Ostritches, Goats, Deer, Mini Donkeys - My kind of place

 Raining again in Tucson

After a mediocre breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up the car in the rain and headed for our next stop, hoping the rain quits before we get there since it's outdoors. By the time we got there, the rain had quit so we were ready.

 

We all love animals and none of us had ever been to Rooster Cogburn's Ostrich Ranch. Time to rectify that. We opted to buy the pass that also let us feed the sting rays. We got our cup full of food for the different animals and headed out to try our luck at feeding them. 

The big trucks only run on weekends or holidays.

 The first animal we encountered were the friendly mini donkeys. They are sooo cute. And they definitely know what we are there for and run right up to the fence to get their pellets. 

The second animal we found were my favorite - the Fallow Deer. They are very gentle when taking the food out of your hand. Even the youngest child could easily feed these deer. They are quite small.

How about some goats in a penthouse? These are Boer Goats from South Africa. The idea is to put the food in the little white cups and then you have to crank the cups up to the goats. The food falls out in a feeding tray and it's your turn to send up more food.

The Hole In The Wall Gang are also Boer Goats who know how to put their heads through the holes to get food. If you're brave enough, you can also get a kiss from one of these goats. That is Picacho Peak in the back ground.

 Next up were ostriches and this place has lots and lots of ostriches. Watching those animals run is really something to see. And I would keep little hands away from feeding them. They bite and both Pat and Marilyn found that out the hard way. I read the instructions carefully and did exactly what they said to do so I escaped unscathed. But I only did it once.

Did you by any chance happen to notice the lady's straw hat that was at the Hole In The Wall? Ostriches have long necks and have no trouble grabbing your hat off your head. She and her husband had a tug of war going with the ostrich over the hat. They finally won but the hat was a little worse for wear.

Next were the Giant Sulcata Tortoises from Africa. It was interesting to learn that they need to be fed from the side because they can grip the asparagus better from that angle. 

They also have chickens, rabbits, sheep, ducks, parakeets and Rainbow Lorikeets.

The Rainbow Lorikeets are from Australia and are a part of the parrot family.  The food you receive to feed them is nectar in a little cup. You hold the cup in your hand and they will fly to you and sit on your hand or head or shoulder. They can open the nectar cup by themselves and then enjoy a refreshing drink. Now that is fun.

 

All our food was gone from our cups so it was time to go visit the stingrays. They eat fish. Not sure what kind of fish but their keepers cut the fish into small strips which you hold between your fingers and then put your hand flat in the water which lets the stingray grasp them. These are cow nose stingrays and are really very gentle. I didn't let go of the food fast enough and one of them grabbed my hand. Did not hurt and felt quite soft.

Pat and Marilyn feeding the stingrays

 We really had a great time and would highly recommend taking children to feed the animals. There were a lot of children running around while we were there and they were having a great time.

It is now lunch time so we headed to Florence. This trip we stopped for lunch at Mount Athos Greek restaurant. It was so good and may become one of our favorites. 

Back home but not sitting still too long. Hope to make a few things happen closer to home this month. Got some ideas so check us out.