B Square Ranch - Farmington, NM - Apr 2008

I discovered the B-Square Ranch on the Trip Advisor's web site of the "Top 10 Things To Do in Farmington, New Mexico." The ranch is home to three interesting attractions -- The Bolack Museum of Fish & Wildlife, The Bolack Electromechanical Museum and The Experimental Farm. On the day we visited the ranch, the only tour available was of the Museum of Fish & Wildlife.

Not knowing that we had to make an appointment for a guided tour (you're not allowed in the museums without a guide), we had to wait for about an hour for the next tour to begin. While waiting, we were allowed to wander the grounds and take in all the sights. The things that first captured our attention were the peacocks -- dozens and dozens of peacocks -- all regally strolling the grounds. Some were perched on fences and in trees others were fanning their colorful tail-feathers and showing off for the peahens.



I don't think I've ever seen so many peacocks in all my life and they were all making their unusual call -- sounding something like a cat in distress. Imagine a yard with 30 peacocks all sounding off -- it was wild.


Another shot of one of the handsome guys.


We also came upon a mother goose -- at first I didn't see the goslings, but when the mom started hissing at me, I knew she was protecting her babies. When she shifted (to keep me in sight), I counted at least six little ones tucked underneath her.


The ranch also had a small "zoo" - more like a couple of cages of wounded animals that the ranch had taken in. This albino racoon was one of them and pretty cute with his pink ears, nose and eyes.


We (along with 20 junior high school students) enjoyed a guided tour of hundreds of exotic wild animal trophies on display in the museum. Our tour guide had back-to-back tours scheduled, so our one-hour tour felt rushed to us (probably not to the students), but it was still interesting.

While the animals were incredible on their own -- the building that housed them was pretty magnificent too. The two story building was beautiful -- with walls, floors and staircases done in exotic woods that were polished until gleaming and then lit with museum quality lighting. Each display was designed to simulate the natural environment of the animals. This baby elephant was the greeter at the entryway.


The ranch claims that all the animals on display were either injured, dying or dead when collected, so none were killed for sport. Several of the display plaques mention the specific condition of the animals when they were taken. For instance, this water buffalo had a broken leg and was nearly dead from starvation when they found him. His body size was much smaller than normal as a result. The mother of the above baby elephant had been killed by poachers and they left the baby to die.



The upstairs hall had dozens of trophy heads on the walls -- each one labeled with the type of animal.


The museum was two stories with a center atrium. This giraffe was the tallest of the displays and his head poked up well into the second floor. I was amazed at how lifelike they made his tongue as he's getting ready to tear off a tree branch. You can also see a white rhino in the background.

The famous "jackalope" -- ha ha!

This alligator had terrorized a village for years -- including killing several people and when they finally caught him, they discovered he had 17 necklaces in his belly. They draped some of the beads across his mouth in the display.