Animal Quacker And Friends

It's not unusual to see a lot of animals while traveling the PALM. There are always dogs riding in bike baskets or following behind in trailers. Then there are the little town parks where you'll find ducks and squirrels. In the evenings you might see a raccoon wandering the neighborhoods looking for an easy meal. Seeing fish are always a possibility with all the lakes and rivers we have in Michigan. But never did it occur to me that I'd see sturgeon, or even more surprising, giraffes!

 When I drive the PALM, I like to do a little exploring so I don't arrive at the campsite before the bikes. After leaving Paw Paw, on the way to Battle creek, I stopped at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery. They have a great visitor center where you can hike on trails, feed the fish and tour the hatchery. It was on the hatchery tour that I saw the sturgeon. Sturgeon are an awesome fish, from the age of dinosaurs. They can live as long as 150 years and grow up to nine feet long. Once abundant in Michigan's waters, they were nearly wiped out in the early 1900's due to over-fishing, pollution and habitat loss. The Wolf Lake Hatchery is working to increase the sturgeon's population, possibly to their previous levels.

 
Now, how did I get to meet a giraffe on the back roads of Michigan? Last night we stayed at Harper Creek High School in Battle Creek. The high school's next door neighbor is the Binder Park Zoo! After leaving camp this morning, I decided to take a little safari to the zoo's African Exhibit. The exhibit is seen while walking on a mile long, mostly elevated wooden deck trail. There are no cages, so the animals move freely within large enclosures. Visitors are allowed to feed the giraffes special giraffe chow or greens from elevated decks. The giraffe I met was a young one, as interested in his visitors as we were in him.