Somewhere past the Danish village of Solvang we discovered a strange little vortex of misfit animal farms. First was Ostrich Land, its menacing sign a bit unsettling but yet so very alluring. After reading/ignoring multiple signs warning us of the potential dangers, we took our bowls full of pellets and went outside to feed the giant birds.
If you've ever come face to face with an ostrich, their personalities are a bit like llamas. They flash this goofy perma-grin that makes one foolishly think, 'Awwww how cute and harmless! Let me feed you and pet you!'
Then, when they know they've got you hooked, in an instant they turn, their expressions revealing intentions of pure evil. Nervously holding out our food they greedily jerked their long necks out at us and began pecking furiously at the bowls, pellets flying everywhere. Ostriches may very well be the biggest a-holes in the animal world but they are hilarious and fascinating creatures. In the gift shop later, we are amazed to see the size of the eggs that come out of their strange prehistoric-like bodies.
As we're leaving a young guy that works there tips us off to a mini-pony farm down the road. More cute and magical creatures? Yes, please.
The mini ponies had crazy manes that seemed overly long for their little bodies, reminiscent of certain 80s hair bands. Most of them were segregated to separate pens, and they all looked somewhat lonesome. After resisting the urge to open all the pens and let them run as fast as their mini-legs would carry them, we left feeling slightly bummed out.
Yet not more than a few miles away on a backcountry road what do we see but...miniature donkeys! We've apparently arrived at Seein' Spots Farm and as we're driving through the entrance I do a double take at what appears to be a zebra…
or is it a donkey?
We soon learn that this bizarre animal hybrid that essentially looks like a donkey in striped leggings is called a Zonkey. Kind of like a wolf in sheep's clothing this donkey was not very happily wearing zebra clothing, and it felt a bit disturbing to see this Frankensteined animal. Having had our fill of creepy animal farms, we headed south toward Santa Barbara.
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