Wilderness Walk

 We have been busy this summer and headed over to Hayward, Wisconsin to see the Grandparents Daisy and go to Wilderness Walk!

It is not to be missed.  If you are in Hayward, Wilderness Walk comes highly recommended.  It is a petting zoo/zoo.  All the photos posted here show you only a sliver of what is to be found there.

Yes, that's an armadillo. 
You could reach in and touch it.
The leathery plates on it's body felt like . . . a purse.

There were deer galore.

Oh, deer!

My sister Maren (the one on the left) and her family were there with us too!

 Svea pets what I believe must be the Midwest's chubbiest bunny.

Viggo declares victory! (He managed to get a hold of a chicken.)

Elin poses with a cute little pony just her size!

Svea and the pony had the same 'do.

 This is a Coatimundi.

And this is the Coatimundi's car.

 

It's just a theory, but I think the Coatimundi hops in his Crazy Coupe and drives around Wilderness Walk at night.

 Svea can rattle off the name of this skunk with no problem:
The African Crested Skunk (or something like that).

 Svea likes skunks.
All animals seem to have found a place in her heart - even the ones that stink.

 Kevin and Viggo find something exciting.

I fawned something in the brush!

 Emus.
Emus creep me out.

I strongly believe Emus are the inspiration for every Dr. Suess character ever created.

 This is Alice.

Alice and Viggo had something special going on (mostly fueled by all the food Viggo gave her).
Everyone fed Alice, but watching Viggo feed her was the most fun!
He cracks me up when he giggles.

This is a real animal.
It's a Zedonk.
I am not making this up; it is a combination Zebra/donkey.
The poor things.
They are mammalia misfits.

If you don't believe me, just read this - it explains all you need to know.

 And these pigs make me want to own a farm.

I know this opossum looks gross but trust me, it was even ickier in real life. 

Did you know they can't actually hang by their tails?

Well they probably could, but only for a moment until they would fall.

The animators at Disney thought it would be cute to have them hanging from a tree branch in Bambi.

And that's why we all think they can do that.  Seriously!

But here, we can see they are debunking the hanging-by-the-tail-myth by sleeping in a crate.

Now you know.

 

 Peek!

This raccoon was bound and determined to get something.

We couldn't figure out what it was reaching for.
Possibly freedom, poor little guy.

 We panned for gold.

And I'm not naming names, but somebody was naughty and had to spend time in the stocks.

 The Mystery House!

Everything in the mystery house was, well, a mystery.
The floors were slanted.  The ceiling and walls were askew. 
And it was a little bit dark because there weren't any windows.  Spooky.

There were some vicious criminals at large.

 This rowdy one is the ringleader.

They were a tough bunch, but we managed to round them up in the end without a struggle.

And of course a peek into the giant outhouse.

The deer were pretty much everywhere.
Here, the kids found one wandering around in the Sheriff's office in the little Western Town.

Then we bundled all the cousins into the wagon for the ride home.
We do things a little bit different in Wisconsin.
(Of course we didn't ride the wagon home - we hitched a ride with the Coatimundi.)

The end!  We love Wilderness Walk!