Our Animals
At Hope Hills Petting Zoo we have an assortment of friendly, beautiful, and unique animals! Our animals are foremost our pets, and we love all of them!
Our Nigerian Dwarf Goats are the stars of the show! These goats originated in West Africa and are relatives of the Pygmy goat. Unlike their chubby counterparts, Nigerians are sleek and thin, and used for milk production. A female goat is a doe, and a neutered male is a wether. Intact male goats, bucks, are super smelly and don't come to petting zoos. Here on our farm some of our best does give three or four cups of creamy milk a day!
When most people think of rabbits they think of Easter, but our rabbits are eager to see you any time of the year! Our resident bunnies are New Zealand and New Zealand crosses, one of the largest breeds of rabbit. In fact, there are over 60 different rabbit breeds!
Our Guinea pigs are super adorable and a favorite with our smaller guests. "Frappe" and her daughter "Mocha" are our two resident guinea pigs. They've been to many petting zoos and I think they enjoy it as much as the kids! Did you know: Guinea Pigs come from South America, and they are called such because they squeak like pigs, and people would sell them for a guinea!
Our exotic chickens are some of the funnier members of our zoo. We have many different breeds- Mille Fleur D'Uccle bantams (a breed of miniature chicken weighing just a pound!), Polish Crested (with the silly "top hats"), and sometimes we even have baby chicks!
Our Eastern Box Turtle, Tripoda, is extra special because she only has three legs! She was run over by a lawn mower and we had to take her to a vet to get all stitched up! Eastern box turtles are found all across the eastern US. However their numbers are decreasing every year, mostly due to being run over by cars and outdoor machinery. We hope that by bringing Tripoda to petting zoos, we can increase awareness for the growing plight of the Eastern Box Turtle!
