Living Her Dream Come True
One of our favorite stops at the Poke Sallet Festival was the petting zoo. My first animal encounter was with this particularly friendly camel. He obviously loved his job as a petted camel.
This llama was as greedy as the camel was friendly. He stuck his lips into my Dixie cup of seed while I wasn’t looking.
The corn-loving goats did whatever it took to get their heads through whatever space they could find to get exactly what they wanted.
Even the baby goats had that skill down.
This petting zoo was a varied menagerie. It even had a giant turtle. He didn’t seem to have the petting thing down though. He hung out far from the circle of petting humans beyond the fence. He didn’t seem to mind the donkey, sheep, and calf who were his neighbors or the baby buffalo that passed by.
The mystery animal for me was this little guy. Jackrabbit? Kangaroo? We had guesses, but had to ask one of the owners to find out for sure.
“Patagonian cavy,” said the young woman handing out seeds and collecting $1 a person at the entrance. “The second-largest rodent in the world.” My question led to a conversation.
“This is what we do,” she said with joy. It was her dream come true, she said, to have her own zoo. She, her husband, and her in-laws have a farm at Doyle, Tennessee, where they care for all of these animals. They travel to county fairs and to other destinations throughout the Southeast, giving families like ours a chance to see these marvelous creatures up close.
Don’t you love it when you meet someone who loves what they do! You are giving your children the opportunity to do exactly that.
Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
Proverbs 27:23-24