The Wilds- June 07, 2009- PTR

[cassie_KY]

(Slideshows are at the end of this post!)

On June 7th, Nathan and I headed up to The Wilds in Cumberland Ohio. I had stumbled across their website (www.thewilds.org) last year and had been dying to go to it since then. Guess what- we couldn't make it to CoasterMania due to some other committments, so we decided to take a day trip and "walk on the wild side."

Two and a half hours later, we were pulling into visitor parking. They charge $3 for parking (that hadn't been advertised in any literature/media I had read). We hopped on an old school bus painted tan and were taken up to the welcome center to purchase our tickets. There are two options. One costs $20 and is an air conditioned bus that makes stops and you can take as long as you wish at each stop. The other costs $27 is an open air bus. When it makes stops, you have to get back on with everyone else and stay with the same tour group. We opted for the $20 safari and were pleased to discover they give a AAA discount.

We had a little time before the next shuttle began. The visitor center plays a short film that describes the history of The Wilds, some of the animals there, conservation efforts, and different experiences guests can have while visting the Wilds. We also walked outside and looked out on the valley spread below us; This place is HUGE! At over 10,000 acres of reclaimed mineland, it is the largest conservation facility in the United States. I was so excited to start out tour!

We boarded our shuttle and claimed a seat in the back that had views to the sides and rear. You pass through a series of two gates and we were in the preserve. We bounced our way down a gravel road and popped around a curve to see a One-Horned Rhino several yards from the bus. Here we begin the "oohs" and "ahhs" as we start snapping pictures. Things got better as we stopped by a small shed where a mommy rhino and her baby were resting. Next to the shed was a pile of rhino poo. The guide told us rhinos only poop in one place and this "rhino email" lets all other rhinos know who's territory this is.

In front of us, we had to come to another stop. A herd of Onagers (Asian wild donkeys) were blocking the road. Our guide told us that most zoos won't keep them because they are so stubborn. She went on to say that we may be here awhile as they will move when they are good and ready and nothing will make them move until they want to. That let us snap tons of photos of them as well as the Bactrian (two-humped) camels that were directly to our left. When I first saw them, the camels were all piled together and so fuzzy that I thought it was a scattered round bale of hay!

Across the valley, a herd of Pere David's Deer were grazing. The story about them is amazing. They are originally native to China. A gentleman (Pere David) took a liking to them and exported twenty back to his estate in England. Shortly after, a war broke out in China and all the deer were killed. The only examples of the species left were the small herd in England. With successful breeding programs like The Wilds, they are slowly being reintroduced into protected preserves in China. These deer have long tails!

Another animal was wandering around with the deer. Upon first look, it resembled a bear. When it turned around, it had a rat/cow looking kind of head. It is called a Takin and inhabits the same type of environment as the Panda bears in China. We were told that a description of them is part cow, part gerbil, part bear. And yeah, check the pictures as they are that ugly! The guide said Takin are so agressive that zoos will have nothing to do with them.

Finally, the Onagers moved and we continued on to our first stop which is the lake. There is a walking trail down to the water. We took pictures of a herd of Takin across the water as well as a Trumpeter swan. The lake has catfish and bluegill that you can feed. We really enjoyed watching the fish fight for the food.

Getting back on board the bus, we found two of my favorite animals next. The first are Przewalski's Wild Horse. Originally from Mongolia and Europe, this was the first species brought to the park in 1992. They were extinct in the wild in the 1960's, but breeding programs have allowed them to be reintroduced in certain regions of Mongolia and China. This is the only species of horse (they are not the same species as the domestic horse) that cannot be domesticated. The herd had a two week old baby that put on quite the show for us. For breeding purposes, they rotate the stallions each breeding season.

We drove a little farther and came to the giraffes. The Wilds keeps three subspecies of giraffes. I think they all are so cute and love their expressions. It was hot out and they were all piled under the trees taking a snooze.

We crossed back out to the outer perimeter of the park. Our guide told us the history of the Trumpeter swan. This bird was nearly wiped out in the state of Ohio. The Wilds received a phone call from a local airport that had a nest of them. Swans stay in the same area where they were born/learn to fly so Wilds staff collected the eggs and hatched them out so they could live on the preserve. The outer perimeter is also where the bison are located, but they were hiding as we never saw them.

Our next stop was the wetlands. They didn't have much to see there. We got off and walked around and took their nature trail. The water is not as deep as it should be and there were cattails nearly as tall as I was for as far as you could see! We snapped some photos of the birds and were ready for Nathan's favorite stop.....

The Mid-Sized Carnivore Habitat. This is where they keep the African Wild Dogs, the Dholes and the Cheetahs. We saw the Wild Dogs first. We found out that when they hunt, they have a better than 80% success rate as they hunt in groups and are capable of taking down very large prey. I was in love with their coloring as it was so unique to help them blend into their environment.

The Dhole (pronounced like the banana) is an Asian wild dog and looks much like a red fox. They have a male and a female. The male had been raised in captivity and was a real ham as he showed off for everyone. You just wanted to pet him even though he could take your hand off if he wanted to. We stood and watched him prance around, roll over and just pose for everyone. We never saw the girl which we were told is not unusual.

The cheetahs were at the top of the hill an were asleep. We got within five feet of them. They were no where near as impressed with us as we were of them. When we got ready to leave, I asked one of the staff how many they had and they said they have 9. The two that are "on display" were born here while the others were used for breeding and were located elsewhere.

Boarding the bus, we headed over to see where the antelope played. They have two different breeds of Oryxes of which, the Scimitar-Horned Oryx has been extinct in the wild since the 1970's. They are being reintroduced into portions of Tunisia. We were able to see several herds of Sable Antelope.

In the distance, a barn with the zebras was pointed out to us. I would have loved to have seen them up close, but I had seen so many other animals I had never seen before so I wasn't going to complain!!

We popped around a hill and nearly smashed a Bactrian deer. This is a member of the red deer family and had the biggest rack of horns I had ever seen. I am sure he thought he was pretty special as he stood and posed for us before we continued.

Next up was a herd of Banteng which is a Wild cow species from Southest Asia and Indonesia. They are endangered because they interbreed with domestic cattle. The males are a dark brown while the females are a light red in color.

Intermixed with the Banteng were some Indochina Sika Deer. These deer keep their spots for their entire life and may be extinct in the wild die to hunting, water pollution and habitat loss. Breeding programs are keeping the species around, but scientists fear they are being poached after the deer are released onto preserves in Vietnam and China.

Our last stop was to see the Southern White Rhinos. The Wilds is very proud of their program there as they are the only known facility in North America whre third-generation white rhinos are being born. The two babies were wandering around and we took lots of photos of them. They also had a display of different horns and antlers as well as fur from some of the different antlers. I picked up one of the horns from the Bactrian deer andit felt like it weighed 15 pounds (no joke!). I don't see how that fella was able to keep his head up, let alone move around carrying that!

Sadly, we boarded out bus and headed back to our drop off place. We browsed the gift shop and picked up our usualy magnet and patch. We had been there for over six hours and had a blast the entire time.

On the drive home, we saw one of the historical markers talking about the Big Muskie Bucket. I immediately think it is some type of lake where you can muskie fish, but that is not the case. There is no way I can describe this, so here is the description from the guidebook:

"We said you'd be amazed, so here's our first documentation. The Big Muskie Bucket is the centerpiece of Miner's Memorial Park located 16 miles West of Caldwell 1-77 Exit 25 and right along SR 78. This artifact has generated unbelievable interest from young and old all across the United States and from around the world! It has even been featured on the History Channel! Why?

"The Big Muskie Bucket was one of the Seven Engineering WOnders of the World! It was also the World's Largest Dragline! The Bucket, weighs 460,000 pounds empty and when loaded carried an additional 640,000 pounds. It's volume is equal to a 12 car garage. Can you imagine what Big Muskie must have been like to even move such an object, let alone maneuver it effectively?

The Big Muskie Bucket and Miner's Memorial is without a doubt a one-of-a-kind destination. The site represents a major piece of history and assures that the mining men and women of Southeastern Ohio will never be forgotten."

Without further ado, here are some pictures. Thanks for reading!!

The Wilds Slideshow

Big Muskie Bucket Slideshow

[Captain Picard]

My grandfather used to operate the Big Muskie. I live around 25 minutes away from the bucket. I have seen the Big Muskie working back in the day. You could see the lights on it at night for miles. When it was running it was running 24/7.

[cassie_KY]

One of the signs said that Big Muskie was the biggest machine that ever moved on land. My dad's a steel worker and I have seen my share of big machines, but that bucket is just a part of the whole thing. My mind can't wrap around the sheer size of what it must have been.

I imagine it was plenty loud as well?

[Captain Picard]

I was never close enough to hear it, you couldn't get that close to it. There was explosives used in the area and you wasn't allowed on their property.

[The Interpreter]

What an awesome trip report. Please keep these up. And you write really well, too!

[Cory Butcher]

This is an amazing PTR...Thank you so much for sharing your photos and take on the park...The Wilds is a true gem of an attraction here in Ohio! I have been there a couple of times and cannot wait to go back!