NOT my kind of petting zoo!

When I was a child, we would occasionally visit a zoo during a summer vacation. I remember how zoo visitors could walk into the "petting zoo" part of the zoo where there might be some goats or sheep milling about for you to feed. You could put a quarter in one of those old gumball-type of machines and get a handful of pellets to feed the farm animals. As soon as the goats heard the sound of the food machine cranking when you turned the crank, they all came running over to you. They would surround you and get their mouths up near your hands to try and get the food first. This would freak me out. It scared the poop out of me, and I would always get scared and teary-eyed. I bolted for the nearest exit, and that would be that.So, if goats freak me out, how about The Lujan Zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina? Here, they let you touch, feed and even ride some of the most dangerous animals in the world. And it only costs $7 to risk your life!Are you kidding me with this? I just don't know if I could build up the courage to get THAT close to a lion, tiger or cheetah...and I don't care if they are chained to something. I know one thing, if some people do feel that they want to take that chance, that is one thing, but have the sense to NOT put your child in harm's way! Who would possibly allow their child to hold a piece of food and handfeed a grizzly bear?! Some may think I'm a wimp! I've seen too many clips of Roy Horn after his tiger attack, and even this past week's "Amazing Race" episode kind of freaked me out a bit. In the episode, each of the contestants had to pose with a tiger as part of their challenge. The tiger handler had ONE ARM!! Need I say more?!



Suddenly those goats don't sound so scary afterall...