The weather for the majority of the last month had been chilly and raining, no less so during this trip, so we had plans to lounge around and take in a viewing or two of Pirates of Penzance, which proved to be an extra effective tool for keeping super-curious and friendly Flynn out of the plumbers' way while they were working. Mom and I chatted with the two men for a bit and through some story telling I felt prompted to look at Luray Facebook pages to see what was out there. I had long ago liked the page for the Caverns, learned that there was a separate page for Luray itself, and saw a page for the Luray Rescue Zoo.
Now, Luray having a zoo was not at all news to me. We pass the sign featuring a tiger for the zoo on our way in to town, and have passed it every single trip for as long as I can remember. We visit the Walmart across the road from the zoo several times whenever we are there, and so are quite familiar with the giant alligator-mouth entrance and dated fiberglass dinosaur that stands sentinel beside the parking lot entrance. I have at least once every season wondered to myself why we had never been to the zoo and sometimes make a mental note to go, maybe on the following trip, but it hadn't happened yet. I think we all thought that a small country zoo would have too much potential for a negative experience of one variety or another to even take the chance, but pulling up the Facebook page changed my mind. Seeing that the Luray Zoo was a rescue zoo helped shift my expectations. To me, rescue efforts are very different than someone trying to open a zoo for the purpose of profit. I was also encouraged by the pictures of enrichment activities provided to the inhabitants, in particular the efforts made to celebrate the birthday of their tiger with special (appropriate) treats. I was intrigued anew.
Since we'd been in the house all day, and Mom needed to stay home with the plumbers, she offered to watch Toby so Flynn and I could have a mama/son date and be the first ones in the family to visit Luray zoo. We were flirting with lunch/nap time, so I was a little bit hesitant, but it turned out to be such a fun adventure.
Flynn was a little bit cautious as he eyeballed the giant alligator mouth that was the front door. I didn't make any deal out of it, simply ignored it was there and walked confidently through, and he followed without a chance to show any more concern. Of course, it helped that we entered directly into a gift shop filled with toys and stuffed animals. I was greeted by one of the owners, bought my ticket (yay for free kids!) and took Flynn's hand as we were pointed through a back door of the gift shop. The owner stood in the doorway and I felt a little bit like Dorothy-not-in-Kansas-anymore from how we were directed to proceed through the zoo then left to our own devices in a strange place.
First we had to navigate two substantially sized reptile room. Tanks were stacked 3-high, almost every one was occupied, and at least 3/4 of the inhabitants were venomous. I walked through slowly, letting Flynn walk at first, then carrying him so he could see the higher tanks. We greeted almost every snake ("Hello, snake!") and while it was incredibly fascinating to see such an impressive collection of varieties of snakes from all over the world, by the middle of the second room I started to feel uneasy and imagined that one could start a horror movie based on being surrounded by so many deadly creatures. I picked up my pace and forced a pause at the end of the room with a huge murky dark water tank at shoulder height to my left (the home a positively huge prehistoric-looking snapping turtle) and in front of us a giant window looking into the hangout for two massive alligators looking directly back at us.
I took a couple of slow, deep breaths to calm my rising nerves then carried Flynn out the back door into the main part of zoo. We stopped to read the rules for expected conduct and I held his hand while we explored the cages. We saw a few varieties of primates, many varieties of birds (parrots, doves, hawks, owl, peacock, condor, kookaburra), a tiger, porcupine, and lemur to name a few. The exhibits had plaques that provided information about the type of animal inside, but many also had plaques with that particular animal's name and their story of how they came to the rescue zoo. I very much enjoyed learning about the animals, both facts about their species, and facts about who they were as individuals.
Flynn and I were the only two humans in the park, so we had ample, uninterrupted time to stroll through the exhibits. As we were closing the loop and nearing the door back into the reptile rooms I noticed 3 small goats walking along the path towards us. I looked around, expecting someone on staff to appear, assuming the goats were being moved from one space to another, but no one else was around. I watched the goats get closer, trying to quickly decide how to handle the situation as Flynn hadn't seen them yet. I decided to just let the moment happen then make a decision based on his reaction. I pointed them out so he wouldn't be too surprised to turn around and find himself surrounded, and he leaned towards me a little bit, but otherwise just watched with mild interest. The goats were more interested in finding vegetation to graze on than us, which made for a pretty much perfect animal-child introduction; neither overwhelmed the other. Seeing that the goats weren't aggressive or overly-affectionate, Flynn and I went on ahead with our exploration, the trio of goats trailing leisurely along behind us.
At the back part of the property is where the petting zoo section was, and there we found all the rest of a good-sized herd of goats, many of which easily jumped the wooden rails to join us in the 'viewing pavilion'. It was here that I read a sign informing visitors not to be concerned if the goats jump the fence and roam, they are very much permitted to do so (this sign might be more helpful up front when first entering the zoo, but hey). Flynn was completely nonplussed at being surrounded by four-legged mouthy creatures, some with horns, and I was thrilled! He talked to them, gave gentle pats, and crouched down to see what they were doing as they nosed the floor for bits of food, I was really impressed by his naturally calm and nonchalant demeanor. My fun, happy-go-lucky guy.
After a few minutes bonding with the goats we said goodbye ("Dye dye, goaks!") and made our way back through the wandering path, offering goodbyes to the rest of the residents. In the gift shop we picked up a couple of goodies to take home as souvenirs, all in all a wonderful Mama/Son date.
I love animals so much and it is my hope to impart that love to my children. So far I think we are on the right track.
