Friday, May 29, 2009

Yellow River Game Preserve in Georgia

Yesterday we went on a field trip to Yellow River Game Preserve next to Stone Mountain in Georgia (near Atlanta). We met a homeschool group there & were supposed to get a group rate which I think was $1.00 off the cost. The adult price is normally $8.00 & the child price is $7.00. There were some other customers in between parts of our group (they were really busy), & when we got up to the cashier to pay she informed us that we could not get the group rate because we did not pay all together (even though the group leader informed her that we were with them). She was really rude as she explained to us that she had informed the group leader of this & made a really big deal about it in front of the other customers. It was totally unprofessional & was obvious she could care less about the visitors. So if you happen to go with a group (15 or more) make sure that you stay together & all pay at the same time.
We were polite & determined that she was not going to ruin our day.
As we entered the park we were greeted by a lot of deer that have no fear of humans at all. They were interested in what we had to feed them! You can buy bags of food there to feed to the animals but we brought our own bag of lettuce, crackers & carrots.
The park had a large array of animals for the kids to interact with.
There were a lot of different kinds of goats & sheep. They also had bears, coyotes, foxes, ducks, geese, turtles, rabbits, hawks, owls, raccoons, vultures, some big cats, chickens, pigs, turkeys...a hugh variety of animals.

Peacocks roamed freely & displayed their feathers for us. Even the "wild" animals have become domesticated in the park....I'm talking about the squirrels & chipmunks. The come right up to you looking for food & you can feed them right out of your hand.

You can even see the home of the famous groundhog, General Lee. He is the South's version of Groundhog day & comes out in the winter to see if he casts his shadow.

All in all it was a nice day for the kids. As an adult I was not impressed with the place. It looks like it has been a long time since there has been any serious upkeep or cleaning. I was raised on a mini-farm & am accustomed to animal smells, but some of the pens I thought were really bad...terrible urine odors. The buildings & other signs, etc., could have used a good pressure washing & just repair in general. Along with the poor attitude of the cashier I would rate this 2 stars out of 5. The only reason I give it this is because the kids had a good time. So if you are planning a vacation to Stone Mountain & are looking for something extra to do give them a try (for the kids).

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