Birthday Party Today at the Park

We are super crowded today at the park!! That is always a good thing. We have a 30 person birthday party complete with meal preparation. Our restaurant is open and cooking. Tours and trams are booked all day. We will have pics by the end of the day!  STAY TUNED!!!

Big Lions At The Park Showing

Arjuena the Barbary Lion

Today we are featuring the Lions of the park! There are 6 lions on the grounds, all of which will serve a great display as our trainers teach about them. Above is Arjuena, a Barbary Lion, of which have been extinct in the wild since 1922. The last known wild Barbary Lion was shot in the Atlas Mountains. Lions sleep 20 hours a day and hunt or scavenge for food the other 4 hours of the day. Their roar is a 5 mile roar, one when Arjuena roars can be heard for several miles. When we have a tram or tours, he will roar and the whole tour will stop and listen as his roar is breathtaking and the splendor of the power invoked with a roar is captivating!!

Leo the 2 year old African Lion

Leo the Lion is from Africa and you can see his mane just starting to grow. It will take him 7 years to grow his mane in fully. If you were to neuter a lion, his mane would quit growing. The necessity of nature supersedes the procedure. Leo will be on display today as our trainers are ready to show him off!!

New Big Cat Training Facility

We have been a little bit laxed on the blog this week....we have built a new Big Cat Training Facility AND we have had so much rain that the animals were of utmost importance.

We will have pics of the new facility shortly posted on our blog, please stand by.

The Baboons of Dade City Wild Things

We have two baboons at the zoo, Tyson the Hamadryas Baboon and Wilson the Chacma Baboon. They are an old world monkey, that is when you smile at them or make eye contact with them, they take that as a form of aggression and will return the aggression to make themselves bigger or meaner than you are! They have two inch long fangs and they will show those to you if they feel threatened. They can weigh up to 100 pounds but can have the strength of four humans. Their pads on the bottom of their rump are made for sitting and the pads absorb shock from sitting or the cold and heat.


 

BIG HANKS ZEBRA MARKINGS

If you notice Big Hank's markings, you will see small vertical stripes around his neck and face making his vital areas look small to all predators, particularly lions. On his rump end, you will notice wide, horizontal stripes which appeal more to the predators, ie lions. That particular area on the zebra are where his hind legs can defend himself from the lions that will attack him. The hind legs can kick higher than his backbone and are strong enough to kill a lion or at least to defend himself from them. This is another way that nature has been able to have this species stay in abundance. It does not mean that all will succeed in defense of their breed, because a zebra that gets separated from the herd will draw attention from the predators.

Hank is a Grant's zebra , which is the most populous breed of zebra in Africa and is so because of his defense mechanisms. As with tigers, no two zebras have the same stripe pattern. The stripes on tigers and zebras are like a humans fingerprints....they are all different and uniquely identifies each and every animal.

 

ZEBRA MARKINGS ARE DIFFERENT ON EACH ANIMAL

Land Rovers Adventure Series Episode Four: Wild Rescue

Coyotes Howling This Morn With The Cougars

We have several coyotes in the zoo and many of them sing to us each morning....their wake up call to us!!

Scooter and the monkeys gather by their perch and welcome the vegetables and fruit, including peeled bananas, that is distributed to their food bowls. We turn their water on to the pool and they become swimmers and eaters in the same breath!! 

Scooter is the star of the 'Sunken Jungle Walking Tour' as he relates to the onlookers as well as any one animal in the park. He gracefully smiles and with the encouragement of the guests, will start dancing, swooning and moving with the sound of his name!

 Cougars

 Gators

 Scooter, the Capuchin Monkey and Kelsey

Scooter and His Friend

Zoo Wednesday Fan Fare

Animals to feed this morn and a tree limb to cut up! We are nestled on a woodsy estate, 22 acres worth, with tour paths crossing throughout the estate. Our first hour or so we prepare the zoo for visitors and begin feeding breakfast to the little ones and the BIG ones.

Tony and Bella are ready for the tour tram to come show them off today. Tony is a year old Bengal Tiger and Bella is a year and half old Bengal Tiger. Tony was on 'Fox and Friends' as a four month old and shared the spotlight, along with our trainers, and Ben Stein on the same show!

 Tony, the Ultimate Showman

Bella, the 'Ham' of Tigers

Land Rovers Adventure Series Episode Three: Flight To Nowhere

Watch Randy The Tiger Man and Mr. Wild on The
 'Flight To Nowhere'

Amusement Park Saturday

Tons of people today with several 'swim with the tigers', and the white Bengal tiger baby 'encounters' at the park today!! There is nothing better to see than when a child, or anyone for that matter, smiling from ear- to-ear after the white baby Bengal encounter. Those of you who read our social sites are aware of the 'encounters' we offer. Those of you who don't, there is a remedy!

 Call 352-567-WILD (9453) and GET ON 

OUT  HERE !!!!

 

Tampa Kiwanis Club Luncheon with Wild Things, FaceBook Contest

Randy at the Kiwanis Club of Tampa

Randy The Tiger Man presents the Wild Things Zoo to the Tampa Kiwanis Club on Wednesday, September 4. The Dade City Wild Things Zoo graciously thanks the Kiwanis Club of Tampa for the opportunity of getting our mission of 'preserving wildlife' out to all of you!!

 

Come Get Your Rub On

FaceBook contest:

Submit the most creative use of our logo or picture of a tiger to be submitted by Sept 16.
Finalist will be posted for FaceBook judging.

The winner gets a free swim, photo package and tour.

Winner to be announced September 30.

The finalist with the most "likes" will be the winner, so finalists, be sure to "share" your entry!
All submissions have to be on Dade City's Wild Things FaceBook page, either by post or sharing.
By sharing on your FaceBook page, or friends FaceBook page, will boost your chance of winning.

Rain driven night!

Tons of rain overnight here! We will walk the park for tree limbs and any other sign of damage to the park. Our day will bring many anxious zoo followers and we want to have our park ready.

We will show a pic of the show to come today!

 Thunder has a day with the kids planned

The Bears have a feeding with the guests today

Ready for today's encounters!!

We got caught up with the necessary projects yesterday around the park. The remainder of the week has us ready to display our animals to the public, we hope you are one of them! Rain last night had us scrambling for towels this morning to get the necessary vehicles ready for the tours.

 You Guys Make The Zoo Possible

 The Learning Session

The BIG Boy Tortoise and Friends

Tuesday at the Zoo!

The crew and the animals are happy to see each other today as Labor Day weekend was a very busy time at the park. As a crew, we catch up on the things that a busy weekend puts at bay to accomplish. Trash cans get full, tree branches fall, equipment needs to be filled up with petroleum. All of this is ascertained as we greet our beloved animals. Through all of this, it is a great feeling when the tigers greet you with a big tiger grin. The monkeys come to the front and reach out with a clap. The lions give you a whispered roar. The macaws flutter their wings in beauty.

The passion for the animals is unmatched and the passion the animals have for you is unmatched!

 King's Big Smile

 Hank and his Teeth on display

 The curiosity of Hank

The Little BIG Boy's grin

Land Rovers Adventure Series: Episode Two

Watch Randy The Tiger Man and his mate explore the unknown in the Land Rovers Adventure Series: Episode Two