughts) to get in. The pruning sealer is a metaphor for self love- making sure we surround ourselves with good people, the ones that would make sure we are protected and that we seal out the bad that can get in and slowly kill us. But we also must be that pruning sealer for ourselves. We must protect ourselves from depressing news, conflict, distraction, and make sure we don’t let anything into our lives that does not feed us on all levels ….because all that crap is a fungus that we need to seal off so that we can bear the most fruit possible. As spring is approaching – I am thinking -what and who am I allowing right now in to my life ? What do you I want more of ? What qualities or people or thoughts do I want to officially seal off from my life for good ? Can I do some soul prune sealing ? I challenge you to pick one thing you no longer will have in your life and decide that today. Seal it out. Now pick one thing you want more of and simply state that intention- knowing the fruit will come from this statement you are making.
Thank you David for Loving your wildlife because when you do- it loves you back. Email me and share how you love YOUR wildlife at Rachel@loveyourwildlife.com
I would love to share your story !!
Wild days!
How amazing that I could get the chance to share all about animals and the amazing work that The Wildlife Docs do- and also make so many people laugh and smile- and inspire kids to follow their heart. The last few days seeing all these amazing bright spirits want to help animals just gave me hope in humanity again. Thank you for everyone that came to see the live shows and learn about animals. And laugh with me. It was an incredible few days. I hope there are more. 🙂
Did Jane find her Tarzan? The call that changed her life…
Thank you so much !
As a child, she loved animals. Her mom got her a stuffed animal monkey named Jubilee. She slept with it every night and somehow this little stuffed toy made an impact on the soon to be famous icon. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to work with real animals, not stuffed toys. But this is back in the 50’s when women weren’t meeting the Queen very often, winning Nobel peace prizes and becoming legends researching chimpanzees in the wild. Enter Jane Goodall. A woman who decided to make a call that set all of that in motion. In her 20’s she was living in Kenya on a friends farm. Her friend recommended she get a hold of someone who might be able to talk to her about her passion for animals. I am sure he said something like “You should call this guy named Leaky!” (With a name………KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
Read MoreWhat I learned about Purpose- from a dog.
Comfort dogs visiting hospice
After yet another pointless shooting in Oregon, everyone’s heart is broken…again. There just seems to be so much senseless violence, and what can make anyone feel better about it all? Words? Anger at the gunman? More division of belief about gun laws? Hate? Swearing we will change and make things different? Yes, I guess all of that will happen. But there will still be people suffering. Mourning. There will still be people who will not recover from the loss and the pain. After this particular shooting I read the papers and noticed that more attention was being placed on sending out help for those affected. Churches came together, counselors were called, but one huge healing force that goes beyond what humans can do- this band of angels that made the news were cleverly disguised as….comfort dogs. They were sent from all over the country. These beautiful creatures who have no idea their normal boundless affection toward humans is in massive need. Having animals be used in a positive way, to help heal pain at the soul level, gives me hope. Maybe this will help people see that we are the reflection of unconditional love in these dogs and so maybe, somewhere, it can help us find love again in our hearts. Or at least lick the fresh wounds of such profound pain.
There is something unexplainable about the feeling of having a dog to throw your arms around when you are weeping. There is something that gently eases the pain when puppy breath is near your tears. As I am typing this, my small little rescue chihuahua is snoring on my lap and there is no other place I want to be, no other sound I want to hear. I have deep peace. One look into her eyes and I come alive and am reconnected to pure love again. And isn’t that why we are really here? What IS the purpose if not to love and awaken that love in others through connecting. Through touching and kissing of an animal. No words need to be said for this type of miracle. This is the simple truth of it all. Love. In the form of these angels with fur who so freely give it. I think one of the best stories is about this little muffin who spends her time in rest homes. I would like to do this with my dogs and let them continue to show me the real reason we are all here.
What an Eagle Taught Me about Change
When I learned about the life changing moment in an eagles life, I wanted to give it a voice. So I did. Literally. I voiced it over and added music I felt was appropriate because I felt so connected to it. In all my years working with animals I never, EVER knew what you are about to see. I hope it plants the seeds of change in your life, as it did in mine. Thank you or letting me share with you what I am learning through these great teachers that come in the form of animals. Their lessons are all around us. I hope I continue to have the eyes to see them. I hope you take the gift and watch this.
It’s 3 minutes you won’t forget.
What an Orangutan taught Me…..
Thanks for checking it out ! Come back as I will be making this site much easier for us all…
They are mesmerizing. We share 97% of our DNA and have the same amount of teeth. They are all vegetarians, and they seem to do just fine without eating meat. They can just gaze for hours. They are curious. They live to the ripe old age of about 40 or so…but what I did not realize is that these adorable red creatures are very solitary. Although the mothers stay with their young carrying them for up to 4 or 5 years, they are then mostly alone. And they like it that way. Yes, they do hook up for the occasional romp every now and again, then they are back to swingin in the trees with their own company. In a society where we feel as if something is wrong if we find ourselves alone for a night, or without a mate, or without people surrounding us……I realized, this animal actually………KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
Read MoreHow to be like a Giraffe- and just STAND-UP!!
I am so sorry it's taken me this long to see your comment!!! Thanks for watching wildlife Docs !!!!…
I was thinking about the giraffe. How peaceful they are, how tall and beautiful and slender with legs that never end. And they got the eyelash thing down way before mascara or Kim Kardashian and those fake eyelashes existed. What’s so incredible about these creatures other than the fact that their tongue is so long they can clean their ears with it? Or that 2 hours of sleep is as much as they need in 24 hours? You can tell how old they are by the spots on their body and no 2 giraffes have the same pattern? They rarely ever fight and if they do it’s just 2 males wrapping their necks around each other. Imagine if that was all the violence we ever had in this world. Just people wrapping their necks. Crime would plummet, although massage therapy rates would sky rocket. It’s the presence of these creatures……….KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
Read MoreHow to manifest your dreams….
Let's see if I can keep doing it !!!
Interviewed on 20/20 I described imagining this wild life…..
Read MoreWhat’s this about….
Hi! My name is Rachel Reenstra and I created this site to share my “wild life” with you. I host a tv show on ABC called “The Wildlife Docs” every weekend, but this is not to promote my career or the TV show – it is really about the things I am learning from these amazing animals I work with all the time, and how you might be able to apply the lessons I get from them, and hopefully see how much we are all connected- and living this wild life together. I truly believe in manifesting your dreams, and this is a dream come true for me to entertain and share the inspiration of animals and travel….and well, doing it all while trying to get by in Hollywood. If you want to know how I manifested this whole thing……I included a 20/20 piece I was featured in that might give………KEEP READING, IT’S GETTIN GOOD…
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