I had never heard of the Global Wildlife Center, much less known it was in southeast Louisiana... a mere 4 hour drive away from where I am in southwest Louisiana. My friend, Charlotte B., with whom I have traveled on several "excellent adventures", made me aware of it and suggested it might be a good place for us to visit. We were long overdue for a catch-up and it seemed like a great idea. She is such a good amateur photographer and it was a perfect spot for photo ops! Check out the web site but definitely check out the photos I have posted for you. Most are hers with a few of my cellphone camera photos mixed in.
I will tell you that kids of ALL ages will enjoy this place. We were fortunate our booking in early December happened to be on a wonderful, beautiful day... albeit a bit chilly (which will explain our attire!). Sunshine. No wind to speak of. Perfect. Having reviewed information on the web site, I had booked a Private Pinz Tour for us. You can read more there about the two different types of tours.
Without further ado... please join me on my visit to the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, Louisiana!!
The main buildings and a lovely statue of a giraffe family. (That will make sense later.)
After loading up in our Pinz (and getting our huge bucket of animal feed piled into the thing!), we headed out to the "savanna"-like area comprised of about 700 acres (with an additional 200 acres in hay for wintertime feeding when necessary). Ahead of us was one of the Safari Wagon Tours which holds multiple folks. I assure you all of the animals know exactly what is coming when these roll onto the landscape!! LOL!! The whole nearby herd arrived en masse for some feed! Yes, there are a couple of giraffes in the picture. The numbers of exotic deer was huge!
There was a sign posted in our Pinz clearly stating that anyone feeding a Zebra would be removed from the tour!! I asked our lovely guide why that would occur? She advised that the Zebras were "love-biters" and they loved anyone feeding them... meaning potential "love-bites" from them. Unfortunately, a Zebra "love-bite" can be rather large, painful, and unwanted! Made sense. Hated to have to not feed them, though, since everyone else was getting fed. Sorry, guys! :(
Some of the racks on the exotics were just amazing. We happened to be there during rutting season... so there was a lot of clashing of racks as we drove through.
While not an exotic, this elk was a lovely specimen. My friend, Charlotte B., enjoyed him until he caught her with his rack!! He gave her a good jolt but she was an excellent sport about it. Just don't think you are "safe" due to your being inside a vehicle. :)
The next photo shows the same type of vehicle we were in (Pinz). It gives you some scale to the animals we were enjoying. Yes, you are seeing a Llama, Giraffes, and Zebras with the exotic deer.
Okay!! Now you know what we are doing. There are more photos for you... some more "up close and personal" than you could possibly imagine. I know I wasn't quite prepared for it!! Stay tuned!!
Until next post...
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