Off the Beaten Path: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park
1
Page 10 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor August 20, 2015 T en minutes south of Pa- gosa Springs, on your way to Chama, N.M., there’s a small wildlife park tucked into the rolling hills of Archuleta County. Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park (RMWP) has been hidden away in this pocket of Colorado since 1986, and de- spite their low entrance fees, $7 for adults (13 and older), $5 for children (3-12) and $6 for seniors, they continue to sur- vive. You won’t find elephants, tigers or hippos here. This place is dedicated to the types of animals you’d find in the Rocky Mountains today or historically. Their animals have come to them in a variety of ways; including zoos, private owners and rescue situa- tions. The best time to tour the park is during feeding time, 2 p.m. in the winter and 4 p.m. in the summer. The tours are more entertaining than scien- tific. As she fed each animal, our guide told us the story of how each came to the park and empha- sized over and over that while most of their animals have been raised around humans, they are still wild animals. Princess the grizzly came to RMWP from Alaska after being orphaned when hunters killed her mother. She was only 10 months old. She’s a foot taller than an average grizzly, and our guide said this can be attributed to her being raised in captivity. Princess enjoys grapes, but her favorite food is the fresh fish caught for her by local fisherman. And, living up to her name, Princess won’t eat the fish unless it has been gutted. While she has been raised by hu- mans in a captive environment, Prin- cess still retains some of her natural grizzly instincts. For instance, she dug a 10 foot den in her large run and is unpredictable, especially around men. The last wild grizzly was seen in Colorado in 1974. RMWP is also home to three wolves, Juno, Loki and Lychen. Two came from terrible conditions in Texas where they were illegally being kept as pets in a basement. They move around their large enclosure like dogs, but they are all wolf at feeding time when Lychen, the “pack” leader, eats first and puts the other wolves in their place if they disobey this pack rule. The park is also home to a full- grown male elk named Titan who was rescued from an elk farm; a mountain lion, a porcupine, a pair of coyotes, a bobcat, a donkey, goats, several emus (not sure how they found their way to the park, we missed that story) and lots of ducks and rab- bits. Apparently the park used to keep a few rabbits, but they got out of their pens and started reproducing and now these multicolor rabbits are all over the park, much to the delight of the many chil- dren who were on our tour. A tour at Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park during feeding time takes about an hour and a half. This stop is well- suited for families. Before or after your tour you can take a trail ride with Lobo Outfitters, located on the same prop- erty. RMWP is open year round, seven days a week, although hours vary. Go to www.rmwildlifepark.org for more information and directions. Off the Beaten Path: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park Surveyor Columnist Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer Photos by Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer Above: Juno the wolf at Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park. Left: There are a lot of bunnies at the park. Photo by Bob McDonnell A group of newcomers at pickleball practice in Loveland. In a pickle By Bob McDonnell The Surveyor “A fun game with a funny name,” is how Lovelander Lloyd Grein- er describes the sport of pickleball. Although having been around for 50 years, pickleball has to be the least known sporting activity in America. According to the United State of America Pickleball Association’s (USAPA) website, more than 400,000 people actively play pickleball in all 50 states. The USAPA describe pickleball as: A paddle sport created for all ages and skill levels. The rules are simple and the game is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, com- petitive game for experienced players. After watching the sport, it appears to me to be a combination of tennis and badminton with a touch of ping pong thrown in. Pickleball origin traces back to 1965 on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. Three dads — Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney Mc- Callum — created the game to entertain their children who were bored with the usual summertime activities, according to the sports history as recorded on the usapa.org website’s “What is pickleball?” section. How it came to be called pickleball is unclear, some folklore at- tributes the “pickle” part of the name to one of the inventor’ pet dog. Others dispute this story as urban legend, so basically there is not a definitive answer. At a recent pickleball orientation at Loveland’ new Mehaffey Park, I learned some of the difference between pickleball and its cousin — tennis. The pickleball court is much smaller than a tennis court. It mea- sure 22 feet by 44 feet for both singles and doubles play. In compari- son, tennis courts are 27 feet by 78 feet. To put this in perspective, at Mehaffey Park, four pickleball courts fit in the space of one ten- nis court. In many communities lacking official pickleball courts, players mark of tennis courts or gym floors. The smaller court also has a lower net. It is 34 inches; three inch- es shorter than a tennis net. The paddle is smaller than a tennis racket but larger than a ping pong paddle. Unlike a racket, the solid face of the paddle consists of wood, aluminum, graphite or other composite materials. The hard plastic ball has holes in it, reminding me of the wiffle ball I played with growing up. The ball travels at a speed about one- third of that of a tennis ball. “Finesse not power,” is the key to the game experienced pickle- ball player Larry McGee told those at the orientation. With the scaled-down sizes and speed, pickleball appeals greatly to the 50 years and older set. Former Berthoud resident, 70-year-old Dan Skees is a seven year vet of pickleball. His wife, Marilyn, plays too. “It keeps me moving and it’s good for me,” said Skees, adding that he and his wife spend time in the winter playing pickleball in Arizona too. I’m thinking there may be more pickleball in my life soon to sup- plement my daily walking routine.
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A visit t the nearly 30 year old Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Transcript of Off the Beaten Path: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park
Page 10 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor August 20, 2015
Ten minutes south of Pa-gosa Springs, on your way to Chama, N.M., there’s a small
wildlife park tucked into the rolling hills of Archuleta County.
Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park (RMWP) has been hidden away in
this pocket of Colorado since 1986, and de-spite their low entrance fees, $7 for adults (13 and older), $5 for children (3-12) and $6 for seniors, they continue to sur-vive.
You won’t fi nd elephants, tigers or hippos here. This place is dedicated to the types of animals you’d
fi nd in the Rocky Mountains today or historically. Their animals have come to them in a variety of ways; including zoos, private owners and rescue situa-tions.
The best time to tour the park is during feeding time, 2 p.m. in the winter and 4 p.m. in the summer. The tours are more entertaining than scien-tifi c. As she fed each animal, our guide
told us the story of how each came to the park and empha-sized over and over that while most of their animals have been raised around humans, they are still wild animals.
Princess the grizzly came to RMWP from Alaska after being orphaned when hunters killed her mother. She was only 10 months old. She’s a foot taller than an average grizzly, and our guide said this can be attributed to her being raised in captivity. Princess enjoys grapes, but her favorite food is the fresh fi sh caught for her by local fi sherman. And, living up to her name, Princess won’t eat the fi sh unless it has been gutted.
While she has been raised by hu-mans in a captive environment, Prin-cess still retains some of her natural grizzly instincts. For instance, she dug a 10 foot den in her large run and is unpredictable, especially around men.
The last wild grizzly was seen in Colorado in 1974.
RMWP is also home to three wolves, Juno, Loki and Lychen. Two came from terrible conditions in Texas where they were illegally being kept as pets in a basement. They move around their large enclosure like dogs, but they are all wolf at feeding time when Lychen, the “pack” leader, eats fi rst and puts the other wolves in their place if they
disobey this pack rule.The park is also home to a full-
grown male elk named Titan who was rescued from an elk farm; a mountain lion, a porcupine, a pair of coyotes, a
bobcat, a donkey, goats, several emus (not sure how they found their way to the park, we missed that story) and lots of ducks and rab-bits. Apparently the park used to keep a few
rabbits, but they got out of their pens and started reproducing and now these multicolor rabbits are all over the park, much to the delight of the many chil-
dren who were on our tour. A tour at Rocky Mountain Wildlife
Park during feeding time takes about an hour and a half. This stop is well-suited for families. Before or after your tour you can take a trail ride with Lobo Outfi tters, located on the same prop-erty. RMWP is open year round, seven days a week, although hours vary.
Go to www.rmwildlifepark.org for more information and directions.
Off the Beaten Path: Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park
Surveyor Columnist
Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer
Photos by Heidi Kerr-SchlaeferAbove: Juno the wolf at Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park. Left: There are a lot of bunnies at the park.
Photo by Bob McDonnellA group of newcomers at pickleball practice in Loveland.
In a pickleBy Bob McDonnellThe Surveyor
“A fun game with a funny name,” is how Lovelander Lloyd Grein-er describes the sport of pickleball. Although having been around for 50 years, pickleball has to be the least known sporting activity in America.
According to the United State of America Pickleball Association’s (USAPA) website, more than 400,000 people actively play pickleball in all 50 states.
The USAPA describe pickleball as: A paddle sport created for all ages and skill levels. The rules are simple and the game is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, com-petitive game for experienced players.
After watching the sport, it appears to me to be a combination of tennis and badminton with a touch of ping pong thrown in.
Pickleball origin traces back to 1965 on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. Three dads — Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney Mc-Callum — created the game to entertain their children who were bored with the usual summertime activities, according to the sports history as recorded on the usapa.org website’s “What is pickleball?” section.
How it came to be called pickleball is unclear, some folklore at-tributes the “pickle” part of the name to one of the inventor’ pet dog.
Others dispute this story as urban legend, so basically there is not a defi nitive answer.
At a recent pickleball orientation at Loveland’ new Mehaffey Park, I learned some of the difference between pickleball and its cousin — tennis.
The pickleball court is much smaller than a tennis court. It mea-sure 22 feet by 44 feet for both singles and doubles play. In compari-son, tennis courts are 27 feet by 78 feet. To put this in perspective, at Mehaffey Park, four pickleball courts fi t in the space of one ten-nis court. In many communities lacking offi cial pickleball courts, players mark of tennis courts or gym fl oors.
The smaller court also has a lower net. It is 34 inches; three inch-es shorter than a tennis net.
The paddle is smaller than a tennis racket but larger than a ping pong paddle. Unlike a racket, the solid face of the paddle consists of wood, aluminum, graphite or other composite materials.
The hard plastic ball has holes in it, reminding me of the wiffl e ball I played with growing up. The ball travels at a speed about one-third of that of a tennis ball.
“Finesse not power,” is the key to the game experienced pickle-ball player Larry McGee told those at the orientation.
With the scaled-down sizes and speed, pickleball appeals greatly to the 50 years and older set.
Former Berthoud resident, 70-year-old Dan Skees is a seven year vet of pickleball. His wife, Marilyn, plays too.
“It keeps me moving and it’s good for me,” said Skees, adding that he and his wife spend time in the winter playing pickleball in Arizona too.
I’m thinking there may be more pickleball in my life soon to sup-plement my daily walking routine.
