It’s been a while since I posted anything on my Journal, so I thought you might enjoy some pictures of a recent outing. My dad used to take my sister and me to the Game Farm in Frankfort, Kentucky when we were little, and I’ve got some wonderful memories of the place. It used to be a place where game animals were “propigated for release,” back in the old days when I was a kid. Now it’s the home base of the Fish and Wildlife Department, and includes a wildlife education center and a small assortment of well-cared-for animals local to the region. If you know me, you know I love anything that resembles a zoo. Daddy had not been in several years, so it was fun to check him out of the nursing home and take him, along with one of my nieces and one of my nephews.
Tori is the cutest little blue-eyed blonde two-year-old you’ve ever seen, and she is not crazy
about bears. What is the first thing we saw when we walked through the door of the Salato Wildlife Education Center? A taxidermied bear. This did not go over well. It was all we could do to get her past the display. She wasn’t crazy about the next display either, a coyote. But you know what she loved? The snakes. Yep. This kid has a thing for snakes. She got right up next to the glass containing the creepy things. (I think she must have gotten this from her father’s side of the family. It certainly didn’t come from anyone on our side!)
about bears. What is the first thing we saw when we walked through the door of the Salato Wildlife Education Center? A taxidermied bear. This did not go over well. It was all we could do to get her past the display. She wasn’t crazy about the next display either, a coyote. But you know what she loved? The snakes. Yep. This kid has a thing for snakes. She got right up next to the glass containing the creepy things. (I think she must have gotten this from her father’s side of the family. It certainly didn’t come from anyone on our side!)The Center is a cool place, with big stepping stones on the floor that have trivia questions about wildlife. (Example: What is Kentucky’s official state mammal? A squirrel. Or squale, as Tori pronounces it.) After we looked around in there, we headed outside to visit the animals. The first one we encountered was awesome – a big eagle! It had been injured and could no longer fly, so it couldn’t be released back into the wild. I’ve never been that close to an eagle before. It was awesome.
And what did we see next? A real bear. Oops. Tori wasn’t thrilled at first. It took some coaxing and some holding by Mom to stop her from running away. But after watching the bear for a while, and after her brother pointed out the bear’s ball floating in his pond, she decided maybe she could handle being on the same planet. Then she thought maybe she’d actually look at the bear. Next thing we knew, we couldn’t get her away from the bear. I think I’ll get her a stuffed bear for Christmas. 
We enjoyed seeing bobcats, and deer, and buffalo, and turkeys, and elk, and a dozen or so squales, which were a big hit. Daddy had a great time. So did Daniel. At least, I think he did. Here’s a picture of Daniel in his natural habitat – with a cell phone in his hand, texting. Maybe he was Tweeting about his awesome outing with his family.