I Promised Baby Goats...

... and baby goats you will receive!

While we were in Phoenix we visited the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium. I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be an activity mostly for the children, but I promise you the person who got the most enjoyment out of it was me. Well me, and maybe Doug's sister.

Goat Party. Party of 4.

There was a small petting zoo inside, filled with BABY GOATS. It was also filled with deer and adult goats, but they were kind of frightening so let's focus on the babies. There was no one around to tell us what you could and couldn't do, so Doug really needed to talk me out of slipping a baby goat into my bag to bring back as a souvenir for the shop.

I know I'm smiling in that picture, but I was actually in the middle of a mild panic attack.  We decided to feed the goats (with the provided food) and things got serious. A goat swarming is not my favorite thing in the world. Do you see that Deer eating both of our sweaters? That thing didn't stop. Doug's sister, on the right, has a hole in her shirt as a result.  Her sweet little baby seemed to be doing a-ok though. After that it was about time to visit some other animals.

TURTLES. Ok fine, Tortoises. Whatever. They were super amazing, and you were allowed to get all up close and personal with them. There was no one supervising this area, so potentially I could have brought Hollie a giant turtle home too, but there was a sign that advised us not to sit on them. Good idea.

Arguably the highlight of the day might have been the Giraffe Feeding Station. Yup, that's right. What gets you kicked out of African Lion Safari is perfectly acceptable here. Giraffe tongues are gross. They are black, super long and bendy, and rough like sandpaper. Still, I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to let one wrap around my hand.

While we're here, do you see the fence made of wooden posts in the background of this picture? That was all that was keeping the giraffes enclosed from the rest of the zoo. A three foot high fence, for a 20 foot tall animal sounds about right to me.

If you're ever out Phoenix way, I highly recommend a stop to this zoo. What makes it the best really is its complete and utter lack of safety or security measures. Do you want to pet that Rhinoceros? Go ahead! There's no one around to tell you not too, and he's only separated from you by a 3 foot high wall. Impalas can jump 40 feet in the air you say? Better surround them with a wall that goes no higher than your waist. Want to pet a kangaroo? Don't do it... those things are mean.