Let me start this out by saying I love animals and am all about rescuing, saving, and helping.
Took a little trip out to the “Capital of Texas Zoo” (http://www.capitaloftexaszoo.org/) Sunday. I bought a Groupon awhile back and had that Groupon Guilt (the guilt you feel when you realize a Groupon is going to expire but you still don’t really want to go) so I had to go use it. The weather was nice, Jonathan and Kay joined me, it was set up to be a nice afternoon.
<flashback>
We all went to the “Austin Zoo” (http://www.austinzoo.org/) a few months early and felt somewhat gyped… there was literally a cage that said “Wolf” and it was someones dog… umm… no thanks. I understand that this is a rescue zoo so I will give them a kudos and just take the experience for what it was.
back to the Capital of Texas Zoo…
We drive, and drive, and drive… this place is no where near the capital of Texas… I’m not sure how they get off calling themselves the Capital of Texas Zoo… maybe I’ll start calling myself the fastest woman in the world and see where it gets me (-Tina Fey)
We pull off the road on to a path… “why is this zoo isn’t off a paved road” you can almost hear our inaudible thoughts. Pass by a number of cow pastures and some small back woods houses before we actually find the ZOO sign. It was at this points our dreams of going to a normal nice zoo with diet coke and quarter feed vending machines were crushed. My face went from hopeful excitement to this…
“This is going to be worse than the Austin Zoo” we allagree in unison. Oh well… we drove here, we are going to see some freakin animals and hopefully some energetic monkeys.
Walking into the office there is NO ONE there just a bunch of cages of snakes/lizzards/spiders and other things NO ONE should have PERIOD. The Rattle Snake literally rattled as you walked by it… my only thought was it was PISSED that it lived here and not a better zoo. Finally a maybe 11 year old boy came up and took down my Groupon number. “Its going to be $1 because we forgot to charge tax” he informed me. “ok”, “keep the change” I told him as I handed him a dollar. (ok that may have been mean)
Luckily they have the highlight of the zoo at the very front. Its a Guinea Pig exhibit (no they are not SHOW QUALITY Jonathan and Kay would want me to tell you…) which is a big open area where Guineas can run around as they would in South America. Its actually a wonderfully cute thing to watch and makes me want to have them all over my yard.
Some other highlights:
Malnourished Black Leopard Cats that wanted to scratch eyes out (but they are super cute)
Hump-phree the tortise… REALLY?
Lenard the Lemur (These are consistently my favorite of all the monkeys)
Then this crazy thing. Don’t really know what it is, but I want one!
The real problem with this zoo was that the animals didn’t look very healthy. It was also hard to find where their food and water was/would be placed. Sad. I don’t know alot about the owners but I think they are in over their heads. My best recommendation is drive the extra 30 mins and go to the San Antonio Zoo. Please send $8 to me as I have just saved you the trip 
Hhhm, well, they are only 20 miles from the door steps of the Capital in Austin, which is the nearest large city. Is there a distance limit imposed on name choices for businesses? It’s a shame that you didn’t get a chance to meet either of the owners and get to know them a bit better and learn what Capital of Texas Zoo is really all about. In the ‘zoo’ since of the word….fancy tax dollar paid for zoo, they are not. They are a non-profit, tax exempt, charitable 501(c)(3) support organization. Many of their animals are rescues and come to them in less than perfect condition. There is a lot of care and attention put into the animals. The ‘owners’ themselves work from dawn to dusk and then some. They are not fancy suite wearing corporate desk jockeys. That 11 year old (although more than likely 13) is a volunteer. Capital of Texas Zoo has many teen age volunteers who are heading towards careers in the animal field such as Veterinarian, Animal Husbandry, Marine Biologist, Wildlife Rehabilitation…just to name a few. This experience they are given will follow with them for the rest of their lives. Lots of the animals are hand fed daily by these teens. How many ‘big’ zoo’s can say they have this much interaction with their animals?
There really is a lot more to this zoo than meets the eye
did he mention the cougar attack on one of his volunteers? also there are no “owners” of a non-profit organization – there is or is supposed to be a board of directors to see that the day to day operations are in compliance with the federal law regarding non-profits. Mike just is trying to figure out a way to fund his expensive hobby of selling off exotic animals (I know, disguise it as a nonprofit and make it look like a noble cause- dream on, Mikey)
If they are a 501 c 3 – non-profit organization why did the kid charge you a “tax” – they are tax exempt. just another one of their scams, I guess.
Why would you call the leopard cubs malnourished? They were fat, playful little butterballs when we saw them. Trying to get enough interest in your blog it can make you some money, truth be damned, hmmm? Give it up, your not talented enough
I expect to make no money from my blog- and I’m sorry you feel differently than I. I am only stating what I saw which is perfectly normal and my right. The cub was skin and bones. Glad to hear it got a descent meal when you saw him.