Deyoung Zoo

When my cousin's fiance, Alisha, warned me that the zoo she was taking us to "might feel like a dive" when we pulled up in the parking lot, all kinds of warning bells went off in my head. Ummm.... What makes a zoo a DIVE? But, Monday morning saw our family caravan of cars head north to Michigan, to the zoo. As we wound through country roads lined by farms, her words kept echoing in my head. I admit it- I was nervous.



A photo op before the zoo (Grace, Kayleigh, Kaya, and Bella)

 The parking lot was muddy, but not too bad. As we paid our fee they warned us to hurry to a yellow tent, the baby animals would be out for a little while longer. So we beat feet over, wondering what animals would be around. (I secretly had visions of a docile animal suddenly latching onto my 2 year old, but don't tell Alisha!)

We got there to see a baby tiger on a leash. Just like the leash I use for my dog, only blue. Kids were clustered around rubbing her tummy. As we approached, the kids wandered off and the tiger started to roll and play with its keeper. Kaya and Bella were able to walk right up and pet her. Wow! That was worth the price of admission right there.

A few feet from the tiger were two baby monkeys. They were 8 and 10 weeks old- and so freakin' cute!!! There was a small crowd, but the kids managed to scoot in with minimal pushing. All too soon they announced time was up, so the crowd disbursed.  The tiger, however, had started to play with a resident dog and was not ready to head in. So the keeper allowed Kaya and Bella to sit down and hold the monkeys while she waited for the iger to join them in going inside. Oh.My.God. It was so special! Each girl played with the monkeys for a bit, then their mommy had a turn. Holding those tiny creatures was great. The older one kept climbing onto the other, so it was like a snuggly rolling ball of life in my hands.

Bella was soon ready to meet other babies. She wandered over to the baby piglet, and got to hold it in it's blanket. Apparently, this guy was the runt of his litter, and if he hadnt been moved he would probably not have made it. He was so little! And SO tired. His little head kept drifting to the side. of course, that was before Bella squealed while holding him.  So he scooted over towards me and drifted off with his head in my hands. It was magic.

We spent the rest of our time at the zoo roaming through the various animal areas, waiting for the adult feedings. We got to see the adult lions and tigers being fed. The owner said they go through 2 cows a day. That's a lot of beef.

The funniest part had to be when one of the owner's dogs hopped on the back of the food 4 wheeler and stole a hunk of beef. One exceptionally smart person thought she was going to take the meat away from the thief. Lucky for her, she didn't get bit herself.  When the owner heard about the theft, he laughed and said the dogs do it all the time. I guess he brings out extra.

 

I don't think I will ever forget our trip into Michigan to go to the zoo. When else would we get so close to so many babies? And I have never seen the big cats eat like that. All of us left there amazed by our adventures.