The Animal Farm

 

    My friend, Ellen, is fascinated with deer. One of her happy places is Fort Snelling State Park. She and her husband, Mac, like to walk in the park and look for deer. Her favourite deer is a piebald deer. Piebald is a deer that has white patches of fur. It's a rare condition, but there is one in the park.

   Another happy place is an animal farm and petting zoo about an hour away from here. Last week she asked if C and I would like to go there with them. After a communication glitch, we found ourselves in the car on the way to the farm.

   C and I enjoyed the drive out there. We arrived at the farm and went into a brown building to pay our admission. We could also buy a bag of carrots or grains to feed the animals we were visiting. Ellen and Mac were there and had purchased two bags of carrots. We bought one bag and then set out.

   As we left the building we were "greeted" by a pair of small sheep. Anyone who thinks that animals are stupid should think again. These sheep knew that humans leaving the big brown building usually have food with them. If they pester them enough you will give them some. They will even jump up on you to get at the food you have. If you don't feed them right away they will follow you. Eventually you will give them a carrot or two (or three or four). I fed each of the sheep, but most importantly I petted them. There are few things I like more than petting sheep. I love burrowing my hands into their coat. It doesn't feel itchy like the wool I knit with. 

   Once the sheep had gone in search of other humans, we walked past other animals.  There were porcupines in a caged area. There were a variety of geese and chickens milling around. We were heading for a small area at the edge of the farm. That is where the deer are. 

   There were several deer lying on the ground or milling about when we got to them. Like the sheep, they knew what the coming of humans meant. We approached them carefully. Once we showed that we had carrots, they approached us. Some of them walked with us a short way hoping for another carrot. They usually got it. They came close enough so I could see the velvet on their horns and even tentatively touched one. I petted and even rested my hand lightly on their backs as they walked along side us. There was one deer that was coughing a bit. I tried to feed her a carrot, but she stayed away. Eventually we left the deer and moved on.

   We walked past many animals in cages. We saw a badger, some opossums, and wolves. One wolf was in a large wooded fenced area running around. Another was in a smaller area pacing back and forth. I'm always bothered when I see that. I know that the wolf needed to be in the area for it's safety and for the safety of other animals, but it was clearly not happy. We saw a couple of foxes that were all curled up and sleeping. We saw some elk. Ellen threw a few carrots over the elk enclosure for them to eat. It took awhile, but the male elk found the carrots. It was funny to watch him get the carrots because his big rack of horns got in the way. He had to turn his head in order to get  the carrots.

   We walked toward the enclosures that had fawns with their mothers. Each fawn and doe got a few carrots from Ellen and from me. I wanted to feed the llamas, but Ellen told me to stay away since they spit on her the last time she was at the farm. I did feed the goats and a couple alpacas. There was one loose miniature goat that trotted alongside us. He knew that he could get carrots from us and he did, several of them in fact. 

   We still had some carrots left over so we went back out to the deer. This time I was able to give the doe who was coughing a couple of carrots. 

   It was well past lunchtime and we were hungry. We left the farm and ate at a place called "The Goat Saloon". They had good food and it was a fitting end to our trip to the animal farm.