Jill's Journal: Tell me these aren’t the three luckiest little girls in the whole world! They fed Butch, a gigantic African elephant who weighs even more than the elephant scale’s maximum of 10,600 pounds, his afternoon snack of carrots. Butch was a gentlemanly recipient, although a bit slobbery. He uses the end of his trunk like two fingers and delicately took about 10 carrots from each girl, one at a time.
Here’s Butch taking a carrot from my hand too…he’s far more imposing than he looks in this photo! We spent the afternoon at Wild Things, an amazing exotic animal sanctuary in Salinas, California. Many of the animals here have been in movies or television or featured in still photos for National Geographic or other print magazines or ad campaigns. The animals are all relatively tame as far as wild animals go. They all have names and dedicated human friends and all go for daily walks with their handlers.
Madelyn loved this small elephant, Maleeka, the most. Her growth has been stunted due to food allergies and she’s about half the size of a regular elephant. Madelyn could very much identify with the food allergy issue and felt an immediate bond with this little female elephant. It was so sweet!
This young 2-year-old lion was one of several lions and a great variety of big cats on the premises. Beautiful.
A zedonk! Our guide called him a “donkey with his party socks on.” The girls thought that was hilarious.
This hyena was fascinating. Did you know they’re aerodynamic? Their hair grows “the wrong way” (i.e. they would be petted tail to head instead of head to tail) to help them run backward as fast as they can forward (35mph). In the wild, they scavenge lion’s kill. If they grab what they want and run backward to escape, they can keep their eye on the lion without having to waste time turning around.
A Bengal Tiger yawn. Look at those massive paws.
Erika really liked the baboons. I personally found their bright pink rear-ends most unattractive!
Say cheese! The monkeys, exotic birds, ring-tailed lemurs, alligators, kangaroos, and many other unusual animals really gave the girls an education. Simply a fantastic afternoon.
Jill's Journal: Tell me these aren’t the three luckiest little girls in the whole world! They fed Butch, a gigantic African elephant who weighs even more than the elephant scale’s maximum of 10,600 pounds, his afternoon snack of carrots. Butch was a gentlemanly recipient, although a bit slobbery. He uses the end of his trunk like two fingers and delicately took about 10 carrots from each girl, one at a time. 
Here’s Butch taking a carrot from my hand too…he’s far more imposing than he looks in this photo! We spent the afternoon at Wild Things, an amazing exotic animal sanctuary in Salinas, California. Many of the animals here have been in movies or television or featured in still photos for National Geographic or other print magazines or ad campaigns. The animals are all relatively tame as far as wild animals go. They all have names and dedicated human friends and all go for daily walks with their handlers. 
Madelyn loved this small elephant, Maleeka, the most. Her growth has been stunted due to food allergies and she’s about half the size of a regular elephant. Madelyn could very much identify with the food allergy issue and felt an immediate bond with this little female elephant. It was so sweet! 
This young 2-year-old lion was one of several lions and a great variety of big cats on the premises. Beautiful. 
A zedonk! Our guide called him a “donkey with his party socks on.” The girls thought that was hilarious. 
This hyena was fascinating. Did you know they’re aerodynamic? Their hair grows “the wrong way” (i.e. they would be petted tail to head instead of head to tail) to help them run backward as fast as they can forward (35mph). In the wild, they scavenge lion’s kill. If they grab what they want and run backward to escape, they can keep their eye on the lion without having to waste time turning around. 
A Bengal Tiger yawn. Look at those massive paws. 
Erika really liked the baboons. I personally found their bright pink rear-ends most unattractive!
Say cheese! The monkeys, exotic birds, ring-tailed lemurs, alligators, kangaroos, and many other unusual animals really gave the girls an education. Simply a fantastic afternoon.
1 comment:
"A Bengal Tiger, Look at those massive paws."
He had paws? I couldn't stop looking at those fangs! Looks like my kind of place.
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