Monday, March 24, 2014

Petting a Baby Tiger

My mom & I went on a road trip to Oklahoma to pet a baby tiger! I found the Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park where they rescue tigers & other exotic animals. I knew I had to take her there because her favorite animal is the white tiger.
Warning: You are about to be overloaded with pictures! I love animals! :)
She was so excited to see one of her lifelong dreams coming true!
We got to the Zoo as soon as it opened, so we had plenty of time to walk around & see all the animals!

 They have a huge tiger rescue program
So we got to see lots of tigers!
Even one playing with a stuffed monkey
and a couple of young bears fighting :)
We were very close to the tigers! We even had a threat of being peed on! They told us if a tiger turns it back to step to the side because they can pee up to 30 feet! Fortunately, we dodged that threat, but if they had gotten us there was a t-shirt we could have gotten to commemorate the event ;)
Hello little monkey!
They had wolf hybrids that were acting like puppy dogs
We were told if you see a "wolf" wagging it's tail and/or barking then it is a hybrid, pure wolves don't do either.
We bought a bag of treats in the gift shop for the animals. They especially loved the Cheetos!
I thought it was soo cute wen they would reach through the bars to pick treats out of the grass!
My mom especially loved this little guy, she said he looked super soft & fluffy!
This birdie said "Hello" to uswhen we first walked up, then "Cracker" so my mom threw him some treats. They didn't all make it in the cage, but that didn't stop him!
Hello beautiful!
Either kangaroos are smaller than we thought, or this one was just young... we should have asked, but we didn't


Bath time
That was hard work, now I'm sleepy
Please pet me! I will if you promise not to bite... oh, no can do? ;)
Wanna play pattycake?
After walking the park, it was time to play with the baby tiger, Thor! Words cannot express how excited we were!
Jackie was the tiger handler with us, she was sweet, funny, & knowledgeable!
 I still can't believe I got this opportunity!
 Thor was so soft! Jackie said as he gets older he will grow coarser hair.
Right now he's only 10 weeks old

My mom can now proudly say she has held a baby tiger in her lap!
He is such a cutie!
After our playtime, we decided to go on the guided tour to see & hear more about the animals. Also because we would the opportunity to hold even more babies! For the guided tour there were no cameras allowed because they didn't want to frighten the animals we would be interacting with. They did have a professional taking great pictures though! When you go on this tour I highly recommend buying the CD of pics they offer! Not only do you get all the pics from your tour, but there is also a whole file of amazing animal pics he took of the animals you have been looking at all day, that are hang on the wall worthy!
See what I mean?! Ok, back to our tour :)
After watching the tigers get fed, we got to meet a miniature horse. They told us that New Jersey just made it legal to have a miniature horse or donkey as a service animal! How cool is that?!
 Then we got a treat to hold between our lips so we could "kiss" a camel.
Fuzzy lips!
 Mom kept saying she wasn't going to do it
But she gave into peer pressure :)
The women love me!

I got to hold a baby crocodile! Mom refused, but she did touch it's tail
Time to pet the "dangerous" hybrid wolves. These wolves are here by court order because in OK it is illegal to have them as pets. They told us to show us how dangerous they are we were all going in their cage to pet them...
Just a puppy who wants attention :)
Just another misunderstood pup, like my Pit Bull, Ghost
Oh yeah, that's the spot!
 Yes, that is an 85 lb boa around my neck :)
and no, my mom wouldn't come anywhere near it
Baby skunks! My mom is holding an albino & I have a chocolate skunk. They were super soft & had crazy long claws!


We also got to hold & play with wolf hybrid pups


and then we got to snuggle a baby bear cub :)

Lastly, they brought Thor out for everyone to meet :)
Yes, I'm the favorite!
After our guided tour, we still had more animals to walk around & see! Like this hyena, who looks like he just walked off the set of The Lion King.
 Treat please!
 Me too!
Me 3! :) Grizzly bears like their treats!
What is it about these things?! No matter my age, I cannot resist them!
 Mom threw a treat to this cutie & it didn't make it into the cage. So he stamped his foot at her! A monkey throwing a fit, funniest thing ever!
But he still got his treat :)

 Some of the cages had PVC pipe to put the treats in to be sure it got in the cage.
 This little guy learned to hold his hand under the pipe to catch his treats. Adorable!

 Handshake?
OOH OOH OOH!


 Nite nite Mr. Bear
 You talking to me?
 This little guy is recovering from a medical condition. When they rescue animals there is no telling what condition they could be in, but they work hard to get them back in top shape!
After we saw all the animals & had an absolutely amazing day, it was time to head home.
We stopped for a very late lunch (we were having way to much fun at the Zoo to worry about food!) They have sweet & savory fried pies. I got a spinach, mushroom, potato fried pie & a cherry for dessert. Mom Got a sausage, egg, cheese fried pie & coconut cream for dessert. Yum :)
We got back home safely & then made the whole family sit & look at all our pics :) We highly recommend G.W. Exotic Animal Park! Such a unique experience!