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September 24, 2006
Popcorn Anyone?
We visited the Popcorn Park Zoo today in Forked* River, New Jersey. It's an animal sanctuary run by the Associated Humane Societies.
Tucked into the Pine Barrens, the zoo is a random sprawl of dated enclosures that house both domestic and exotic animals; from sheep and potbelly pigs to tigers and lions (and, yes, bears too). All ended up at the zoo for various reasons from being handed over by owners who didn't fully appreciate the requirements of the exotic animal they sought to make a pet, to simple neglect (from which recovery is not always so simple), and outright inhumane treatment.
Too bad my camera's batteries were DOA. I had checked them just before leaving, but the show they had put on for me at my front door was to be their last huzzah. Serves me right for playing WoW all day yesterday and not planning ahead.
One fanciful feature of the park is that you can purchase popcorn to feed the animals. They love the stuff! -- unsalted, unbuttered, air popped, and just a touch stale of course. Yes, I tasted it. :P Bland-O! The monkeys however preferred the optional peanuts, and the big cats were interested in neither. (Neither popcorn nor peanuts are anything like meat!) I'm not sure if the popcorn encouraged them, but the park's denizens were generally more active than at any other zoo I've visted.
Admission was surprisingly cheap with all the proceeds going to maintaining the zoo; less than US$20 for four and a large box of popcorn and change to spare! It takes about an hour to go through the park, and makes for a nice time.
* Pronounced: For-ked (New Jerseyan)
Posted by Tacitus at September 24, 2006 05:04 PM