Petting zoos are SOOO disappointing, because all you ever get are a couple of tame little bunnies and maybe a sheep. The fiercest thing I've ever seen was a goose, and the strangest a llama, which turns out to be really, very, very tame.
So this would be a petting zoo with some *real* animals - gorillas, elephants, giraffes, killer whales, boa constrictors, etc.
(I once petted a dolphin, which was an amazing experience for an eight-year-old boy growing up in darkest Britain, but that was unintended and not at a petting zoo. And my son once got to hold a boa constrictor, along with eleven other kids; the funniest was the little girl on the end - the snake kept trying to coil around her - to hold on, the owner said, but she wasn't mollified.)-- DrCurry, Dec 22 2002 Hmmmm Nasty http://www.ubl.com/...m/0,,225734,00.htmlThe album cover of which Gulherme speaks [Trodden, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Drive-thru zoos http://www.google.c...q=drive+through+zooPetting for the daring [Shz, Oct 05 2004, last modified May 12 2005] Like this? http://www.nofxoffi...ms/heavy/heavy.html [yabba do yabba dabba, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] Ouch.
This doesn't sound safe. When I was in a nature preserve in Australia, an emu strated running at me full - on, for no particular reason I could tell. Those things get big, so it was pretty scary. Fortunately, there was a fence between us.-- snarfyguy, Dec 22 2002 can't think of a better way to teach kids that bears aren't all named Winnie, Smokey, or Yogi. Bears are not to be hugged.-- TBK, Dec 22 2002 Heavy petting zoo is the name of a NOFX album. I got chased by 2 emus once on a farm in far north Queensland, luckily for me I was on a ATV and they couldn't quite get me.-- Gulherme, Dec 22 2002 I was picking pine mushrooms one year, climbing a fairly steep grade and came across a bear track in the moss. The depression left by the bear's paw was slowly unfolding as I watched it.
It took only a second to realize that the print had just been made and looking up, I was face to face with the bear that had made it. He/she looked at me for a few seconds, (seemed much longer), and then nonchalantly moseyed on his/her way. Two more hand holds and I would have slapped it in the ass.
S'bout as close as I want to get to petting one for real.
Same year I also got charged by a moose cow with her calf while tromping through a bog after a day of climbing. God’s honest truth, when she charged I didn't know what else to do so I ran right at her. Must have freaked her out because she stopped, (again within petting range), snorted at me and left with her wee one.
Just thought I'd share.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 22 2002 *Note to self* No hiking with [2 fries].-- waxingpoetic, Dec 23 2002 I want to go hiking with [2 fries]. My most treasured encounters have been in the wild. [DrCurry], I pet dolphins on occasion because I’m a diver (just for fun), but that’s also ‘the wild’. – (No… I don’t take my spastic dog with me). It is an amazing experience. See link for ‘drive-through’ zoos. I’ve been to a couple. At the ones I have visited you’re on your own. Step out of the car if you’re in a petting mood, but I have to warn that every year on the news I see film footage of an ambitious photographer getting mauled.-- Shz, Dec 23 2002 //What we don't fear, we don't kill.//I would assert that we don't have much fear from cows, chickens, and pigs.-- Pharaoh Mobius, Dec 23 2002 I like the idea, but as a petting zoo I think a lot of children will lose hands and limbs.
The 'heaviest' petting zoo I've been to was of reindeer at Marineland. The object is to feed them food pellets, which attendants hand you from inside an antler proof bunker. Once you recieve the pellets you then become the object of several dozen extemely hungry sleigh-leaders. The object for the reindeer it seemed was to nudge and jab you with their female skulls and male antlers, until they make you drop the pellets. After being nudged and jabbed and bumped and bitten for about thirty seconds by the throng of fancy-cows, which had completely surrounded me, I managed to break free and begin running away with the cup of pellets high above my head yelling. Needless to say I was frightened. The ordeal ended when I slipped on a deer-pie and went crashing to the ground. The deer, close behind me, stampeded me as they all went for the fallen food pellets. All to be gobbled up by the lead stag. The moral of this story (which relates to mankind) is don't let children be the victims of individual initiative when the fruits of which will only be enjoyed by leaders.-- ImBack, Dec 23 2002 [PharohMobius], I would guess that you've never had to go into the pen of a six hundred pound pig.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 23 2002 Since people seem to be sharing stories, I will share one as well. The closest thing I ever got to a heavy petting zoo, was with my grandmother, at a woman’s house in Connecticut, where she sold rare dolls and toys. The woman, in some way (which I don’t remember) got into the business of wild animal rescue as well, and introduced me to number of wild animals including several squirrel and possum litters.
Some of the more interesting things she had were a 200-400 lb Vietnamese pot-bellied pig whom had never stopped growing, a wolf, a number of deer and several litters of raccoons. The raccoons were not only completely friendly and sociable, but (and I cannot emphasize this enough) had the softest pads on their paws. They were quite interested in attempting to take away all your jewelry and watches and such, and I don’t think I have ever felt anything so velvety in my life trying to take the rings off my fingers. It was incredible.-- Isis, Dec 23 2002 //[PharohMobius], I would guess that you've never had to go into the pen of a six hundred pound pig.//Actually, I have. I've been in a cattle-yard, a horse fence, and a chicken coop, too. Yes, you have to respect what each individual creature is capable of, but that doesn't equate to fear. Besides, I was respectfully debating Forni's point that we as humans kill primarily out of fear. My point was that eating factors significantly into it, as well.-- Pharaoh Mobius, Dec 23 2002 I'm not sure I like the name. Sounds a bit too sexual (then again, I was just watching RHPS). They have a wildlife preserve like this in Oregon I think, no carnivores though.-- Malakh, Dec 23 2002 heavy petting? hmmm... in the UK this means something quite different. Indeed, so different, that it would render this idea illegal. probably.-- jonthegeologist, Aug 28 2003 Well, it means the same in US as well, hence [DrCurry]'s use of the term.-- angel, Aug 28 2003 hmm, baked, in a cartoon sense, by Gary Larson / The Far Side-- neilp, Aug 28 2003 Keep yer distance DCurry!-- The Kat, Mar 16 2004 I like the name. [+]-- Mauve Herring, May 12 2005 I got caught petting my dolphin once. Pretty embarrasing.-- doctorremulac3, May 13 2005 I saw a program at the weekend about Great White Sharks who, it rather surprisingly turns out, like to have their noses stroked. I say "After you, Claude!".-- DrBob, May 13 2005 [Doctor...3], for you or the dolphin?-- goatfaceKilla, May 13 2005 I hate you folks. I had visions of finally being able to get to third base B-). Then again, using the above definition, I suppose it could still work in certain places in the US.-- jaxmeier, May 15 2005 Oddly enough, in Toronto recently, I came across the stuffed version of this - horns, pelts, stuffed trunks of the kind of animals I would stock in such a zoo, all laid out for kids to touch and play with.
The display was provided by one of the wldlife preservation groups.-- DrCurry, Jul 19 2005 [doctorremulac3] Yeah, and I got caught spanking the monkey....-- Minimal, Jul 19 2005 I was going to respond to this by posting "Heavy Petting Ooze" - nice squidgy bottled mud for you and that special someone to frolic in, but I don't need google to tell me how baked this already is.-- wagster, Jul 19 2005 Mmmmm Heavy Petting Zoo... Why am I imaginging french kissing a Camel!!! BTW, US friends, have you lot renamed French kissing?? I think Freedom kissing sounds quite saucy!!-- Minimal, Jul 19 2005 random, halfbakery