Tag: Zoos

  • Gone Fur Good: 10 Abandoned Petting Zoos & Game Parks

    [ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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    Generations of adults cherish childhood memories of these now-abandoned petting zoos. As for the animals fed & petted there, maybe they remember, too…

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    White Pines Deer Park near Oregon, Illinois is remembered fondly by several generations of kids who enjoyed feeding the 200-odd deer kept in a spacious enclosure. “It’s excellent,” stated 8-year-old T.J. Turner in the summer of 1992. “Deer come right up to you. Outside you never get to pet them or see them.” Inside too, nowadays.

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    Flickr user BillsExplorations visited what remains of White Pines Deer Park in February of 2013, about two decades after the park closed in the mid-1990’s. Though it adjoins White Pines Forest State Park (an Illinois Nature Preserve since 2001), Bill didn’t see any deer roaming about – blame it on carelessly disposed-of Polaroid film waste.

    Gotta Flat

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    Flickr user Quinn Dombrowski (quinn.anya) brings us this curious “Flat Petting Zoo”… says they sell furs there. Better not tell PETA or Elaine Benes.

    Benson’s Hedges

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    Benson’s Wild Animal Farm in Hudson, New Hampshire, opened in 1926 and closed in 1987 following a decades-long decline. In 2009, the town of Hudson acquired the property and it’s gradually being redeveloped as a public park and nature area sans petting zoo.

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    Some of the much-deteriorated old buildings including the Old Lady in the Shoe’s house are to be restored though non-native plants, animals and animal-petters are no longer welcome.

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    Gone Fur Good 10 Abandoned Petting Zoos Game Parks

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    [ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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