Pine Grove Zoo

Almost a year ago we won a Pine Grove Zoo Birthday Party Package through the St. Cloud Times. We finally cashed in on it last week, forgoing all of the perks for simple admission. Arthur and I had not been to the zoo since Anne was around ten. This was back in the day when all that was at the zoo were a few emus, perhaps a cat, and the Dewey-Radke House. I was really anxious to go and see the new zoo. It was a fun, relaxing trip. We took both girls.

When we first arrived at the zoo, we were greeted by a couple of white peacocks. We learned at the admissions counter that they would be strutting around the grounds. The zebra enclosure was our first stop, and we got quite the show from her. She was running and leaping like a banshee. It was a treat to see it.The two keepers who were in her enclosure in a zebra print ATV informed us that they believed her to be reacting to the print. They drove their vehicle out to exchange it for the tiger print ATV. 

The petting stable included two alpacas, two donkeys, a Black Angus calf, and three pygmy goats. We fed them handful after handful of pellets. Well, at least Maja and I did. Grandpa sat on the bench. Ari was too scared to feed them out of her hand, so she put pellets on the edge of their pens and let the animals lick them off. That arrangement worked for the calf. One of the alpacas had blue eyes. The other had dark brown eyes. A couple of the goats got into a few tiffs, so we saw some head butting. Towards the end Maja was feeding the animals one pellet at a time, which was really a great way to extend the time she got to feed them. I could have stayed at the petting stable for another hour feeding and petting.

At the tiger cage we got to see a training demonstration. We learned training exercises are used both to familiarize the animals with the keepers, and to enable the keepers to observe the health of the animals. The keeper commanded the tiger in targeting, sitting, and opening its mouth.

We did get to experience the otters swimming above us in the tunnel. One of the otters put its nose to the drain cover and followed it around and around, as if it were trying to pull it off.

Other animals which we saw were Arctic and grey wolves, prairie dogs, a cougar, bison, antelope, turtles, and kangaroos. We also got to see the peacock spread his wings. We picked up a few feathers that had coloration from his tale, without the complete eye showing. Almost lost was the display of poison dart frogs, a tarantula, a chameleon, and another little creature requiring a dark cage. The petting stable attendant pointed them out to us before we walked away. We also got to feel animal pelts.

We were not allowed to bring in our own food. I thought the food expensive until I saw how much we had gotten in our chicken baskets. We could have skipped one order and split the other baskets between us.

Broadway Street was under construction at the time that we were there. We were not sure if that affected the number of people who were there at the same time as we. We thought the very small crowd and the small, enclosed grounds a good bonus. These things made the zoo feel safe, and the visit relaxing. We did not need to worry about the kids getting lost or abducted. At the same time it was large enough to be interesting.

On the way home we stopped along the Little Falls Dam on the Mississippi River. The girls were not  the least bit timid about climbing rocks along the shoreline. I told them that adventure was only possible because I had made them wear tennis shoes for the day instead of flip flops. Hopefully they remember. We saw a fisherman with a huge river cat fish. We also saw touch-me-nots, but the seeds had already sprung from their pods. Sniff! Grandma's favorite flower from Bald Eagle's shore.