Our Last Southern Blog (That We Know Of...)

A tarantula we found outside our dorm

 

We are finishing up our time in the Ozarks and will soon be heading back to Nebraska.  Last weekend was an exciting one though, a wonderful blend of Ligers, Lions, and Luck (Jesse ate a four leaf clover).  We visited the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, a home for rescued big cats and bears.  It turns out you used to be able to buy baby wild animals as easily as you could buy candy cigarettes for a minor.  But of course, wild animals don't make the best pets and are difficult to take care of.  Many of these animals end up abandoned and in poor health when their elderly owners no longer can take care of them, and that's where the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge steps in!

The highlights of the refuge included a liger, Bam Bam the grizzly bear, and knowing that the money spent on our snow cones went to a good cause.  If you want to find out a little more or even donate to a good cause, then click here.

It was a lot different than a zoo.  To us, the animals seemed far more active, and enjoyed showing off for people (probably because they grew up being handled by them).  We got to hear tigers growling, pumas snarling, lions roaring, and see Bam Bam balancing on his head.  What a ham...I mean bear!



One of our fishing trips in the kayaks

We cliff dove from the very top!  First you have
to swim to the base of the cliff, then there
 is a rope you have to use to climb
 to the top.

Our first time out in the resort kayaks