Day 12 - October 16, 2013

          Today was to be a very relaxing morning, but Gio had caught up on her sleep and was up at 6:15 a.m.  We had a leisurely breakfast and a little after 10:00 a.m. Sue, Rex, Gio and I headed to the Deer Farm, a few miles down Interstate 40.  When you enter and pay your admission, you can also get some food in cups to feed the deer, which, of course, we did.  Just outside the entrance to their was a cockatoo who had a pretty extensive vocabulary.  As you entered the deer area, they all came running to greet us and check to see if we had food for them.  They were quite persistent and even fought each other off if they got too close to what they thought was their food supply.  They had other animals you could view also, including a camel and llamas.

          From the Deer Farm we went to Bearizona, a drive through wild animal park.  There we saw bison, wolves, mules, mountain goats, pronghorn deer and bears  Some were so close we could have reached out and touched them.  They also had a bird/raptor show. The announcer was at one end on the stage and another woman was behind us.  When she brought out the birds, the woman behind us would put food on a perch and the bird would fly to it, sometimes only inches above our heads.  They also had a woman standing by two cages of ravens.  If you gave the raven a dollar bill, it would take it and drop it into a jar.  See video below.  After the show we at lunch and then took the walk around the park where they had more animals for you to view.  Both parks were very interesting and I think everyone would agree, very enjoyable.

We are not back "home" waiting for time for Rex to start the BBQ and prepare our pork loins.  We do eat well!  Tomorrow there is talk of playing golf.  I did bring my clubs, but not sure I am ready to play here

Harris Hawk

One of the smallest falcons

Owl