Our Fieldtrip

Ok, so I have this patient at work that is the nicest guy you would ever meet. Well, one day he came in for his appointment and he had little bits of straw on his fleece jacket. So, being the nosey people we are, we inquire about this. He said he had to feed his animals and was running a bit late, so he didn't have time to change. Then, being the even nosier people we are, we start quizing him....never imagining what he was about to tell us. He says he has quite a few pets such as Camels, a Zebra/Donkey mix, Buffalo, a Donkey, a Yak, Watusi's, Highlanders and Indu's. A couple of which I couldn't even picture what they looked like. He goes on to say that he lets some people come up to his house and see and help feed the animals. Well, we called him about a week or so later and ask if we can come up and see his animals. Being the nice person he is, he says YES! Well, we pull up to his lavish drive to the gate and ring the bell and tell his wife who we are and she opens the gate and we pull in further up the drive to see this wonderland! And these are the first of many animals we see....


These are a couple of his Watusi's. I've never seen horns this big! They are very nice and calm (at least these were, they are probably used to being around humans. The interesting thing is is that they regulate their body temperature through their horns. When you touch them, they feel warm. Arden (our patient) says that if their horns get cut, they bleed to death! So sad. Bill was paying more attention than I was to their history, so I'll have to have him add some more info.

Then we went over to their "baby pen". This picture is of Jasmine, their white camel. They have three, and I only remember her name because she LOVES attention. She got upset when the other camels were getting the attention she wanted. All the animals in this pen are 6 months old. There are the three camels, a yak, a buffalo, a Zebra/Donkey (named Z-Donk) and donkey (named Donkey) and some kind of animal that I can't remember, but his name was Oreo because he was black with a white strip in the middle. They were fun and Jasmine liked to try to eat our coats and get Nicholas' belly which he thought was too funny!
Then we piled in for a tractor ride out to the pasture.....

These are more Watusi's. The kids loved to feed them, they would come up and eat out of our hands.

These are the Highlanders. They seemed to be pretty calm and didn't care that we were there.

This is one of his Indu's. Her name is Snowflake. They have a dark brown one and his name is Chocolate. Go figure!
Then we went to see the buffalo. He said they only have about 25 now, and they used to have 150. They came running out of the valley towards us (luckily there was a gate) and it was such an amazing site! I couldn't imagine having a herd of thousands running towards me. They are so beautiful.

Arden told us about the biggest buffalo he has (can't remember his name, but he is HUGE), but one time they were coming up to eat and there was a younger buffalo eating at the spot where he usually eats, and he threw him up and over the fence, which is about 8 feet high! I couldn't believe it.
I know this post has turned out to be a lengthy one, so I'll try and wrap it up. It was just so exciting to see these animals up close and personal. Trust me, I would have had more pictures, but the batteries were dying. I'm hoping to go back and take Bill's sister and her kids and Rich and Cheri and the kids.
It was a very good day...and best of all, it was free!!! (except for the $1 we spent on the little "rides" that the kids went on)....

Our love to you all, and I hope you have a great and thankful Thanksgiving!