Walking into Tucson Petting Zoo & Funny Foot Farm, you feel like family.
You're greeted, not only by a tour guide, but also by Ghost, the family dog — she rolls over when you pet her so you can rub her belly. Your reward, a big toothy Australian Shepard grin.
It's the kind of place where you and the kids can forget about the hustle and bustle of the city, replacing the sounds of cars and televisions with the sounds of chickens, pigs and goats.
Chicken at Tucson Petting Zoo
For the family that owns and operates the petting zoo, caring for animals and teaching the community about them is a dream come true.
"We love animals and this is a dream job for us, so we made it a real job," said Ken MacNeil, who co-owns the west side petting zoo with his wife, Georgi.
Tour Guide Rande Davisson shows us a water monitor.
For Rande Davisson, Georgi's brother and the "best tour guide" on site, it's not even a job.
"I live on property," Davisson said. "I take care of the animals at night and I wake up into my yard full of 130 animals. I don't consider it my job. It's my life."
The petting zoo, located at 2405 W. Wetmore Road, opened last June and has about 20 species of animals, including exotic species like capybara, emu and Patagonian mara, as well as domestic animals like chickens, goats, ducks and rabbits.
Let's not forget about the baby goats! The five kids were born in December and January. (FYI: There will be goat yoga in the near future. Details TBD.)
Sweet baby goat
Ken MacNeil says his petting zoo has more animals than any petting zoo in the entire state.
The most popular animal is the capybara, Ken said. There are five of them.
"People have come from different states to see them," Ken said. "It's the only place you can pet so many at one time."
For $8 you can take a tour and feed and pet the animals. You even get to pet a porcupine. Don't worry, go with the grain and you won't get hurt.
The emus are so funny to watch and they're pretty savage when they eat.
On the tour, you'll learn all kinds of fun facts about the animals. For example, did you know the capybara is the largest rodent in the world? Or that male emus are the ones that sit on the eggs?
You'll also learn the names of some of the critters. There's Pazole the donkey, MOOlan the cow, Hamlet the pig and Cuddles the porcupine just to name a few.
The petting zoo is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. Hours will change during the summer, so watch for updates on FB.
In the meantime, here are some of the animals you'll meet when you go:
Ghost smiles when you rub her belly.
This is Hamlet, the baby pig. Isn't he cute?
A calf, pony and donkey walk into a bar...
MOOlan, with emphasis on MOO, obviously.
Here's trouble.
The Patagonian Mara munches on some lettuce.
This is the first capybara the family obtained. She's super sweet and loves to be fed lettuce leaves.
Part of the petting zoo's exotic collection, the red-rumped agouti, actually peels the skin off of a sweet potato before eating its flesh.
This tortoise was a natural and posed for the camera. Tucson Petting Zoo rescues some of its animals. It has three rescued tortoises.
This is Cuddles. She's sweet and lets you pet her.
Isn't it adorable?
Awwwww
The petting zoo is hosting week-long summer camps in June and July, where kids in grades K-5 will learn all about caring for animals. Click here for more info.
You can also have your child's birthday party there. Each participant pays the regular $8 admission and the family is allowed free use of the birthday room to have cake and open presents.
