An Exotic Field Trip

Meet "Mr. T." He's the new little one we are watching part-time. This was his first field trip with us. We headed south to the D.E.W. Animal Kingdom. This is a unique rustic farm in Maine that has a lot of unique animals as the photos will attest to. The owners and founders help to rescue animals as well as educate the public. This is our second time visiting DEW and, as always, it was both educational, amusing, and fun.

Prior to heading out, I printed out a list of all the animals at the sanctuary. My oldest picked the red kangaroo. They made a nice appearance for us. It was very neat to see them up close and personal.

My middle son picked the Military Macaw but it was too cold so they still weren't out in their regular area yet. I think my youngest chose the Biturong. We got a bit side tracked and looking up a few more than what they had picked.

There was a pair of Timber Wolves who were resting in the shade....

The large cats were just like kittens wanting a rub. They all came running and would come up for a scratch and then sit nearby....

Black Panther

Mountain Lion

Lions

and

Tigers 

and

Bears....oh my!!!

I think the hit of the show were the camels. My youngest was the closest to Bob, one of the owners, and was brought over to water them. 

He stood like this for almost five minutes! The camel never slowed down.

The drool! Oh the drool!!!! It made any dog I had ever seen look like nothing.

Do you see it? ::shudder::

There was a door in the barn wall and this guy came running over to meet everyone. And yes, it's the one with all the drool  hanging out of his mouth! He wanted to greet everyone. 

Even Mr. T! (Unfortunately, I couldn't see or take a photo and this was the best one my kiddos snapped.)

That big purple thing hanging out of the side of his mouth? That's not his tongue. It's part of his esophagus. Camels don't sweat and don't pant. In order to stay cool, they regurgitate part of their esophagus so that it picks up the cool air around them, then they swallow it back down in order to cool off.

Mr. T is checking out the deer.

This is their resident hyena. I had seen this previously and I have to say, if I was ever anywhere there was a hyena loose, I wouldn't stay very long! Mr. Bob shared how he came by this pretty amazing animal. It was actually someone's pet! They had it in a city basement apartment with their two-year-old child! They tossed a deer leg in to it and it decimated the entire thing in about five minutes. I find it unbelievable what people think is okay.

Monkeys! They were so fun to watch. 

It was a fun day and, as always, Mr. Bob is entertaining but can sometimes be a bit over the top. What he lacks in people skills he makes up for in the vast knowledge he has of all his animals. This is a working farm staffed solely by Mr. Bob and his wife. They have volunteers who help as well, but it's their life. They live here. This was one of our more interesting field trips so far this year.