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Albert Underwood arrives before dawn every morning to make sure ‘Lazy 5’ runs smoothly.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/LazyRanchP2W_CJM.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
The park features over 750 different types of animals, like the Gr\u00e9vy’s Zebra pictured here.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 4″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-30-at-11.54.00-AM.png” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 4″ _builder_version=”3.0.106″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||” background_layout=”light” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.0.106″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – In the quiet, rural landscape of North Carolina, a quaint ranch draws visitors to glimpse a collection of animals\u00a0<\/strong>that differs greatly from Old MacDonald’s farm children learn about in kindergarten.<\/p>\n The Lazy 5 Ranch consist of a three-and-a-half-mile safari, with over 750 exotic animals from six different continents.<\/p>\n But on the Saturday before Easter, children will also enjoy hunting for eggs dropped by helicopter, playing with live bunnies and going on a scavenger hunt. The Easter Egg-stravaganza will be held for children from ages 4-11 at various times during the day, and include a egg hunt for special needs children. The egg hunts are included in regular park admission.<\/p>\n The ranch celebrates its 25-year anniversary in 2018.\u00a0When it began in 1993, the only employees were owner Henry Hampton, his wife and three kids. His son, knowing just how lazy his family was, suggested the name Lazy 5 Ranch when Hampton decided to make his privately-funded collection of animals open to the public.<\/p>\n Albert William Underwood, a longtime caretaker of the ranch, has been around\u00a0animals for as long as he can remember. He provides visitors with a horse-drawn wagon ride through the park, as well as feeding the animals and taking care of the property. He is a strong supporter of the park\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n \u201cThe inner-city kids, they call the horses cows,\u201d Underwood said, \u201cA lot of people, they’ve never seen an animal outside of a dog and a cat. There’s a lot to learn in a park like this.\u201d<\/p>\n The goal of the park is to educate the public as well as \u201cpreserve some of God\u2019s most unique creatures.\u201d The park houses many animals considered to be endangered, such as\u00a0Gr\u00e9vy’s zebras and ring-tailed lemurs.<\/p>\n “March and October are our busiest seasons,” Underwood said, “On a busy day, we have over 7,000 people throughout the day.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Visitors to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, N.C. can go on a three-and-a-half mile safari to view 750 different types of domestic and exotic animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":5983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,68],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5221"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7263,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5221\/revisions\/7263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}