Catoctin Safari and Zoo

When Tony told me about his idea to go to a zoo for Mother's Day I wasn't all that excited. I mean, seen one seen them all for the most part, right? But, he said there was a safari that we could also go on and then I was sold. I thought that the kids would enjoy that sort of experience and when I saw that we were going to get to feed animals as we rode through their exhibits, I knew I'd like it too.

I was determined to sit in the shade as it was pretty warm out but we weren't all able to be under the shaded part because a woman refused to scoot over to accommodate our group. So, Landon and Brandon sat in the uncovered wagon while the rest of squeezed in nice and close to that annoying lady.

The first critters to visit us were bison. It was kinda funny watching them run towards the truck. They just kind of lumber along...they're huge but they can certainly move. I was under the impression that bison could be a little unfriendly but that was certainly not the case with these guys!

The next area held ostriches and a hilarious camel. That camel raced around the truck to get every biscuit he possibly could! We learned that camels lips change with age. They go from not loose when they're very young to loose and flappy when they're teenagers and then back to tight again. They again get floppy when they grow old. Just in case you were wondering...

Next were Kudu (Sketch and 5, their names), Watusi, Donkeys and Antelope but I can't remember exactly which kind. 

Our last stop had my favorite animal, the zebra. There were 5 and they were all beautiful. We asked why their coats looked brown instead of black and white and they said it was because it was their winter coat. We were told that as soon as it heated up the zebra would rub their bodies against a tree and all the brown would come off to reveal the black and white coats. There were also ostriches at this stop and the kids were even given the opportunity to hold and ostrich egg!

And, that wraps up our trip to the zoo. I didn't write about the little petting zoo area because there really isn't much to say and the pictures I got weren't so great anyways. But, the kids did love feeding the goats and petting their snouts when they'd stick them through the fence!