I scheduled a visit for a Monday, but I wasn't proactive about renting a car (required to get out to the farm) and couldn't make it. I was a little worried because I already paid for my ticket, but I called and they were super flexible and willing to change my ticket to another day. I was pleased that they were so helpful and willing to accommodate my changes. I was also happy that I could get a rental car with only a few days notice. The good thing about a beach town is that most other people are making impromptu plans too, so when something's not possible it's usually do-able a few days later. I will also commend Bredl's Wild Farm for providing some solid recommendations about what to bring on the visit (a packed lunch and tons of water) - it made for a much more pleasant visit.
I enjoyed my visit at the farm. I was a little taken aback at first because the Daniel, the son who started our tour, was waiting to greet the group as they trickled in. We first met at the cassowary enclosure and then later progressed further in to the property to the rest of the experiences. I was the first person to arrive and Daniel asked me right away about American politics. He was quite aggressive about asking me about President Trump. This was the third time this happened to me on this trip. I can't say it surprised me, but what I was surprised by was that each time men were asking me about Trump, telling me that "you are the American and I follow politics, but it's your home country so I'm sure you know more", and then they proceeded to tell me that I must be happy with our President because of the strength of our economy. It wasn't quite "mansplaining" but they really didn't seem interested in hearing my opinion - no matter what it was. They also were not interested in entertaining an assessment of a president beyond the strength of the economy. There was zero interest in any of the societal dynamic in the United States. So, it's fair to say I was a little put off from the start of my visit. I was happy when others started arriving and we moved away from talking about American politics.
Generally speaking, the farm was really interesting, I enjoyed interacting with the animals, and I had a good time. It was clear that everyone who met with us knew a lot about animal behavior, but I also questioned their knowledge some. Much of the information was presented from an experience perspective with a little bit of book learnin'. There was a clear bias of experience over formal education and an outright criticism of those who were more formally educated. In fact, I heard Daniel blatantly mock a zoologist's knowledge. Context was missing, so it's hard to tell if there was just disdain for anyone who is formally educated or if maybe this zoologist was speaking beyond his/her knowledge. And despite what some people might assume about professors, I really do believe you learn an immeasurable amount from experience that you can't learn in a classroom. I also clearly believe in the importance of gaining foundational knowledge through schooling. There were several times during my visit in which someone would ask a question and the answer was posed in an "experts say this, but we know better" sort of a way and then it was almost always followed up with a statement about how "I'm always reading and learning about the animals and staying up to date with information". I don't believe that the care of the animals was suffering because of this lack of formal education, but there were a couple times when I think the answers weren't known it felt like our guides were faking it somewhat, or making something up to sound like they knew what they were talking about. I don't expect that someone can answer every single question about all of the animals, but if you bill yourself as a foremost expert I expect you to be able to provide a reasonable answer to why you might NOT know something. It's ok to not know it, but just admit it.
Something that was done quite well was that the group was limited to about 24 people. For a portion of the experience we were broken up into two groups. This enabled us to have a more intimate experience with the animals and our guides. We all were given the chance to hold every animal we were invited to hold, feed and pet the others, and get a good view of crocs from the safety of our caged truck. It really was all-access. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier but the price of the experience was easily half the price of others that I saw that offered only one animal (i.e., to hold a koala only). So, without further ado, here are a bunch of pictures of me holding animals, some of which I'm thrilled to be holding and some of which I am not, but decided I'm only living once so I might as well just go for it. There are also pictures and video of the crocodile experience.
Cassowaries
We all got the chance to feed the cassowaries. They primarily eat fruit. Cassowaries are known as "the most dangerous bird on the planet" but the stories about them are often inflated and misrepresented. Yes, it's true they can mess you up, particularly by puncturing you with one of their claws and then if they happen to sweep down that claw can slice you open pretty bad. According to our guide, there is only one recorded death in Australia from a cassowary. The kid who died came across one with his brother and tried to club it to death, so yeah... flight or fight kicked in and unfortunately one of those kids paid the price. And generally speaking, if you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you.
Emu
Kangaroos
I think I got all of my kangaroos and wallabies separated appropriately, but I'm far from a marsupial expert. So if I got one or two wrong, just go with the flow. Generally speaking, kangaroos are more gray in color, they are bigger, and I think they have bigger ears and snouts that remind me of donkeys a bit.
This little kangaroos was crawling in to the pouch to nurse. Kangaroos vary in how long they'll allow a joey to nurse and have access to the pouch in general.
Wallabies
Wombat
Wombats are more temperamental and can bite pretty hard (aka do some real damage), so we were not permitted to hold Stella. We were allowed to pet her though.
Chickens and a Duck
Chickens and a duck aren't that exciting except I thought these ones were pretty bad ass looking. That being said, I legitimately salivate when I look at them because I think of plump, juicy chicken breast. Maybe that's a bit messed up, but it's true.
Turtles
Turtles aren't exciting either, but I opted to hold one because despite having grown up with plenty of turtles around, I've never actually held one. I was told, "hold it like a sandwich".
Skinks
Skinks are a family of lizards that have over 1,500 different types of lizards in it. I know that because that's what Wikipedia told me. Generally speaking, I was not interested in holding any of the lizards or the snakes, but the guides joked that if you held a koala - which of course you do almost right off the bat - then you need to hold the lizards and snakes or they send one home with you. I held all of the things mostly out of peer pressure, some level of indifference for most of it, and maybe even out of a slight curiosity of some of it. It's also hard to back out when you have a 6 and a 7 year old next to you jumping at the chance to hold all of them.
Pythons
I really don't need to ever do this again. Ever.
Crocodiles
At first glance it may seem really cruel, but the sticks and bucket were not used against the crocodiles. The sticks are used to prod sometimes, but mostly they are used to lightly hold over their eyes or to rub across their eyes and their brows to get the crocs to close their eyes. The buckets are used to make noise, as well as to be an object to stop a croc's jaws if need be.
I was very conflicted about this croc's front left foot. I noticed it was bleeding and I asked about it. The answer that was given to me was that there are growths on the sides of each of this croc's feet and one seemed to be a bit bloody. I just kind of stared back at that response because... well, duh. After repeating himself a few times in slightly different phrasing (there was a lot of that), our guide eventually said that a vet has looked at it and offered to take it off, but that it's cosmetic. Because it wasn't functionally a problem and the croc didn't seem to be bothered by it - which is how it seemed, they decided not to do anything about it. I think I was uncomfortable with that answer for two reasons: 1) it was a live bleeding animal and a decision was made to let it bleed while a profit was being made off of it, and 2) the guide, Daniel, kept talking about chasing records for size and, with respect to the cassowaries, not altering the environment, animal, or food because of the hopes of reproduction. The cassowaries are a different situation because they are hard to breed and the circumstances are finicky. That being said, throughout the visit we were getting tidbits of information about making decisions based on desired outcomes, not the entire picture. It contributed to a low level of unease I had about the farm. I don't want to say they were doing anything wrong. I'm out of my element and I don't know. I don't even want to imply anything unsavory. But I think they themselves gave the impression with some of the things that were said that they are motivated by records and outcomes other than providing a safe and and happy environment for the animals. The bloody foot was one element that made me low key suspicious.
Koalas
I'm so glad that I was able to hold a koala. They really did seem quite sweet. I did have a moment where I questioned, and still do, whether letting tourists hold koalas is a good thing. I love the idea of increasing exposure to a variety of animals and educating people about them. I think there's something to a tactile experience that can be more impactful than just looking, especially when it's looking from a distance. But, as you can see from my pictures, the koala I was holding was done by the time I got a chance to hold her. She was being rewarded between each person and was clearly well cared for, but it made me question whether we're stressing them out too much with this sort of experience.
Sugar Glider
I saved the sugar glider for last because it was just this cute little fuzz ball. She was full grown and napping in this little pouch. She was super soft and did not seemed to be bothered by, much less notice, being passed from person to person and petted.
Ok, that's it. Despite the somewhat critical nature of this post, I really did have a good time and was happy to have these experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment