The Cannon Hackett Chronicle: Lions, Hyenas, & Wolves, Oh my!

watching the mountain lions chomp some chicken

Ben's latest animal adventure was to the Snake Farm & Exotic Animal Park up in New Braunfels today. Tina and Auden accompanied us on an exciting morning jaunt to check out all the animals. They have loads of snakes (ick), beautiful birds, a buffalo, zebra, lemurs, a camel, some very aggressive goats (in the petting zoo), and big turtles (along with many other animals). But MOST awesomely, they have some great carnivores that are only separated from visitors by two fences and about 4 feet of space.

We were lucky to be there during feeding time today and we got to watch the hyenas, wolves, and mountain lions chomp down some raw chicken legs (coated in vitamin supplements) and hunks of raw ground beef hand-fed by a zoo keeper. Ben watched the whole thing very intently, and (although he looked a little concerned during the feeding process) seemed to enjoy himself all the same.

It was pretty incredible to be so close to such huge animals at mealtime! The hyenas made some weird keening noises and inhaled the chicken legs whole, but then went and lay down happily in the sun. The wolves acted like they wanted to fight each other at first, but calmed down pretty quickly once they all got some chicken and beef. It was also really interesting to be able to talk to and ask questions of the animal keeper as he fed them.

one harnessed (not happy) boy @ the Snake Farm

The mountain lions were the most interesting to me (maybe since lions were always my favorite animal as a kid). The zoo keeper made the mountain lions lay down on their tummies before he would feed them. He told us he does it that way because when he just tried to hand it to them through the fence, they would swipe their arms and claws through the bars at him and the food. In fact, a little fledgeling hen wandered too close to the lion bars while they were being fed and one of the lions smacked it (it flew off and seemed okay though). One of the lions refused to lay down when the others did, and actually walked away during feeding time (only to return about a minute later and do his "trick".) They are apparently fed twice a day, though, so I guess he wasn't that hungry.

look closely, those are prairie dogs climbing the bars!

(I have videos off all three of these feedings down below.)

I've been trying to get Ben used to walking in his harness again (since he doesn't want to be carried much anymore, and he loves to dash off in the most dangerous direction possible), but it's definitely slow going. I'd rather it if he would just hold my hand, but he doesn't want to do that either. Nothing I can do except keep on trying, I guess!

In other news, a week from tomorrow Benben goes for his 15 month wellness check-up. I really really really really really really hope everything checks out and there are no more medical surprises this time!

enjoying a chilly, sunny morning

Speaking of medical issues, Ben's eating has vastly improved in the last few weeks. In the last few days I've only put on his food-catching pocket-bib a couple of times. For anyone who knows just how messy Ben was before, this will seem pretty unbelievable. He still needs super soft foods (I'm using the Baby Bullet blender my wonderful sister gave me to make his foods at home more edible), but almost ALL of what he eats is staying in his mouth now!!! I'm so happy about that! Hopefully we'll only need another month or so of therapy, and then that will be one less health-related expense out the window.

I've really been enjoying our cooler weather lately, but Ben is surprisingly not at all fond of long-sleeved shirts and pants. The first few cool mornings we've had, he actually cried while tugging at the pant legs and shirt sleeves. He's a bit more used to them now, luckily.