At the bigger zoos, you can choose to spend the night on site. This is most useful in places that are far away from regular hotels, like the Durrell Park on the Isle of Jersey, the San Diego Safari Park, and here, at The Wilds.

It’s not a cheap place to stay, but when you factor in the cost of travel, it’s not unreasonable. It is rather relaxing to have a place to just drop your gear after a long day of shooting.

I was staying in the one in the center of the shot. It was more isolated than the others and, other than a tree that get in the way, gave me a nice view at night.

The Wilds is a place much like the Safari Park out in San Diego, except that it’s on reclaimed strip mine land in the middle of Ohio. To see the good things, you have to take the ride on the special truck. Unlike the Safari Park, though, there is no way to get one all to yourself, so you have to basically shoot around people which can be annoying.

Because each animal is relatively free to roam, and there are no enclosures, the feed trucks are sent out in the morning and the animals sort of congregate upon them. This is both an efficient way to feed the animals and it trains them to not be afraid of the trucks.