Hot Summer Nights The Meieres recently visited a Kangaroo "Farm" in Georgia, of all places. It has now closed because of Covid. It had 87 acres of kangroos -- the largest such collection outside of Australia. Actually, the place shippe kangroos all over the world in an effort to preserve the various species.

The center was only 60 miles from Forrest's home town of Atlanta but he had no idea it even existed. He first discovered it in the August 2007 issue of the 'Smithsonian Magazine'. Since we were "going home" to a fraternity reunion anyway, we had to stop.

Unfortunately, your webmaster forgot his digital camera and had to use one of those "throw-away" cameras. Therefore, some of the pictures are not so hot. Sorry.
Garden Birds Tram
The center offered a variety of experiences. After 'checking in' we wandered through the Butterfly Garden and viewed Australian birds. Soon we boarded an open Tram for a guided tour through the various fields where the kangroos live.
Brumby Bowie Bettong
We found out that kangroos range from 'pretty big' to 'really small'. (Who knew?)

One of the stories on the train ride was a description of the first exposure of Europeans to kangroos. When Captain Cook and crew visited Australia they wrote in their journals of strange creatures with huge back feet which hopped for great distances. They asked the natives what were these creatures and the reply was "Kangaroo." This name stuck when the crew returned to England and described their adventures. Years later, missionaries translated the Aborigine language into English and found out that "Kangaroo" means "I don't understand the question!".

Brumby Bowie Bettong
We photographed from the Tram. A mother and joey upclose. It felt like we were in the wild.
You may be able to catch a glimpse of a fence in some of the pictures. They are about 6 feet high but the larger kangaroos can jump 8 feet and run at 50 miles per hour. The guides say they have never had a kangaroo jump a fence. Apparently kangaroos like to live in groups and don't wander off by themselves. We never saw a kangaroo by himself.

Everyone had the opportunity to throw a real Boomerang. Here are the instructor, Forrest and Pat. Which is which?

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Following the tour outside, we went inside for close up looks at some of the animals.
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We were free to see some of the other exhibits at the center.
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Shots from the Billabong. Some Australian birds.

The next day, we down in the Consolidated Gold Mine. This was about 10 miles down the road in Dahlonega, Georgia. It is the largest gold mine east of the Mississippi and was discovered before the California Gold Rush. But that is a story for another day.

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