Barn Hill Preserve :: A Great Summer Day Trip to Ethel, LA with a Unique Experience
If you are looking for a great place to take the kids on a hot summer day, not far from home, and have the best experience interacting with animals … Ethel, Louisiana has a surprise for you!
My Animal Lover
Before I tell you about this place, I must tell you that my daughter is an animal lover. From the time she was born, we would always know when an animal was in our vicinity because we would hear a very high-pitched squeal coming from her sweet tiny voice and we knew an animal was near. She has always been fascinated with animals, and she has begged us to allow all sorts of animals in our house, which we have always denied (some of them are NOT house pets). Every summer, she would be outside playing with her friends and sure enough, she would come home telling me about the animals that she had found; there were many rabbits, hurt birds, lost dogs, the occasional stray cat, and of course, squirrels.
One time she was so adamant about keeping a baby rabbit that she believed followed her home, that I literally had to research if you could keep a wild rabbit as a pet. I was not thrilled about this idea, especially since we have a dog in the house who fears butterflies, but I reluctantly investigated, hoping to find proof that we couldn’t keep it. Bingo! I found some information online that said that a person must be a “certified domesticated rehabilitator” to keep a wild animal. I can assure you I am not that, and neither is my husband. And to be honest, I have never seen that degree offered at any college, so I felt pretty good about telling her we simply weren’t qualified. She understood and felt reassured after our pep talk about certain animals needing to live in their natural environment with their families. She is a teenager now and she still finds joy in all animals and is the first person to go search the neighborhood for a missing dog. She lives for a “missing dog” post on the neighborhood social media page, and 9 times out of 10, she finds it.
Barn Hill Preserve
When I heard about this farm called Barn Hill Preserve in Louisiana, we booked a tour without hesitation. We knew our animal-loving girl would love this place. The drive is about an hour and a half from the Northshore area. It is a nice little drive for an unforgettable experience.
When we arrived, there were a few other families waiting for the tour. Some kids, some older folk, all ages welcome! Our tour guide was funny and very knowledgeable. We started the tour looking at penguins, hyenas, zebras, and servals. Soon enough, we found ourselves inside a petting zoo where we were able to interact with many animals, including holding baby goats. It was so cute to see baby goats roaming around looking for their mother, while the mother was looking for a way out of the exhibit. You could find her standing by the gate waiting for it to open for her chance to escape. We enjoyed being up close to these animals and watching them interact with each other and us.
Then we entered the kangaroo enclosure! This was amazing. The kangaroo didn’t even seem to notice us. They just went about their day, hanging out in groups, hopping around, and eating grass. Did you know that kangaroos are unable to walk backwards? They were unusually chill and did not mind the people observing and talking about them one bit.
Finally, we get to the sloth exhibit. Everything literally starts moving in slow motion here. I even felt like the tour guide started talking veeeery sloooooowly. We saw a couple of sloths and they were moving around in an extremely leisurely way. You do not have to feel threatened in here because these guys are in no hurry to get to you. They climbed around, hung upside down, and basically fell asleep every other minute. The tour guide gave us some zucchini to feed to them, and they would reach out their hand and ever so carefully, take the food and bring it to their mouth and chew on it for about what seemed like an hour. It was interesting to see this in action, and now I understand where the expression “at a sloth’s pace” comes from.
Finally, after about 2 hours, we reached the end of the tour where it is time to see the adorable otters, or you have the option to swim with the otters in a heated pool! My adventurous teens put on their swimsuits and quickly entered the pool. After some coaxing, the otters jumped into the water and swam around interacting with the swimmers. The otters played with a variety of pool toys and enjoyed stealing them from each other. The cute otters would push off the person that they were next to, and swim around putting on a show for the brave guests. For the last part of this encounter, the swimmers get out of the pool and sit on the deck with their towels on their legs, and the otters excitedly come over to dry off and rub all over the towels. It was a unique experience to say the least. Watching my girls participate in this was pure joy for my heart.
Book Your Tour Today!
It was an excellent day well spent. I would recommend this experience to anyone looking for a fun unique day spent with many types of cool amazing animals. If your child loves animals and would jump at the chance to pet them, feed them, hold them, interact with them and swim with them, book your tour today! Never underestimate the excitement you can have and the memories you can make in a small country town not far from home.
Barn Hill Preserve
11342 LA-955
Ethel, LA 70730
[email protected]
225-286-3003
