TWIN FALLS COUNTY, ID — For this month's Something to Smile About, I'm visiting the petting zoo at the Twin Falls County Fair where guests can get up close with farm animals.
- The petting zoo is a fan-favorite for many fair attendees.
- Randy Jones, proprietor of Freckle Farm, has been running a petting zoo for 50 years, and usually come to a Twin Falls event at least once a year.
- It's free to visit the animals, but guests need to purchase food if they want to feed any of the goats, chickens, etc.
(Below is a transcript of the broadcast story.)
I'm your neighborhood reporter Lorien Nettleton and I'll take you inside the Twin Falls County Fair for some fun festivities for this month's Something to Smile About.
"My favorite goat was one of them that I first touched," said one kid. "It's little and it has little horns."
Now, I'm a middle-aged guy and this is my first visit to a petting zoo.
"There's some pretty ones, did you have a favorite?" I asked another young visitor.
"I like the big tall one," she said. "It was kind of fat and chubby."
While I was there, I met a few other first timers like Klara.
"Have you ever got to do something like that before?" I asked.
"No," she said.
"So, did you like it? What was your favorite part?:
"Yeah, how tiny the chickens are," Klara said.
And there were some folks like Tiffany and her kids, Jonah and Eden, who never miss a chance to visit the goats, sheep, alpacas and cows.
"Oh, we do it pretty often. We come to the (Twin Falls) fair at least once a year. We also go to different counties around different little towns," Tiffany said. "We love it. One of my favorite things is the petting zoo."
Randy Jones, proprietor of Freckle Farm, has been running petting zoos for 50 years.
"It just was an accident, you know, my ex wife said 'I wanna start petting zoo,' and I said, 'you're gonna do what?" Jones said. "But then one came up and we said, 'yeah, let's try it'. We just kind of put it all together and it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger."
They started out by doing birthday parties, but once they began doing fairs, they never looked back.
"They never gave me a birthday cake at a county fair, you know," Jones said.
Visitors get to hang out with the animals for no charge, but if you're feeling adventurous, take in a handful of goat treats and see how it goes.
Jones said one of the reasons he's kept at it all these years is the way kids of all ages react when they're in the unfamiliar environment.
"Biggest thrill in my life is to get a kid in there that is deathly afraid and you take your time and you let them pet them and pretty soon they get to liking it and then they don't wanna leave," Jones said. "That's my biggest thrill."
"Give me all the love, I love goats," Tiffany added.
I'm you Twin Falls neighborhood reporter Lorien Nettleton — this has been Something to Smile About for Idaho News six.
