Wildlife Ranch

On our second day in San Antonio, we started out the morning by visiting a wonderful tourist gem just north of the city-- the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. This site is a large drive-through animal sanctuary that they call an "African Safari-- Texas Style!" We loved our time here!

Notice that Jaden and Cody requested their jackets this morning. How pleasant it was to have morning weather that actually felt somewhat like fall! The clear skies and bright sunshine were ideal for our visit that day, though not that great for posing two 4-year-olds... :)

Once we drove past the entrance, we weren't allowed to get out of the car next to all the animals, although we were permitted to have our windows down. The park was divided into different sections based on the types of animals that could roam well together. The first area was the Tatonka Range. We purchased a guidebook to help us identify the animals (although some species were still somewhat difficult to pinpoint), so I'll attempt to label these guys correctly.

Deer

We also purchased two bags of animal food for Jaden and Cody to use during our drive through the ranch. At first, the boys (Cody especially) were dumping tons of food out of the car for each animal they saw, even though the animals showed no interest. We reminded Jaden and Cody that the food bags needed to last during the entire morning's drive. They ended up holding back so much that their bags were still nearly half full by the end! Estimating amounts is not a strength of a 4-year-old, apparently. :)

an Aoudad, relative of a goat

two battling Wildebeest

 Cody and Jaden were practically giddy with excitement at the animals' proximity to our van. It really was amazing! Most of the time, the wildlife ranch had strategically placed large food supplies for the animals right along the road to draw them out, so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. :)

Longhorn

We were thankful that these animals were very tame!

American Bison

At one point, we were close enough to these deer to hear some of their grunting/croaking calls to one another. You'll hear on the video that Jaden and Cody have a different interpretation of what these animal sounds are! :)

Jaden and Cody loved leaning out the windows to not only feed the animals but to call out to them and beckon them to our car.

a Gemsbok, a member of the Oryx family

Kudu

The second section was called Tower Creek. We had heard stories about the feisty ostrich in this area! Thankfully, none of the ostrich attempted to approach our vehicle. They were too interested in their own food.

I think we determined the main differences between the ostrich and the rhea (other than the taller height for the ostrich) were a shorter neck and no distinct tail for the rhea. We passed by a good sized group of rhea. Some of the birds just stared at our van while others seemed quite interested in our food and came very close!

Thankfully, this ambitious ostrich didn't try to approach our car. When we heard playful screams (coming from this carful of college girls whom we later met) across the road, I had to snap a few shots. The ostrich's neck was literally all the way inside the car!

No problems identifying this guy! :)

Halfway through the drive, the ranch conveniently placed a rest area. It was perfect timing, as Jaden had said several minutes earlier that he really needed a bathroom! Walking around outside a bit also re-energized both boys for the rest of our journey.

The boys asked if they could climb the sign, so we let them jump off it a few times. I love these Daddy-son pictures-- the boys have complete faith that their Daddy will catch them!

Jaden and Daddy

Cody and Daddy

In the ranch's third section, our favorite encounter was with the zebras. These friendly little guys came right up and even licked our van at one point! It was hard to believe the warning that all these zebras may bite.

Yes, this zebra herd caused our car to be at a standstill for quite some time.

We didn't mind too much. We loved admiring these beautiful animals! Did you know that no two zebras have the same stripe pattern and that the patterns even differ from one side of the zebra's body to the other?

Just another ostrich crusin' down the road

Hey, Llama!

The last section of the ranch was a Walk-a-bout which included various primates...

...and a Lemur Island. You'll have to look closely to find these guys! :)

Thankfully, the ranch had a good setup for how to use any remaining animal food that visitors might have-- this petting barnyard full of goats. Jaden was immediately comfortable petting and feeding the goats right out of his hand.

It took Cody a little longer to warm up to the animals but he did eventually. 

Even Daddy made some new 4-legged friends.

By this point in our journey, Cody and Jaden were showing much more interest in climbing on the rocks than they were looking at the animals, so we decided that our visit was done. :)

What a fun place to visit! Thanks, Kim, for the great recommendation!