GARDEN RIDGE, Texas — Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life, we can easily forget how comforting it is just to pet an animal. When it's a rhinoceros, that really stokes up the excitement.
I had driven through Natural Bridge Wildlife Park before, but now I have a whole new appreciation for it.
The 440 plus acre ranch has more than 500 animals from more than 40 species. Everything from ring tailed lemurs to American bison to a two-and-a-half-ton white rhino. You can also experience the ranch from the comfort of your own car or take a guided tour on an elevated truck, or if you want that up close, personal experience take the guided, private tour.
I took my two youngest children, Rebecca and Micah with me. It's one thing to see everything the ranch has to offer, it's another to see it through a child's eye. The first thing they experienced was feeding Buddy, a 17-foot-tall giraffe.
Micah, my 10-year-old, took right to it. He loved it when Buddy would dip his neck to reach out with his tongue and grab the lettuce or carrots from his hand. Rebecca was a little more reserved, but quickly warmed up to it. Soon she was letting Buddy wrap his long tongue around the lettuce and take it from her hand.
After you drive through the park some, you come to the home of the park's biggest animals. As you walk toward their pen, if you listen you can hear this excited whining from the White Rhinoceros. Recently the park was graced with the births of two calves.
As you get closer, the rhinos heavily trod up to the fence, waiting for their ear or just under their front leg to be scratched. If you do it just right, the babies will lay down just like a dog. The mothers, although protective of their calf, are more than 4,000 pounds and as gentle as they could be.
Given the fact these animals weigh so much, they can easily, and very much unintentionally, hurt you with just the movement of their head.
"Their head weighs several hundred pounds," said our guide Elleri Haesc. "You know I never could have imagined I would get to have this type of close-up interaction that I get to every day. It’s pretty remarkable."
You have this insane sense of excitement as you hang out with these gentle giants. Since the two adult females both recently gave birth, they often tussle with one another, exhibiting dominance over the pen. It is short lived and never ends with injury.
The ranch also recently acquires some big cats: jaguars. You obviously can interact with them, but it's awesome to watch as these predators prowl around their cage, and if you're lucky enough, hear the sounds they make.
Back in the golf cart we were in, and we end our tour at the aviary. Inside colorful birds of all types fly openly around you. As you walk in you are given the choice to take in a feed stick or two, and if you offer it to them just right, they will lite upon the stick or your hand and peck away at the seeds.
The opportunity to interact with so many animals at the ranch is almost magical. The giraffe, the white rhinos and the birds really are, for me, the ice cream on the cake.
If you'd like to check out Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch just click here.
Author: Barry Davis