Wild Animal Park

The kids and I went to a wild animal park today. It was a first for all four of us. Amazing doesn't begin to describe our adventure.

Rachel, Aaron and Hannah

The first thing with did was a walk through where we were able to feed several animals. The bear is standing up behind the kids because they were feeding him and I think he wanted more. We decided feeding the bears was probably something that wouldn't happen anywhere else.

We had three options for the drive-through portion. We could drive our own vehicle, rent one of their vans or ride the bus. We chose the bus. That was probably the perfect choice because the driver gave us lots of information about the animals we saw. The bus was designed like a school bus but it was painted with black and white stripes and the windows had been removed and widened in order to feed the animals.

There were bunches of little piggies running around.

This is Ryan the Rhino. Note the pig on the left side of the picture.

Just behind the rhino are little black spots. Those are new baby pigs. Apparently the momma pigs leave their babies with Ryan while they roam around.

A white pony...

and her baby the Zony. His daddy is a Zebra. The animals are not purposefully interbred, but they roam free and breed.

Aaron and I sat right behind the driver. I wanted to sit in the back, but the kids wanted to be up front. That was an excellent call on their part because the driver would give us extra information he didn't give over the speaker. Plus he had a knack for getting the animals to come closer. Here he is feeding a water buffalo.

The buffalo is looking to see if Rachel and Hannah are going to feed him.

As the bus approached the lake, we could see dozens of little turtle heads sticking out of the water. They turned to follow the bus. The driver stopped and as people threw food on the bank the turtles came out to get it.

Then they would make a mad dash back into the water. There must have been a hundred turtles along the bank.

Soon big brother joined the group.

Rachel with a water buffalo and her baby in the background.

Hannah feeding some various types of deer.

The animals weren't shy about coming right up to the door of the bus.

Again, right at the door of the bus.

Aaron feeding one of the camels. The camels were in a fenced in area, but the bus pulled right next to it and we were able to feed them.

Aaron touching the horns.

This is a Liger. It is the offspring of a lion and a tiger. It is the largest cat in the world. Ligers are only bred in captivity. They do not occur naturally in the wild.

Rachel and Hannah are touching this elk's antlers.

Hannah petting an elk.

Hannah feeding an elk.

The driver is trying to get the elk to come close enough for Aaron to touch the antlers.

Come on in.

The ostrich was scary. He was tall enough to put his head way into the bus. We were much more afraid of him than he was of us.

We can't wait to go back.