McGreggor – McGregor, Texas might be known as the testing ground for Space X engines, but rocking rockets aren’t the only out of this world things you’ll find in the wide-open spaces of central Texas. There’s also the Blue Hills Ranch, an animal sanctuary that allows humans to have one heck of an interaction with some amazing creatures. “To be able to kind of make a dream come true, I think it’s definitely an amazing feeling,” said Skylar Lightfoot, who has been helping keep the 150 animals that call the Blue Hills Ranch home happy since 2020. “Started off doing tours, helping out in the office, helping with weddings and events, and now pretty much manage majority of the place,” said Skylar.
With 28 different species on hand free roaming around the range, you never know who will come up to say hi while you tour the property, but the donkeys will be sure to butt into your conversations. “She is actually one of the first animals here on the property,” Skylar said of a donkey who approached as she spoke. “We have Bonnie and Clyde. They got their name because they actually escaped within the first week of them being here, and so we had to reinforce some fences and put in a cattle guard.”
Working at the sanctuary is one of those rare occupations that don’t feel like work for those that help out at Blue Hills Ranch. “Not everybody gets to spend time with them every single day, it’s kind of like a once in a lifetime thing,” said Kaylee Pratt, another caretaker with a big love for some of the biggest animals on the property. “I actually worked with giraffes before I came here, so I knew I wanted to continue working with animals, especially exotics, so I knew I had to come back,” said Kaylee. “They’re just really intelligent creatures. I mean, they can see very far, they can see bright colors. They know not to strip trees completely down so they don’t kill them. They’re just intelligent and beautiful.”
Visitors are allowed to hand feed the far-reaching giraffes, and sometimes the giraffes go in for a little sugar too. “Well, it’s not every day you get to get giraffe kisses and learn about something that you don’t get to see every single day,” said Kaylee.
If you’d rather have a more relaxing experience, you could always take a swim with some otters. “We’re actually one of I believe three or four places in the United States where you can actually swim with the otters,” said Skylar.
While sitting comfortably in the hot tub, these fury little guys will swim laps around you and be more than happy to use your head or shoulder as a perch. “Ours are river otters so they’re kind of used to being on banks of rivers, and so they kind of like the obstacles, something to kind of perch up on,” said Skylar. “And in a pool they don’t really have those obstacles so we found out that either a swim spot or a hot tub is kind of the best way to go for them. Ours are a little spoiled. I’m sure the wild otters aren’t exactly as picky as ours.”
Surprisingly to some, this experience has moved people to tears. “We’ve had several people actually cry. It’s definitely not uncommon for people to cry,” said Skylar. “I would have never thought before working here that there was such a high fascination with otters, but that’s a lot of people’s number one favorite animal, and people will cry. People start laughing hysterically just at the cuteness level of otters.”
So if swimming with an overly curious otter or letting a long necked giraffe eat out of your hands or mouth is something you’ve wanted to experience, this place is well worth a stop. “Providing for the animals is definitely first and foremost, our main goal and priority, and to be able to give people the experience to be able to kind of experience the animals in a non-zoo setting is definitely a plus as well,” said Skylar.