JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As temperatures dropped Thursday, Seamark Ranch in Green Cove Springs was making sure its plants and animals were safe and warm.
The ranch, a Christian-based nonprofit home for at-risk youth, provides a traditional home environment for up to 16 children from broken families.
The kids have a major part in taking care of the crops and animals, including 10 horses, on the 462 acres of land in Clay County.
With freezing temperatures Thursday and more cold weather expected throughout the week, the people at the ranch were working to keep their plants and animals warm.
"We increase their intake of the feed and the grain and that keeps body fat up and gets metabolism going, which produces more blood flow through their body to keep them warm," Ranch Manager Dan Horner said of the horses, which also get blankets.
One of the crops the children -- who can be anywhere from ages 5 to 20 -- help raise is blueberries. Sprinklers ran overnight into Thursday to form ice around the blueberries, which protects the fruit from the colder air.
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The plants at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens were also under close observation for signs of cold weather damage. And workers laid down sod to help protect them.
And on the Northside, workers at Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary made sure the lions and tigers there were taken care of. Volunteers give the cats 700 pounds of food a night when it's cold -- about 200 more pounds than usual.
Jordan Joseph said the tigers at Catty Shack enjoy the cold and will swim in their pools even if they're iced over. He said the tigers can withstand weather down to 40 below zero.
Volunteers also stack the cats' dens with cedar chips and provide blankets donated from the community and heat lamps.
"About 9, 10 p.m., we were out here turning on all of our heat lamps, making sure all the bulbs work, locking cats down, giving them a little extra food to stay warm," Joseph said. "More food in their belly makes them stay a little bit warmer."