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A Day Well Spent at Lazy L Safari Park

I’m a huge animal fanatic. A trip to the zoo is always a good idea. Of course a herd of cows grazing in a pasture under our big blue Missouri sky is gorgeous, but petting a mother kangaroo while she carries her baby joey in her pouch triumphs over a cow any day. Unfortunately, airline tickets to Australia don’t necessarily hold a reputation for being inexpensive.

That’s why I just recently took a visit to Lazy L Safari Park right here in Cape Girardeau to see what it was all about, and what an amazing experience it was! The park is owned and run by a wonderful woman named Vicki Lantz and her family who have been raising exotic animals their whole lives. Not only are there over 50 different species of animals at Lazy L Safari, most you can pet and feed, they’re also open all year-round.

During the winter months anybody can visit Lazy L Safari on the weekends. There, Vicki will provide a walk-through tour of the farm and if there is anybody that knows animals, it’s her. She will explain the needs  each animal has and the special care and attention they need during the winter. The reptiles aren’t available during the winter months, but that’s only because they’re cold blooded and can’t adapt to the cold quite as well as the other animals.

Maybe alligators and 16 ft. pythons aren’t your thing? That’s okay because nobody can dislike babies! During my visit I had the opportunity to meet Ruthie the kangaroo and her baby joey! The joey was a little bashful. He kept poking his head in and out of his mother’s pouch trying to figure out who the strange man staring at him was.

Along with the joey and various baby sheep, lemurs, horned oryx and their new Blue Healer puppy, Bear. I also got to have a conversation with Lyla, the baby camel. Well, we mumbled grunts back and forth for a couple minutes, but she was smiling and seemed happy so I believe the chat went well. She still has the baby features where her walk is slightly awkward.  If you haven’t seen the awkward baby walk before, you must.  it is absolutely adorable. If that isn’t baby overload, just wait for the baby zebra that is expected to arrive any day now!

All the animals here are fantastic. Vicki bottle feeds all the babies so they are familiar and friendly to other humans who come to visit them. They are either the friendliest animals in Cape or are just looking for some extra food handouts from people. Whatever their motive is, they are seemingly as interested in the people visiting as we are them!

During the summer, visitors can come see everything the park has to offer. There are camel rides and petting areas set up where the children can feed the goats and other animals. For the bird lovers, there is a parakeet jungle where you can feed over 100 parakeets! Vicki loves setting up birthday parties and animal rentals for events as well. So if there are any inquiries on what the park can offer, feel free to check out their website, and contact her with any questions.

Although we are currently experiencing some of the coldest weather of the year, I’m sure we are familiar with how Missouri’s weather works. It may be snowing and icing now, but next week it can be sunny and 60 degrees. Rain or shine Vicki likes to keep the park open unless Cape delivers some anomalies, like say, 12 inches of snow and ice. Just to make sure everything is good to go for a family visit, go to their website or visit them on Facebook to make sure they’re open.

If you haven’t yet been to Lazy L Safari Park, there is never a bad time to give it a try! It is all that and a bag of bird feed.

Comment below to let us know what your favorite animals to see at Lazy L Safari Park are!

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