Hidden Oak Farms

This past Saturday, Kenny, Mira, and I went and checked out another little petting zoo in the area called Hidden Oak Farms. The website looked really nice, so we thought we'd give it a try. I've really been aching to take Mira to a "real" zoo because she just adores animals and knows so many. But, this is the best we can do locally.

When we pulled up to this place (which is in the middle of nowhere!), we were a little skeptical since we were pulling into someone's driveway! Well, there were lots of cars parked there, and, again, the website was pretty convincing, and we had driven a long way to get there, so we decided to go ahead and see what it was all about!

I'm so glad we did! It was a wonderful morning - we all really enjoyed the place a lot! These people really do run this little zoo (which is accredited by the USDA and is a member of the National Wildlife Rescue/Rehabilitation Association - they rescue and rehabilitate animals native to Louisiana).

I'll let the pictures tell most of the story! There were a lot more animals than I'm posting pics of - this was a BIG place to be on someone's personal property!

We were greeted right off the bat by this adorable and super-friendly baby goat - an orphaned kid who had just joined the Hidden Oak family! He loved all the affection but wasn't too pushy about it! Sweet guy! He was roaming around the entrance (donning a rhinestone collar) right along the family dogs who were just as friendly and well-behaved.

These guys were very vocal and actually responded in sync everytime I "gobble-gobble-gobbled" at them!! They were quite the bullies though - stole a carrot from a rabbit and pushed the kangaroo out of the way to try and get our food (that's pretty bold considering the kangaroo could have sent them flying with one swift kick - lucky for them, she was carrying a baby)! Thankfully, there was a fence between us and them!

One of the cutie-pies in the petting zoo portion. They were all so well-behaved (didn't act like they were starving for food and attention) and friendly!

Give me some carrots...please! I told you, they were very polite (for farm animals, at least)!

If you keep making that face, it's gonna stick! Oh, wait....too late!  

Neither Kenny or Mira were crazy about feeding or petting any of the animals, so they stayed strong in numbers while I had a great time feeding and loving on all the goats, sheep, rabbits, etc.

This rooster was really showing off his vocal cords - Mira joined in with her adorable rendition of "cock-a-doodle-doo!!" I think he might have been her favorite part of the whole deal.

This lamb and kid were so cute! They were like totally BFF's and played together the whole time - frolicking all over the place.

Momma Roo coming in for a close-up!

Do you spy the joey??

The "train" ride - Mira seemed to enjoy it. I'm surprised I was able to get in this thing and even more surprised I was able to get out!

I had never seen a four-horned sheep before. That is not it's scientific name or anything, I don't even know if this is normal or some genetic fluke. Very interesting, but I had worn tired of reading signs at that point.

I'm pretty sure this goose was saying something to the effect of, "Go ahead, do it, I double-dog dare you - make my day!" Not sure what he thought I was going to do to him, but he seemed ready for whatever I was bringin'.

Daddy is so funny and swinging is so fun - swinging with Daddy is the BEST!

Which way next? Mira doesn't need the sign in the background; she knows where she wants to go! Kenny doesn't seem convinced...

We decided to pack some food and have a "picnic" for lunch. The snack shack at this place has a pretty big menu, but it's ALL meat! This was really nice, and Mira thought it was so cool sitting in the back of the Escape with us (yes, we all squeezed in there) while having chips and salsa and Oreos! You can see that Kenny was overly-excited about his PB&H sandwich, too! Well, we had worked up quite an appetite!

Like I said, I'm really glad we went, and I'm sure we'll go back! It was a lot of fun!