The Findley Companies

I recently had the opportunity to visit The Preserve, which is an elephant preserve outside of Fredericksburg, Texas that I have been involved with for well over a decade and have written about on several occasions in our past Newsletter.  At least twice a year, I visit The Preserve to get some “elephant time,” at the same time to interact with the other animals that are there which include, giraffes, wallabies, kangaroos, emus, porcupines and tortoises.  Hopefully, one day, there will be a rhino.

The Preserve is a special spot for me in the sense that it’s an opportunity to interact with the animals and get some much-needed quiet time. I encourage you to visit their website The Preserve | Fredericksburg TX | Animal Experiences and see all the interesting things The Preserve is doing. If you are ever in Fredericksburg/Hill Country part of Texas outside Austin and San Antonio, stop by The Preserve for a visit and experience the animals.

Over the last decade a group of elephant supporters have created The Friends of the Preserve which is designed to provide an educational forum for students, adults and underprivileged children regarding the importance of Asian elephants and interaction with these wonderful creatures.  Twelve years ago, in conjunction with my wife, I worked with the owners of The Preserve to relocate from California to Texas where they could continue interaction with animals that was not permissible in California.

On my recent visit, I was honored with a namesake. The Preserve named one of the recent giraffe additions “Findley,” a two-year old giraffe who joins the other giraffes and who can be fed and interacted with as much as the elephants.  At one time I was hoping to have an elephant named after me, but they are all females.  One of the elephants is named “Becky” … we keep telling my wife she is named after her and there is another named Sofie which happens to be the name of my daughter in law who lives in Denmark with my son and three Viking grandsons. 

As I was feeding the wonderful giraffe named “Findley,” the owners of The Preserve told me about how when Findley arrived at The Preserve, he was bulling the other giraffes.  However, they fixed that issue quickly by castrating Findley.  I suspect there are many of those who felt that would be a fitting act for my namesake Findley.  Irrespective, the most important thing is I was honored with the gesture, and the attached is a picture of me with Findley.

Again, I encourage anyone who would like to interact with these special animals to take the time to visit The Preserve.  I find going at least twice a year gives me the opportunity to ground myself and, also, to realize there are more important things than, basically, just balance sheets, income statements, board governance and regulatory agencies.
 

I hope you can visit The Preserver over the next year or so and see my namesake.  He will enjoy eating lettuce from your hand.