WORKING -- April Ford

Andrew Glazer

SHE IS

Hauling hay every day at the Orange County Fair’s Great American

Petting Zoo.

PET PROJECT

Ford joined the traveling zoo 12 years ago after spotting an

employment ad in the back of a political magazine.

“The owner’s dad owned the magazine,” said the Louisiana native. “And

it seemed like the perfect job. I like traveling, being outside and I

love animals.”

MIXED MENAGERIE

This particular petting zoo has an odd collection of animals that

probably would never be seen together in the wild. European deer nuzzle

Australian kangaroos. Andean Llamas sniff goats.

“When baby animals are born, we expose them to the zoo as soon as

possible,” Ford said. “It doesn’t take long before they adapt to one

another and having people around. We just have to make sure the goats

don’t jump up.”

GETTING HER GOAT

Ford, 30, said her company provides visitors with an important

service.

“Taking care of animals is really hard business,” she said. “Most

people don’t have the space, time or money. So we take care of the

animals and all they have to do is enjoy.”

A group of children crouched near a black goat with a full belly that

spread across the hay where it lay. While it stared ahead, some brave

children pet its head. Others watched her nervously, flinching every time

she jerked her hornless head.

BOTTLE FEEDER

Three fawns, two female and one male, followed Ford around the pen,

emitting guttural gurgles and chirps.

“I’ve bottle-fed them since they were born,” she said. “They really

know me.”

Isabel, a fawn with mocha-and-cream colored fur, even came running

across the hay after Ford called her name.

Perhaps she just knew it was feeding time.

Ford unsheathed several bottles of milk harvested from the goats (an

addition to the weird interspecies mingling going on) and began feeding

the three fawns. Other animals -- a few goats, a pig and nearly a dozen

5-year-old kids -- swarmed around Ford.

HAY FEVER

Ford said she sleeps well in her trailer, which is parked on the

Fairgrounds, each night. Shoveling hay, feeding the animals, herding

children and cleaning the pen is hard work, she said.

“When I first started, it was much easier,” she said. “I guess I’m

older now.”