This week we celebrate American Zoo Day. Gather your loved ones and head on out to the zoo nearest you.  

The Chahinkapa Zoo is located in Wahpeton, N.D. and is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the week this summer. Ticket prices are $13.75 for Adults age 13 and older and $10.75 for children ages 3-12. Under the age of two are free.  There is a discount for military personnel and for senior citizens with tickets being $12.75 each.  

Another wonderful zoo is the Red River Zoo located in Fargo, N.D.  Admission to the Red River Zoo is $11.25 for children over the age of 14, children ages 2-14 is $8.75 and children under 2 are free.  Senior Citizen tickets cost $10.25.

This week we are featuring the book “The Zoo That Never Was” by R. D. Lawrence.  

The jacket cover of this book reads, “R. D. Lawrence and his wife, Joan, did not set out to become keepers of a wild menagerie on their 350 acre farm in Ontario, Canada, but that is precisely what happened. Their first wards were two baby raccoons, found starving by the side of the road.  Lawrence bottle fed the tiny pair back to health, then returned them to the wild. While they were in his custody, he learned more about racoon behavior than he had ever been taught during his biological studies, including the real reason why raccoons in captivity seem to ‘wash’ their food.  In the following months, other orphaned, injured, or abandoned animals joined the Lawrence’s family. Penny, a skunk, named for her distinctive ‘scent’ which she kept to herself, Manx, the lynx, wounded in a trap, then trained to live in the wild despite his handicap.  Slip and Slide, a pair of otters bought by a trendy couple as exotic pets with disastrous results, Spike, the porcupine delivered by cesarean surgery, Crazy the intrepid white footed mouse, Honk, a Canada goose shot during the hunting season, Sir Francis, the wood duck drake rescued from a snapping turtle, and many more.”  

This is an entertaining book that you will want to keep reading.  Have a wonderful week Otter Tail County.