LOXAHATCHEE, FL--There's no denying. It's hot! The air is hot, the pavement's hot, let's face it... it's down right sultry!
And in this kind of heat whether you're a human or an animal, you gotta do what you gotta do to stay cool!
For the humans visiting Lion Country Safari, there's always the Safari Splash Water Playground if you need a quick cool down. But for the residents at Lion Country, well, they do what comes naturally, in captivity.
"All animals that are kept in captivity tend to be a little bit spoiled and a little bit fat, so we do have to be careful in the high heat," said Terry Wolf, Wildlife Director at Lion Country Safari.
Animals like the Tapir like to be mostly submerged, and so do water buffalo.
Llamas like to walk through misting water, but lions prefer to stay in the shade and let the mist come relatively close to them.
"Lions do not like water; they're a lot like your house cat. If you try to give them a bath or anything else, they'd probably tear you up," said Wolf.
Antelope like to lie in the shade by day, and be more active at night. And the elephants, well they can be coaxed into a swim by using bagels as bait. But they kind of have to think about it before they do it.
"All that sand and mud that they have up on their back, that's kind of like their sunscreen. They put a lot of work into getting in on there, and when they go into the water it washes off of course. So they're a little hesitant to do that," said Wolf.
But once they're in the water, a little head dunk can go a long way when it comes to being refreshed. So big or small, with four legs or two, until that first cold front sweeps on through, animals do what must be done to beat the heat.
