The Vicious Cheeto and the Lion Sleeps Tonight

 

Terry's grandson, Hayden, had a birthday, so Terry and I discussed taking both his grandson and his daughter with us to Wildlife Safari. But we wanted to go big, more than the typical drive through the park. We chose to take them through two of the special events the park hosts. One was the cheetah photo event and the second was the giraffe close up. Oregon rainy day and all, we jumped in the car and headed for adventure. 

Since we had two of the close-up activities, we didn't have much time to explore the gift shop or the village. For those who are new to the Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, Oregon, the park experiences are divided into three types of groups to fully enjoy the adventure. The first is the drive through. Driving through the park allows you to see the animals in their natural habitat. The second is the village area where you can visit sections full of alligators, snakes, cavies, different species of monkeys, birds, and other creatures that are a bit smaller and are caged. 

Next are the events, paid for separately, but so great. There are the feeding giraffes, taking photos of yourself with a cheetah that is led out on a leash, watching feedings of lions and other animals, and many, many more. Different activities are awesome and can be done in conjunction with other things too, such as the drive through. Today we chose the drive through, the village and gift shop, and two events.

The village is also home to the Children's Petting Zoo, where kids can get up close and pet goats, pigs, miniature horses, and sheep. 

The Children's Petting Zoo is the perfect place for smaller children (and adults who haven't grown up yet), to pet and admire the smaller, more docile creatures. 

Animals such as the cottontop tamarin are housed within the confines of the village. 

The mini pig is fun to watch! He was running his snout through the mud. 

The beautiful, elegant and graceful cheetahs are often released into this pen that is to the right as you walk in from the village entrance. Sometimes you will find a dog in the pen with them. The cheetahs have grown up with the dog. Dogs are often used in Africa to frighten predators away from the farms and ranches, and this includes scaring off the native cheetahs looking for a meal. 

Wildlife Safari has successfully bred cheetahs since 1972 when they first opened. They have chalked up 241 babies from births within the park. The Cheetah Breeding Program has been very successful and in fact, the park holds second place for breeding these animals. Africa is in first place, of course. 

Time was flying by, so we decided to stand out front and wait for our ride to the first adventure. We signed ourselves and our guests up for the cheetah photo session. For this event, guests are allowed to take pictures and the park also takes photos. A set of two 4X6 photos can be purchased for $10. The photos were great, but I snapped a bunch for myself. The day was too awesome to pass this by!  

The cheetah was brought out on a couple of leashes. Two handlers arrived on the side of the park village, where we met with them to begin the encounter. The ambassador cheetah we met with today was an older male. He was beautiful! Terry's daughter, Mallory, was wanting to kiss him. Although the cheetah was a laid back, relaxed boy, somehow, I do believe she would not have survived that cheetah smooch. 

We were told by staff members that this guy was born in the park. He and his sister were both rescued after being abandoned by mom. The litter was too big. But he has led a great life and so has his sister. Cheetahs are more like a dog in terms of their claws. A domestic and most larger cats tend to extend their claws and then pull them in. The cheetah does not pull its claws in all the way. As you can see in the picture, he keeps his claws out as his paws are relaxed and on the ground. 

I do have to agree with Mallory on one thing though, I would have loved to get next to him and pet those spots right off his body! He was gorgeous! So beautiful and so grateful he remained calm enough to snap pictures with him. We had a fairly large group of people with us, making a total of around nine or 10 people. I was surprised he didn't flinch. He could have cared less if we were there or not. Mr. Cheetah kept searching the grounds, smelling other animals in the air and hearing the lions roar on the other side of the area we were in. 

Focused on the lions in the run further west from us. 

We posed behind him as a group. 

Now Mallory can be envious! One of the female trainers garnered a bunch of "smooches" across her arm and hand. The cheetah was feeling cuddly today. Either that or was sizing the trainer up for a meal. No matter what it was, she got some cheetah smooches, and we didn't. 

Thanks to Terry, this amazing encounter proved to be an experience I won't forget. It's so nice to see these stunning creatures outside the fences. The experience was educational, fun, and something that we enjoyed sharing with each other. 

When the cheetah encounter was complete, we headed back toward the village. Stopping at each window or cage, we saw a few other animals and then heard Hayden speak up about going on a train ride. Immediately, we headed for the Uganda Express or otherwise known as the train in Wildlife Safari. 

Our engineers fired up the engine and off we went ...

Eking along at about four miles per hour gave us a chance to see the eagles, turkey vultures, and other amazing birds of prey in the cages along the tracks. They were beautiful! Pictures I took of the birds are okay but were taken from a traveling train and had fencing around them of course. The photos aren't good enough to share because of this situation. 

Turning the corner, the train began to slug down to about one mile per hour, if even that. In the seconds that followed, the Uganda Express wound down completely and rested on the tracks. The broken-down train brought on thoughts of not having any room to walk back and we had another event in a short time. This would not work. 

Our engineer and the co-engineer turned the engine off, then started it up again, hoping to jar the locomotive into action. We were creeping along at a pace so slow that I could look to the left and see ducks waddling faster than we were moving. She shut down the train one more time, fired it up again, and off we went. Back to the four miles per hour speed. Whoo hoo! Look at us go. 

After almost falling asleep on the Uganda Express, our group headed up to the gift shop once again. We had questions about the second event and wanted to make sure it was all taken care of. So off we went to the store. The store is a nice little gift shop, check in for events, and snack venue. It is filled with jewelry, stones, stuffed animals, t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and all the stuff visitors love to purchase to remind them of their trip to Wildlife Safari. 

Stuffed animals lined the back wall of the gift shop.

Mallory was on the hunt for any items she may enjoy. She is a true safari hunter. 

I found this little guy on a shelf. 

Shopping for a while, we checked the time and saw that our next event was coming up fast. We had a bus to catch and no time to waste! Usually, the giraffe encounter means traveling in an open vehicle out to the giraffe area, where the giraffes stick their heads inside with you to get the tasty piece of lettuce you have for them. This time, it was different. 

The staff explained that since the giraffes they have in the park now are very young, and the weather was bad today, so we would see them in the barn instead. I was disappointed at the bars that were in our way during pictures, but it was still a blast. Animals are animals and there is no way for the staff to predict if they will come up and eat out of your hand or not. We still enjoyed the giraffe viewing. 

Hayden fed the giraffe a piece of organic lettuce. The giraffes they have in the park are two, three, and four years of age. Still very young and shy. They are just getting used to the guests coming into their home. We had a couple of children who were excited, and, in their excitement, they were climbing the fences and scaring the young animals. We all fed the giraffes for a bit. After a while, they were looking stressed out. One ran for the back wall. It was time to remove ourselves. 

Mallory was able to get one of the giraffes to come and eat from her hand. 

After we returned home, Terry wrote out two haiku to capture the encounter. When it was Terry's turn to feed, the giraffes were frightened when two small girls kept climbing the fences. He could not get the youngest of the three to return for a feeding. These are the two haiku he wrote:

oh giraffe

won't you eat this carrot

from my hand?

the giraffe

spurns my gift--

another time, perhaps 

©Terry Macrae 2023

Walking through the barn to the giraffes, I was able to get a photo of this big boy. 

One of my favorite places to visit is the flamingo pond in the center of the village. These gorgeous birds catch my attention every time. 

Beautiful birds! I love the way they stand on one foot and the colors are amazing! The way these three graceful birds were standing, they looked like the lawn ornament flamingos. I was thinking of how great that was until the one in the rear of the group shot manure straight backward. Yeah. Very graceful. 

I also have a love for lemurs. Lemur island is always a fun place to visit. Ducks and koi are found in numbers in the water, while the lemurs and even a red panda played in the shelter and some of the wooden poles. 

Beautiful koi swim through the pond on the search for food. 

Several ring-tailed lemurs were hanging out in the shelter today. 

After hanging out for a while, we decided to climb into the car and do the drive through we typically indulge in while here. We were hoping Mallory and Hayden would enjoy the trip. It was raining all day, but it held back as a mist or light sprinkle for our adventure. 

This alpaca stood in the road again, mimicking his actions when we drove through on our last trip through the park. He has a real attitude about not giving two alpaca hairs if we need to get through. 

Bison were lazing around in the mud and rain. The seemed to be perfectly happy. 

The bears are finally out of hibernation! Although, with that being said, we found them sleeping on this wooden perch. The large brown bear rolled to his back once, stretched really big, and then flopped right back on his side to sleep again. So much for being out of hibernation. I think they just moved the site of their bed. 

This European fallow deer was looking into the vehicles as they passed. You never know when someone will feed you. 

There was a herd of eland laying around along the landscape. The animals have plenty of shelter, but most chose to relax on the hillsides. 

A pair of Egyptian geese were hanging around by the road as we drove through. Or, as Hayden called them, "Geese with the creepy eyes." 

They may have creepy eyes, but the feathers are pretty!

Today was the first drive through where we actually saw these animals out. This is the scimitar oryx, an extinct animal in the wild. There were about five or six in our view. I hope they can breed them to bring the species back. Terry was able to zoom in to catch the big guy on the bottom. I am very grateful to places like Wildlife Safari who create a safe home for extinct or endangered species, with the plan of breeding more to keep the species going. What a loss if we didn't have beautiful deer-like animals like the scimitar oryx around. 

Searching for food along the road as if they're starving or something. Each car driving by was feeding them the pellets they purchased from the park and then it was almost dinner for all the animals. 

We were lucky enough to catch the lions up against the fence. This guy looked so regal. 

He was really giving a rat's patootie if anyone was looking. Sleeping was top priority, as is the case with most lions. Love the way he uses his paw as a pillow. 

Beautiful lioness keeping watch. 

Pacing the fences. The mama tiger was keeping an eye on the food truck and watching everyone looking at her babies. Yes, I said babies. She had cubs with her that were out and visible. I was so happy! The cubs were born in October and were giving mom a run for her money today. 

The cubs were named Buttercup and Cheeto. Adorable babies. Good job, mom! I loved the names! I do believe that Cheeto is my spirit animal since Cheetos are my favorite chip type snack. 

Tiger cubs are so adorable. Buttercup and Cheeto were no exception to that rule! They were attacking mom, attacking each other, and at one point even attacked a stick. Hey, pouncing is a thing. 

We finished our safari adventures with a trip to Arby's, the place Terry and I go to typically after we finish the day out on "safari." For anyone who reads the blog, We Have the Meats was written about a comical adventure Terry and I had when we first met, and it was inside Arby's. It is now our go-to restaurant when heading back home from a day of being at Wildlife Safari. Terry is at the counter finishing his order so he can try delivering the food to our table one more time. Bless his sweet heart. 

One thing for certain, spring is definitely hitting tomorrow! The fields were nothing but colorful yellow wildflowers, the daffodils, tulips, and other bulbous flowers were shooting up, and best of all, tiger cubs and baby fallow deer and little bison all appeared to be healthy and happy. It is the birth of a new season and a new generation of beautiful, perfect animals. Happy spring everyone!