I love animals. My mother generously indulged my pet passion. Even though we lived in a residential area close to the beach, I had a bantam hen who laid brown eggs and a mallard duck who produced green eggs. My Toggenburg goat slept in my playhouse in the backyard and my horse (a gift from my grandmother) was boarded at my aunt’s house. A wide variety of animals cycled through my life over the years, from common creatures like guinea pigs, turtles and bearded lizards, to the more exotic like an iguana and a spider monkey. Our neighbors were very patient with our steady stream of four-legged visitors.
In the summer after my freshman year of college, I was fortunate enough to land a job at a wild animal park that was in the process of opening. I got to ride the elephants and camels to get them ready for prime time. I was given the early shift and assigned to the animal nursery and petting zoo. Before the park opened, I bottle-fed the Bengal tiger cubs and herded the llamas and other animals into the petting enclosure. Needless to say, it was my all-time favorite job. Unfortunately, Enchanted Village closed the following year. It was fun while it lasted.
When we moved to San Diego, I was thrilled to discover the San Diego Zoo and affiliated Safari Park. We explored the vast grounds and exhibits at both locations, making good use of our annual passes. The San Diego Zoo is located downtown and started with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition. It has grown into a 100-acre wildlife park with more than 12,000 rare and endangered animals. It’s also an accredited botanical garden and houses more than 700,000 plants. The Safari Park is further north in Escondido. Its’ largest exhibits are open-range enclosures that cover over 300 acres. The kids love riding the tram through the plains and savannah. And they aren’t the only ones. I’m always game to visit my furry friends.
