Gifts Are What You Make of Them

Greetings friends and family welcome to the holiday hangover. With Christmas 2017 squarely in the rear view mirror we can now turn our attention to the end of the year bashes! Buuuuut before we do. I want to talk about gifts. Gifts are, what you make them.

I think of gifts and I think of nicely wrapped presents under a tree and the excitement of what’s in them. You see, that’s the kid in me. That’s the dreamer, the person who “wants” things. The reality is though the best gifts you will ever have in your life are the people you love and those who love you. Each and every day you get to spend sharing stories and emotions with them are all gifts.

Possessions and toys are awesome to have but imagine having them and having no one to share them with. Like yo I got this new Porsche 911 check it oouuuuttt to no one? LOL or check out my new X Box that I don’t have anyone to play with. You see what I am saying? I even consider the friends that I play games with online as gifts. We love each other and are there for each other.

You are also gifts to us at Timbavati Wildlife Park as well. Without your support and encouragement our worlds would have a lot less sparkle to them as well. Happy Holidays to you all and if you need a material gift for someone, don’t forget we offer VIP Tours year round. Thank you all and we love you. 

The First Day Of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas Timbavati gave to me..Giraffes and some carrots to feed!

I was going to do all 12 days but that’s a lot to type ha ha ha. Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog. First off I would like to thank The Wisconsin Dells Tourist Information Center for the shout out that they gave us on Instagram last week, you guys rock socks. As they stated, we are definitely open year round and have daily tours at 11AM and 1PM.

Now on to this week’s topic, which is Christmas shopping. I know this isn’t entirely animal related but tis the season right? I love to surprise my family with gifts year round. I just don’t feel like it should be a birthday or christmas to give them gifts. That keeps it interesting you know?

So like many of us last minute shoppers, I don’t put a lot of stock into the holiday until the very end (which is now). I find myself still honoring the holiday and putting something under the tree for them.

A trip to the Wisconsin Dells is fun year round. There are indoor water parks here that are always open. Of course we’re open and a VIP Behind The Scenes Tour makes a stocking stuffer. I mean let’s face it, you could get your kids Red Rider BB Guns but we all know how that ended for Ralphie right?

While I’m at it, I would love to know what your favorite Christmas movie is. If you didn’t know, "Die Hard" is officially a Christmas movie now. I like the film "Elf." I also like "A Christmas Story" and "Home Alone." What are your favorite films?

Here’s a look at our VIP Behind the Scenes Tours. We will talk with you next week!

What's Your Favorite Animal? http://qoo.ly/jvm38

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What's Your Favorite Animal? - Timbavati Wildlife Park - Timbavati Wildlife Park
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What’s Your Favorite Animal?

Greetings to you all my friends, this week has been a bit of a dream to me. In that dream I’ve reflected on my childhood that was and it reminded me of how animals were so inspirational when we were young. The strength of the animal is something that our ancestors observed revered and watched with awe. This takes me to this week’s topic, what was/is your favorite animal.

Those of us who seek strength and freedom favor animals that take to the skies. The tawny eagle who at 3 feet tall is one of the smaller eagles in the family. Some people favor ferocious felines like lions and tigers. Some identify with the stability of a camel or in the case of sports identify with the tenacity of the badger.

When I was growing up and i moved on from the phase of dinosaur discovery, my bond was with a German Shepard. I hadn’t spent more time with any animal than my grand dad’s favored pet Jorrel. If I had to reflect on life and say I had a favorite animal, I would absolutely say without hesitation that it is a German Shepard.

What's Your Fav?

Which brings me full circle to the title of this blog and my question to you. What is/was your favorite animal? Is it the sly fox whose systems of tunnels can be a hundred years old? Perhaps your more partial to the tortoise whose strength lies in the wisdom of its age and its slow and steady path.

Funnily enough, most people who tell us what they’re favorite animal is without being prompted will cite the sloth. I believe that there is an elegance to the sloth’s movements. When you move at such a consistent and deliberate pace you rarely misstep. I think some people identify with that controlled movement and the grace that the sloth traverses with.

In any event I really would love to know what your favorite animal is, not was. To remember this is to remember the passion and wonder of our youth. To hold on to this is what magic really is. So now I am dying to know, what is your favorite animal. Leave it in the comments below.

If you’re unsure of what your favorite animal is then allow me to welcome you to Timbavati Wildlife Park where we have tours daily at 11AM and 1PM year round. We also have VIP Behind the scenes tours that will give your an even more enhanced experience led by one of our professional animal handling staff members.  Ok it’s animal time, WHAT YOU GOT?

Here’s a look at the waterfalls area in Timbavati Wildlife Park, is your favorite here?

When Do Animals Hibernate

Hello all and welcome to December! Temperatures have been mild in Wisconsin throughout November so it’s still been really fun to get out and enjoy the fall colors. I have been thinking a lot about the temperatures and it got me to wondering, when do animals actually begin to hibernate.

Hibernation is a survival skill, animals store fat and food reserves and sleep for months to survive the harsh winters. But what do they do when it’s 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit? Well the short answer is middle to the end of October.

See even though the temperatures are up, fall has still happened and foraging is a bit tougher for herbivores. So everyone pretty much packs it in at the same time. What I find unique and a bit troubling about hibernation is actually when they wake up.

Animals should begin to emerge from their slumber around mid March. With global warming and warmer temps, bears in Yellowstone Park have been waking up out of their slumber in early February. Something like this can be problematic because food supplies aren’t where they need to be at that time requiring them to travel into places that might not be safe to find food.

Hedgehogs however can be around all the way through December with the warm weather. Did you know that if a hedgehog gets too cold in its den that it will actually get up and chance dens in the middle of winter? They should get space heaters or something :).

I think it’s more interesting to note who doesn’t hibernate for the winter. Porcupines don’t, neither do badgers (they might have taken a nap on Saturday though). Bobcats and mountain lions? Nope they stay awake and so do skunks.

At Timbavati Wildlife Park we don’t hibernate either. We’re now open all winter long. Check out website for tour times. Foxes don’t hibernate either, so here are some foxes for you to fawn over and we’ll follow up in a few!

Cheers