Watch the Full Length Interview Here!

Since she was a child, Christy Bedrich always had the dream of having her own zoo. Taking her dad’s advice, she wrote down this dream and never forgot it. Fast-forward to 2024 and her dream has become a reality. Pawsitive Animal Encounters is a fully functional and interactive zoo, about ten miles outside downtown Lufkin, that offers a wide variety of friendly animals to come and meet.

“The zoo is held at my home… I live in a zoo.”

When you arrive, you will notice very quickly that this is no ordinary zoo. This is in fact Christy’s home. She jokingly commented that her and her family live in a zoo. But be assured, this isn’t like an episode of Tiger King. Pawsitive Animal Encounters has all the proper inspections and official requirements of any other zoo-type attraction. All of their enclosures are tidy and the animals, in Christy’s words, are spoiled.

THE ANIMALS

“We have fennec foxes, six potbelly pigs, one llama, a couple of goats… and “a partridge in a pear tree.””

Let’s just put it this way, Christy has a lot of animals. A LOT OF ANIMALS. If you come for a tour, prepare to stay for about two hours, as you interact and learn about all of their wonderful creatures. Speaking of these lovely critters, here are all of the animals that you can meet at Pawsitive Animal Encounters:

• When you begin your tour you will meet a ton of friendly animals, right off the bat. Located in the front room you will meet Sasha, the squirrel monkey. Sasha is full of energy and loves her goldfish snacks. She also has a strange fascination with Dr. Phil. Be sure to ask Christy about that. There, you will also meet Carlos, the white chinchilla. You must feel have soft he is! Next, are Christy’s sugar gliders. They are sweet little guys but would much rather nap than be social. Across the room are Pawsitive’s three indoor reptiles. A bearded dragon, blue tongue skink, and their ball python. You can even wear the snake on your neck. Would you try it? Let’s not forget about sweet Jenny, the skinny pig. She is a guinea pig but with no hair! She sort of looks like a little hippo.
• You certainly meet a lot of creatures at the beginning of your tour, but you still have so many to meet! Especially Scarlett, the two-toed sloth. Enter into Scarlett’s room and feed her a rose. Those are her favorite treats. Because she is so slow, you can get a great selfie with her and your friends.
• As you move into the back yard, get ready to meet animals of all sizes and species! The first two characters you will mostly meet are Christy’s wallabies. They will joyfully hop over to you, checking you for treats. One of them is even albino! As you make your way further you will meet a couple of tortoises and giant rabbits, until you get to the fennec fox encounter. These foxes are by far some of the cutest animals you will meet. One in particular demands belly-rubs from you. Towards the end of the backyard, you will see a few of their goats and the magnificent Rosie, the African porcupine. She is quite intimating, but as sweet as could be. She will gently wattle over to you with hopes of a little rub behind the ear.
• Back at the main entrance of Pawsitive Animals Encounters, you can meet their six potbelly pigs and llama. They tend to mind their own business, but these farm animals are still impressive, especially if you don’t get to see farm animals every day.

INTERACTIONS

“It’s a guided, educational, and interactive tour.”

What makes Pawsitive Animal Encounters different than just a regular zoo is that you actually get to be up closer and personal with the animals. There is nothing quite like getting to feed wallabies from your hand or rub the ears of a fennec fox. And Christy is there the whole time to help create these moments, while also teaching you a lot about each animal. Whether it’s for a date, school field trip, or family occasion, a visit here is bound to create long lasting memories. Christy even calls these interactions “animal therapy”, as there is a certain peace and joy to be had while having these sweet encounters. She has plenty of stories of those young and old greatly benefiting from just time spent with her animals.

Booking is easy! Just follow this link and schedule a time for you and your loved ones to come visit. They will even host your birthday party! We hope you will get out to deep East Texas soon and meet Christy and all of her lovely pets!

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