Ligers and Leopards and Bears, Oh, My!

Our Memorial Day weekend was spent with friends, family, food, and the fair.  We had a "cookout" (which my children call a "BBQ") on Saturday, and even though it was  cool and stormed a little bit afterward, it went off without a hitch.  It was fun to have the Long family here, and we spent some time wandering the fair, first at a Lonestar concert on Friday night, then Monday afternoon to scout out some First Place winning art and eat some yummy, greasy food.



The third grade classes also visited a wildlife refuge on the last week of school.  It was an amazing place where they take in animals who have health issues or have lived in less than ideal circumstances.  We met a black Leopard, 2 spotted Leopards, 1 Siberian Tiger, 1 Sumatran Tiger, 3 Bengal Tigers,

2 African Lions, 2 Ligers,

1 Serval, 1 Lynx, 2 Caracals, 1 Snow Leopard, 1 Clouded Leopard and 3 Ocelots. The Sanctuary is also home to 2 Coatimundis, 2 Fennec Foxes, 1 Ring-tailed Lemur, 1 Wallaby, 1 Kinkajou, 2 Black Bears, 1 Otter and an assortment of exotic birds and reptiles, including 2 Giant Burmese Pythons, 1 alligator and an assortment of tortoises. A priority of the Sanctuary is to provide these animals with all they need to keep them not only healthy, but content as well.

Here is some information from the liger cage:

I really want to take a trip back there with the family.  The tour was a couple of hours long and we didn't even see all of the animals because the guide was so thorough in talking about each of them.  At the end the kids gathered together and saw a few more animals, including a grizzly bear cub.  Unfortunately my camera battery died before I could get a picture of him.  She was adorable, weighed 20 pounds, and squirmed all over the place trying to get out of the handlers arms. (Reminds me of my kids at that age.)

Fez was "petting" an Argentine Red Tegus.  (That's Ben the guide holding her.)