Fossil Rim Wild Animal Adventure

An African Safari from the comfort of your car--

We spent a delightful day at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center with my parents while they were visiting with us this past June. Fossil Rim is a 1,800-acre, not-for-profit conservation center in Glen Rose, Texas that specializes in captive breeding programs for endangered and threatened animal species. Some of these endangered animals include the cheetah, black rhino, white rhino, red wolf and Attwater's Prairie Chicken. Fossil Rim is home to over 50 different species. Visitors can enjoy a leisurely and scenic drive while observing animals living in a near-natural environment.

We thoroughly enjoyed our close encounters with endangered and exotic wildlife on the 9 mile-loop. At the visitor's station at the front of the park, you can purchase bags of feed to hand feed some of the animals. Season passes are available, as well as discounted tickets every Wednesday. For more information: http://www.fossilrim.org/index.php

The giraffes were by far our favorite animals. They were completely uninhibited and would come right up to your car and eat out of your hands. Their tongues are LONG and BLUE!
Lauren didn't want to feed the giraffe, but enjoyed petting it. Kaden was more than happy to be the sole guy handing out the food.
This was an interesting exchange to witness. An adult zebra came between a mother and her colt. This swift kick to the haunch was the result. Guess zebra mommies are protective of their babies too.
Kevin's favorite photo. How many of you can stick your tongue in your nose?
This little guy freaked us all out a little bit. He was very aggressive and would pretty much chase our car down looking for a hand out. We tried to stay clear of these guys as much as possible.

Choco-Rocky Update

Here is the picture from July 5th when we picked up Choco
Here is a magnification of that same photo. Note how tiny Choco is. He isn't as long as Kaden's finger. We were so worried we would break him or he would die.
Here he is 1.5 months later. He eats about 6 crickets every day. He would probably eat more if we would let him. He is growing incredibly fast. He has grown from about two inches long to about 10 inches long in a very short time.
Kaden is doing very well taking care of Choco. He sprays him down with water several times per day(that is how they drink) and cleans out the cricket keeper. He is also an expert at catching bugs(one of his favorite things). He actually caught a butterfly two days ago to feed him (which Daddy could not even accomplish after diligently trying to replicate his techniques). It is very exciting to watch Choco eat the bugs with his long tongue. After we put some bugs in there the Family will gather around the cage to watch the "Fireworks".
As soon as you approach the cage Choco has his eye or eyes on you.

Sweet Spider

My contribution; a jumping spider from our backyard. Kevin.

1,000 Parker Bucks

Kaden and Lauren proudly displaying 1,000 "Parker Bucks" .

Receiving his chameleon in a deli cup from the breeder.

Introducing Choco Rocky Parker

Kaden has been saving "Parker Bucks" for about eight months. On July 4th he finally saved 1000 Parker Bucks and earned a Chameleon. This deal made between Kevin and Kaden was not cleared through mom first. But what could I say? He was so thrilled and it was great to see him working towards a goal. If you look closely, you will see the baby chameleon inside the little deli cup. When we first got him, he was only about as big as a knuckle on your finger. We have had him for about a month now and I am happy to report that he is thriving despite several small hands that want to constantly handle him. His favorite meal? Hand caught flies......Kevin is getting quite good.