‘Kiss A Critter’ event on tap through Feb. 15 at Little Ponderosa Zoo
This baby alligator is among the animals selected for the Valentine’s “Kiss A Critter” event at the Little Ponderosa Zoo. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The zoo announced the special event on Facebook last week, saying that for a $10 charge each, six of Little Ponderosa’s resident animals would be available for kissing, including a Highland cow, two ferrets, a baby alligator, a baby goat, and a giant tortoise.
“Choose from several of our adorable critters to kiss for just $10 a kiss,” the post said.
That fee is in addition to the Little Ponderosa’s usual admission charges: Kids (age 2 and under), free; juniors (3-17), $10; adults (18-65), $15; and seniors (65-up), $10.
Whether visitors will actually be allowed to “kiss” one of the animals remains in doubt.
A follow-up post on the Little Ponderosa’s Facebook page said that because of health reasons, people would not actually be allowed to kiss any of these animals. But that second post was no longer showing up on the site by Monday afternoon.
The zoo has been offering special “meet and greet” sessions for visitors to interact with some of the tame animals, however.
Some people on the Facebook post about “Kiss A Critter” were requesting that Gunther, the Little Ponderosa’s resident Bengal tiger, be included in the event. However, that’s not going to happen.
Little Ponderosa, the official zoo of Anderson County, is at 629 Granite Road, in the Dutch Valley community near Clinton.
Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, call 865-457-5536, or visit the website littleponderosazoo.com.
