A Zorse is a Zorse Of Course, Of Course...

Today, I met a 'zorse.' A zorse is a hybrid between a zebra and a horse. There is also a 'zee-donk' which is a hybrid mix of a donkey and a zebra. We went to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch out in Pilot Point, Texas, which is not far from Denton. We had been wanting to go there for years, but the opportunity never came up until now. Either I was working, or it was too hot, or something else was going on, but today was the perfect opportunity. I was off of work and the weather was supposed to be in the mid-70's.

A 'Zorse' at Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

Several years ago, the Heard had a few of their animals on exhibit on the animal trail. Jeffrey and I helped with the care of them. As I recall, there were 2 African Crested Porcupines, 2 Patagonian Cavies 2 Capybaras, 2 kinkajous, two brown lemurs, Tippy and 'Pogo', 2 Ring-Tailed lemurs  and several wallabies who were from Sharkarosa.  I got attached to all of them as I usually do with animals. I had become especially fond of Pogo and of the Kinkajous. One of the Kinkajous had a baby and I just loved that mother and baby. Actually, I'm not sure if the Kinkajous belonged to Snake Farm or Sharkarosa, but the lady at Sharkarosa took care of the baby after it left the Heard and she took excellent care of her.  The animals had to be returned to Sharkarosa and it broke my heart to say goodbye to them. Fortunately, the lady in charge of the animals at our museum at the time worked like crazy and got us more animals in a short amount of time. I stayed in contact with a lady at Sharkarosa and she sent me photos of the baby kinkajou, named 'Roxie', all grown up.

Here's a Drawing of Roxie, the Baby Kinkajou drawn from a photo that was sent to me.

This is Roxie All Grown Up

I remember that Roxie's mom loved purple grapes and I always made sure to have some when I went to look after her. She would take them from my hands. Those kinkajous are so sweet. They're still wild animals who can deliver a bite if they see fit, but they are really cute. I didn't get to see Kinkajous at Sharkarosa, they had gone with their human, to Houston. Still, I was glad to hear that they were doing so well. One of them had some health problem but is hanging in there. After the animals that belonged to Sharkarosa went back home, we had planned for a long, long time to go there and to Snake Farm, where some of the animals that belonged to them went. We visited Snake Farm in 2009, but hadn't visited Sharkarosa until today.

Sharkarosa is an exotic wildlife facility that is acreage with a wide variety of animals including zorses, zebras, Clydesdale horses, capybaras, African Crested Porcupines, a variety of lemurs, camels, a wide variety of deer, 2 macaws, Kangaroos, wallabies and 2 bears. The animals are very well cared for. The ring-tailed lemurs have a huge, amazing enclosure. Sharkarosa has a tractor-pulled ride that takes you through their property and allows you to get a better view of the horses, zorses, 'zee-donks'. deer, goats and camels. You even get to pet the zorses and the camels. The people who work there are all really nice. Sharkarosa was on an episode of 'Dirty Jobs' in 2010 when they had a tiger-lion hybrid - called a 'liger' or 'li-tiger' -named 'Coby.'

The African Crested Porcupines when they were at the Heard

The same two porcupines at Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch - They still like carrots.

When we got there, I started asking around about 'Pogo', a brown lemur who endeared himself to me when he stayed at the Heard Museum. A couple of people said that he was still there, but when I looked at the lemurs, I didn't see him. They said he was a brown lemur but I think he was a mix of a white-fronted lemur and a brown lemur. I saw lots of precious lemurs, including several with little babies.

Brown lemur and White fronted lemur at Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

Pogo -This was taken a few years ago.

Later, I learned the lady who worked with Pogo had gone to Houston with Pogo. I was glad to hear that he is doing well. The lady who replaced her was standing in an alcove holding a lemur and letting people pet his tail. He was only ten months old and doing real well.

Most of this blog is going to be of photos because that's the best way to describe Sharkarosa.

Here are some more pictures taken at Sharkarosa wildlife Ranch:

A mother Clydsdale horse with her baby.

The little colt gets a drink at the milk bar.

A very sweet dog who had a part in a movie called 'Adventures of Bailey: The Lost Puppy'  that was filmed at Sharkarosa. This dog took quite a liking to Stacy. 

A deer who lives at Sharkarosa. Part of his mouth protrudes due to an injury he sustained a long time ago, I think before he arrived at Sharkarosa, but he's able to eat and function just fine.

Miguel, a Capuchin monkey who lives with his mate, Michelle at Sharkarosa. Capuchin monkeys are some of the most intelligent monkeys and are often used in movies such as 'Night At The Museum' because they are so smart. These monkeys at Sharkarosa will sometimes clap their hands if you clap your hands, although they were not in the mood to clap when we were there. There was another Capuchin monkey there, in another area away from Miguel and Michelle.

Steve, Stacy and Jeff watching the ring-tailed lemurs.

Another look at the zorse. There was a big Clydesdale that was a little bossy and pushing him to the next bucket of food that they had hanging on the ride to make the animals want to come over to us.

There's a zee-donk also, but he was on the other side of the ride.

 

Steve pets a zorse.

A deer who is native to China

A goat up in a tree.

A zebra and the guy he's next to looks like a llama, but is actually a type of camel.

A pot-bellied pig who hangs out with the zebras and goats.

Macaws at Sharkarosa

Snack time.

'Thirsty' the painted camel. He's the only male in their camel herd. Male camels can be very territorial, so they just have one guy and he is surrounded by lots of females.

Camels following the ride. There were buckets of food hanging from the ride.

I think this one's Michelle. 

The other Capuchin monkey that was there who was separated from Miguel and Michelle..

Friends

Alexis with lemur, I think the lemur's name was 'Skitzo.'

Jeffrey with baby camel. This little baby camel is a male and since they don't have more than one male, this little guy will have his permanent home somewhere other than Sharkarosa.

Baby camels.

This is Pistachio, a real sweetheart.

Another photo of Pistachio.

Dinner time.

Look at the brown lemur on the left, she has a little baby on her. A lot of the lemurs at Sharkarosa have little babies.

A sloth who lives at Sharkarosa.

A ring-tail lemur in the lemur enclosure.

Jeffrey and the porcupines he used to help care for at the museum.

We had a really good time, the weather was ideal. It was also a good day for taking pictures because it was slightly overcast. If you are looking for a great place to spend an afternoon on a pretty day, this is a reallyl nice place to go.

That day, we also went to a town called 'Sanger' and had dinner at their local 'Babes.' Here are some photos of Sanger.

A real pretty lamp at Babes.

Steve, Stacy and Jeff. 

A beautiful purple iris in the downtown square in Sanger.

A cool old house in Sanger.

Walking through Sanger.

We also shopped in a little art store called 'The Dragonfly' that was closing. Sanger is a nice little town, not far from Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch. We had a really nice day.