Folsom Zoo Sactuary

Posted by Karen on 06-May-2006

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After the wildflower walk, Lisa and I headed back to Folsom to grab some lunch.  Before heading home, we decided to visit the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary and I’m glad we did, as I’d never been there before.  The zoo is a unique facility in that it houses animals that are native to Northern California and can’t be released.  This zoo is sometimes called the “Misfit Zoo”.  The animals in the zoo were either injured or abandoned in the wild or were pets that became too unruly for their owners.  After being relocated, these animals were nursed back to health and acclimated to their new surroundings.  And the bears here have a special job–they test the bear canisters that we hikers are required to carry when backpacking in bear territory.  The testers fill the canister with tempting food, slather honey on the outside and then they canister give the canister to the bears.  It’s the bear’s job to try and get it open; if the bear fails, we hikers have another option for protecting our food.