Situated on a peninsula formed by the lake, we could ride our bikes on to the point with water on both sides.
A paved trail reaches from the visitor's center all the way to the peninsula. Much of the ride was in the woods, but all of it seemed to be uphill. Mark shifted gears while riding hard up-hill and his bike chain jammed. So our ride was shortened, as he walked his bike back to the car.
We also took a loop hike on a trail inside the park. Not well sign-posted, our loop turned into a game of trying to find our car left at the trail head. A few of the trees are turning golden, but the predominate leaf colors seem to be green or brown.
We think the best part of Sequoyah State Park was our visit to their Nature Center. It was ran by a delightful ranger named Amy, who gave us a personal tour on this weekday afternoon. We enjoyed seeing the two gray foxes.
Amy explained that these two brothers were raised by humans, and don't have the skills to live on their own.
There is also a coyote named Wylie, who was hard to photograph because he was always moving. He looked longingly at the goats in the neighboring pen, as he seemed to plot ways to get to them.
But our favorite nature center animal has to be its newest resident--Willow, the baby kid. Just five days old, Willow was the cutest kid at Sequoyah State Park. Pictured here with her dwarf goat mother, she was tiny.
We were thoroughly entertained by Willow's antics as she butted the feed trough with her tiny head. Then she lost her balance, and slipped head first into the tub with her legs flailing in the air.
When we were having a hard time getting a clear picture through the fence, Amy offered to bring Willow out for us to see better.
Then she let each of us hold Willow. Denisa loves kittens and puppies, and she is now a big fan of baby goats as well.
Willow's hooves are still soft, and her coat was downy soft. We love that sweet little face!
After lots of time with Willow, it was 3:00--time for the daily critter feeding. We got to watch as Amy explained the food sources for each of her animals. She sorts through expired food donated from local grocery stores to find the best meals for the animals. Not the glamorous job that most young women envision, but she obviously loves her job.
The bald eagle is here because he lost a wing in a power line accident. So this noble fellow is permanently grounded.
He is limited to hopping to pick up the baby chicks that are in his diet. If he should lose a feather, Amy must register it with the proper authorities because it is illegal to possess an American Eagle feather. There is a process for getting these eagle feathers to Native American tribes to use for ceremonial gear.
The eagle's roommate is this owl, who rotated his head 180 degrees to see us when we first walked up.
The owl's lunch is mice, which Amy holds up by the tail. We tried to get a picture of the owl swooping in for the meal, but he was moving too fast.
We noticed that there was a beaver habitat also, but we didn't see any movement there. Knowing that beavers are nocturnal, we assumed that he was sleeping in the afternoon. But he quickly became mobile and scampered out of the water when Amy entered the enclosure with lunch.
He seemed to be happier to see Amy than the food bowl she placed on the ground in front of him.
We had never seen a beaver so up-close before, and it was fun to watch him eating his apples and carrot sticks. Amy exclaimed that we were certainly getting a good show, as he isn't usually this visible.
So we had a great afternoon at Sequoyah State Park, and were properly entertained and educated by a wonderful young ranger at the nature center. We appreciate the enthusiasm that you shared with us, Amy Nickel, and wish you and your animals a great holiday season. We end with the last parting picture of the cutest kids at Sequoyah State Park.
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