The Woodlands Area

The Wisconsin Dells is alive, it has a pulse. Even in the dead of winter during the solstice, you can still feel its rhythm. People from large cities like Chicago and Minneapolis come here to get away from the hectic pace that those larger cities have to offer. People from rural locales come in to take in recreation in a place a bit busier than the norm. The common denominator is the desire for the Wisconsin Dells and its pace, its attractions and its lifestyle.

When I am in the Wisconsin Dells there are times when I want to take a break from the sounds of traffic on the parkway. The roar of the water slides and kids screaming in wave pools can only take me so far throughout the course of my stay in the Dells and that brings me to the Woodlands Area in Timbavati Wildlife Park.

It’s removed from amplified sounds and it also doesn’t have the bustle of traffic or horseplay in the air. It’s quiet and peaceful kind of like a library. It’s funny how when you provide a quiet space for people they tend to remain quiet when they’re in it. That’s just what the Woodlands Area is for me.

Sure in Timbavati you can hear barkers narrating pig races or the Kookaburra kackling by the main entrance, but none of those sounds actually get to the Woodlands Area. It’s a really chill location. We also have a small forest of trees here also, I guess it couldn’t be a “Woodlands Area” if we didn’t.

It’s funny, but when I am in this part of the park, I experience all of that before I can even get to the animals. We have one of the rarest bird species in the united states, the White Emu. There are only about 20 in the United States total and we have 6 of them. We also have a flock of regular emu as well. Which as the emu is the second largest species of bird in the world you’ll be entertained with either when you’re standing face to face with them.

We actually have a lot of animals in the Woodlands Area. Crowned cranes, capybara, black buck, rheas, tortoise, kangaroo, it’s pretty expansive situation. This is all capped off with our Camel Ride stand where you and your friends can take a spin on one of the ships of the desert.

This week’s video gives you a great look at what the Woodlands area, talk with you next week!

African Spur Thigh Tortoise

Welcome to the week of the African Spur Thigh Tortoise. A tortoise is a land dwelling reptile that has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton in the form of its shell. One great way to tell you that you have a tortoise and not a turtle, though a tortoise is in the turtle family, is by looking at their feet. A turtle will have webbed flipper style feet better suited for swimming and a tortoise will have claws with morse stumpy appendages. Tortoises do not swim, my buddy Matt Schoebel told me that if you put it in the water it would sink like a rock.

Tortoises with lighter shells come from warmer climates and ones with darker shells come from cooler environments. There are about 40 different types of tortoises. The Aldabran and Galapagos Tortoises are the largest of the species and can weight up to and over 600 pounds. You can also tell the approximate age of a tortoise by counting the rings on the scutes (individual shell plates).

Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to the third largest species of tortoise, the African Spur thigh. This tortoise is a native of the Savannas and Saharan desert in Africa. They eat grasses, desert scrub and get their water from the plants that they eat, they’re really fond of the Morning Glory plant. Pretty much a really cool existence just wandering and grazing.

The spur thigh mates just after the rainy season between September and November. After about 2 months of gestation, the female lays 15 to 30 eggs and then she fills her nest in with dirt and the babies hatch in about eight months.

Tortoises are cool characters and we have no shortage of them grooving around Timbavati Wildlife park. When you’re in the park if you’re lucky enough to see one go into it’s shell, listen to see if you can hear it exhale before it does. It has to expel the air in it’s body before it does.

You can watch more on the tortoise in this week’s video.

Timbavati Wildlife Park Gift Shop

One part of Timbavati Wildlife Park that I think is worth calling some attention to is our Gift Shop. The Gift shop at Timbavati is a pretty far out place when you stop and think about it. You can get everything from Folk Art to Timbavati clothes to stuffed animals. There are pluzzles and wuzzles, pet rocks and socks, cuddly lil critters and animal clocks. They have penguins and zebras, fake tattoos, tigers that grab and owls that hooo!

Sorry, I kind of got caught up in Dr. Suess mode there. Anyways, the gift shop is filled with eye candy and the kid in me loves stopping in and gazing at the sheer amount of items we have in it. This video gives you a great look inside of our Gift Shop!

Labor Day 2016!

Greetings and Welcome to this week’s blog. Happy Labor Day to you all and we hope that on this day of celebration for the American Worker that you are planning to relax and just enjoy a Monday that isn’t really a Monday.

We usually place the spotlight on an animal every monday, but on this Labor Day, we want to spotlight our own workers! This week, we are taking time out to thank you. Our staff at Timbavati Wildlife Park for helping to make our park and our guests feel welcomed in our home.

While the rest of the country enjoys their summer holidays, you all take pride in making sure that their trips to our park are memorable and enjoyable and we just want you, our staff to know that we appreciate you. This week’s video is dedicated to you!