Nature’s Creek Zoo exhibits worldwide wildlife
WOODBRIDGE TWP. — Hillsdale County has a new attraction: its very own zoo.
This weekend, Nature’s Creek Zoo, located just outside Hillsdale, will celebrate its opening weekend.
The zoo is USDA-licensed and has about 200 animals, including camels, alligators, kangaroos, monkeys, and many more.
Peggy and Richard Evola run the zoo on their farm.
“We decided it was time to share what we have with the community and let them have that cool experience,” Peggy said.
This isn’t their first experience with opening a zoo though.
Before 1998, Peggy owned a pet store. Soon, she had the idea to start a little zoo to share with the community.
“We first opened up in 1998 in Temperance, Michigan,” she said “It was so great to get to have school kids come in and have hands-on experiences with the animals.”
At one point, the zoo got so big it had 380 animals on 10 acres.
After a while, Peggy and Richard closed the zoo and started a traveling zoo.
The traveling zoo had a lot fewer animals and they were doing a lot more events like fairs, birthday parties, etc.
The Evolas eventually decided to stop traveling and moved to Hillsdale eight years ago. This allowed them to move the animals to a much bigger property: 35 acres. They still decided to downsize, though, to 200 animals.
“We still have animals from all around the world,” Peggy said.
The zoo also has a concession stand and picnic tables, where people can enjoy a snack or sweet treat while talking about the animals they’ve seen.
This is only phase one for the zoo. In phase two, they are hoping to start up a hay wagon that will take visitors through the pastures and allow them to feed the animals.
“Phase three will start up in the spring and we are going to open up one more pasture and have some more different animals out there,” Peggy said.
The zoo also has a camel dairy. Community members can sign up for a herd-share program to receive camel’s milk.
No camels are currently producing milk, but Peggy said she hopes that will change in the spring.
“In the spring, we should have new babies. Then, we are hoping to start booking tours with schools, so they can bring the kids to watch the milking and bottling process,” Peggy said.
Peggy said her favorite part of running the zoo is getting to share her love of animals with the community.
“My love for animals has always been a part of my life,” she said. “The best part is that you can come out and get to watch the animals grow, watch the birthing process, and watch them live their lives out.”
Peggy sees everything they do at the zoo as a very educational experience.
“We teach kids how to hold out their hands to feed the animals and other little things like that,” Peggy said. “I would also like to have someone come in that has some free time to read to the kids. Then, we can put up a tent and the kids can go in there and read about the animals they are going to get to see.”
While the zoo also has a playground area for kids, Peggy said it is for everyone.
“It’s a great place for parents to bring and hang out with their kids,” she said. “But, because there’s not much walking, it is also suitable for seniors as well.”
The zoo also serves the community by taking in rescues.
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While they don’t take in dogs or cats, Peggy said they’ll take in just about any other animal.
“We have a no-questions-asked policy,” she said. “All you have to do is call us and we will take it in and it either will become a part of the zoo or we will help it find a home.”
The zoo is at 11660 Grass Lake Road, Hillsdale, and will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Call 734-347-2888 for more information.
— Elyse Apel is a correspondent for The Hillsdale Daily News. She can be reached by email at ehawkins@hillsdale.edu.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Nature’s Creek Zoo exhibits worldwide wildlife
