Fun visit to Western NC Nature Center near Asheville

Visiting my cousin Jean Elizabeth, who lives in New Orleans, was our reason for this quick visit to Asheville; her father was my Dad's older brother

The Oberhasli goat was originally a breed found in mountain regions in Switzerland; they were first imported here to the United States in the early 1900s as they were known to be a docile dairy breed

The river otters were my favorite species here; they are found throughout North Carolina but are primarily in the eastern half of the state

This cougar reminds me of Shasta, the mascot at the University of Houston; the cougar is also known as the puma, mountain lion, panther or catamount depending on the region it lives in

Coyotes can be found in every state except Hawaii; there has never been a documented case of a coyote killing a roadrunner in the wild (beep! beep!)

The eastern gray squirrel is the most common and frequently observed of North Carolina’s five tree squirrel species; the gray squirrel is found in every county and was adopted as the state mammal in 1969

Becca, a white-tailed deer, played an important role in the Oscar-winning movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Black bears are very common in the mountain and coastal regions of North Carolina; the species is very shy and non-aggressive tending to avoid humans

Though bobcats are only about twice the size of a domestic cat, on rare occasions they can bring down prey as large as adult deer which are ten times their weight

My Mom grew up in the city of Durham and is not a farm girl; she's definitely not a socialite like Lisa on Green Acres, but my parents share many similarities with the TV couple

My Dad grew up on a farm north of Nashville, TN that didn't have indoor plumbing; he still works in his garden and the yard every day

This Sicilian donkey is named Eeyore and was born on a farm in western NC; these donkeys are much smaller than normal donkeys and typically live around 35 years

Bill is an angora goat; this species is bred primarily for their fleece, called mohair, which is in high demand for the textile field

My parents and Jean Elizabeth reminisced about their family tree which included murders, secret marriages and other scandalous events; my paternal grandfather was born in 1870!

In 2002 the fossilized skull of a new panda species was discovered near Johnson City, TN; this species (related to the red panda shown here) lived 6 million years ago in the Southern Appalachians

Gray wolf packs are successful in capturing their prey only 10% of the time; wolves can chase their prey for miles

An adult North American river otter can weigh between 11 and 31 lbs; the river otter is protected and insulated by a thick, water-repellent coat of fur