#Lazy5Ranch – Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography

Macro Monday – 2026 August 03

Swamp Water

Buffalo

The Swamp Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is also referred to as Asian Water Buffalo. It is the second largest member of the bovid family. It has great strength and high fat milk content which has led to its domestication throughout the world. These buffalo spend most of the day submerged, sometimes up to their nostrils, in the water of rivers or swamps. Did you know there is a reason for this? It serves two (2) major purposes.

) These Buffalo do NOT possess adequate sweat glands to keep themselves cool through sweat evaporation along, so remaining submersible allows them to regulate their temperature in the hot , humid Southeast Asia climate.
) The water protects the buffalo from all manners of biting insects that also inhabit the jungle. Their hooves developed as widely splayed in order to prevent them from sinking into the thick mud of swamps and river bottoms.

Water Buffalo eat grass, herbs shrubs, tree bark and other available greens. They are exclusively herbivores. At the Lazy 5 Ranch, as well as similar facilities, the Swamp Water Buffalos are fed free-choice, low-protein, high-fiber forage. They also rely heavily on coastal Bermuda grass, orchard grass, or Timothy hay. They provide freshly cut pasture grasses, sorghum, or maize fodder to simulate natural grazing. One other thing they do to guarantee they receive complete nutrition, the supplement the roughage with scientifically formulated pellets from exotic animal feed manufacturers like Mazuri Exotic Animal Nutrition or Zeigler Feed Manufacturing.

The visitors to the Ranch who desire to feed their swamp exotic animals during their tour are given buckets of compressed fiber pellets. The Swamp Buffalos love treats and will come up to the Wagons during a Safari tour to beg for handouts from the “treat” buckets. That is exactly what this particular Swamp Water Buffalo is doing, begging my daughter for treats from the feed bucket near her.

Click on image to enlarge.

Macro Monday (MM)

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250 mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Take time to enjoy nature. Have a funtastic week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Cell Pic Sunday: 2026 August 2nd

Foraging

Click on image to enlarge.

John’s Cell Pic Sunday-2026.08.02

Camera: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a wonderful week ahead. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Hey Y’all, Wait Up … I’m Coming

Red Sindhi

Coleman and I found the Wagon Ride at the Lazy 5 Ranch to be very interesting and I’d say educational. Coleman enjoyed seeing the many different types of exotic animals including the Red Sindhi cow which followed the Wagon for quite a ways as if it wanted to have an exciting adventure as well.

Red Sindhi belong to the heat-tolerant Bos indicus (Zebu) lineage. It is a specialized dairy breed originating from Pakistan.

The Red Sindhi yield substantial volumes of milk (averaging 4.5%-5% fat) even under extreme heat and stress (like we’ve been experiencing) and low quality forage. At the Ranch they are well fed and maintained.

The Red Sindhi are compact, smaller and rounder in comparison to the Red Brahma. The hump is well developed in bulls, but much smaller in cows.

Its colouring is a Deep Red, ranging from yellowish-brown to dark brown; males are typically darker than females especially on the head, feet, and tail.

These images were all taken while looking out the back of the Wagon; noticing the Red Sindhi and other animals following behind and eventually alongside the Wagon. They really were delighted when the Wagon stopped off and on during the Safari ride. They knew whenever the Wagon stopped they could get feed from the Lazy 5 Ranch guests.

Click on each image to enlarge.

Debbie’s Six Word Saturday-2026.08.01

Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; 15100 Mooresville Road; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a funtastic weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Thursday Trios: (Oops on Saturday) 2026.08.01

Here Little Piggies

While traveling on the wagon Ride around the Lazy 5 Ranch we spotted Vietnamese Pot-bellied pigs in groups of three. Imagine that, how nice of them to group themselves as trios for my photographic adventures.

The Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) at the Lazy 5 Ranch were originally from the jungles of China and Vietnam. They were introduced into the United States as pets around 1985. Their backbone is bent like a saddle, which causes the abdomen to nearly drag on the ground. It is due to this effect why they received the pot-bellied name. At birth piglets normally weigh approximately one (1) pound (lb). They grow to a height of 10-12 inches (in) and a weight of about 125 pounds (lbs).

Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pigs
Thursday Trios

Pot-Bellied Pigs are intelligent and can be taught to do simple tricks and to walk around on a leash. However, at the Lazy 5 Ranch they are free to roam around the pastures, pathways and around the many, many other exotic animals at the ranch. At the Ranch they are not taught any tricks, they do enjoy the feed. While on the Wagon ride you are allowed to feed the animals roaming about, some even approach alongside the Wagon begging for handouts (they know the visitors have feed buckets which they’ll gladly make disappear).

Click on each image to enlarge.

Carol’s Thursday Trios-2026.08.01

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Get Outdoors. Take a Walk/Hike. Enjoy Nature’s Beauty. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Wordless Wednesday — 2026 July 29

Milling Around

Click on image to enlarge.

Wordless Wednesday-2026.07.29

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel 2000D with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Stay Cool. Have a Fun Adventure. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Monday Portrait – 2026 July 27

Greater Rhea

Lazy 5 Ranch

The Greater Rhea at the Lazy 5 Ranch roam freely amongst the many various Exotic animals within the pathways as well as in the grassy areas. Sometimes you can spot one by itself while at other times they’ll be in pairs, near Elands, or even alongside the Wagons that carry visitors around the Ranch.

Here are a few Greater Rheas we saw during our Adventure …

*A Rhea next to the wagon & Coleman’s hand.*

The Rhea (Rhea americana) is the third largest flightless bird in the world. They are smaller than African Ostriches and have three toes instead of two. The single male bird builds the nest for all the females in his harem to lay their eggs. A single male may incubate up to 50 eggs while in solitude. [Hey, guys how would you like the responsibility to incubate the female’s eggs?] Rheas rapidly run on long legs and travel in family groups of approximately six (6) birds except during the mating season. The mating season is when flocks of about twenty-five (25) congregate. How fast do you think Rheas can run? [Answer noted near end of post.]

Click on images to enlarge.

Monday Portrait-2026.07.27

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

Note: The Rheas can run up to forty (40) miles per hour (mph). Did you guess right? If not that’s okay, then you learned something new.

God Bless. Have a wonderful adventurous week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Cell Pic Sunday: 2026 July 26

Click on image to enlarge.

John’s Cell Pic Sunday-2026.07.26

Camera: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Location: Safari Wagon Ride; Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a wonderful week ahead. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Silent Sunday: 2026 July 26

At The Cross

Click on image to enlarge.

Silent Sunday-2026.07.26

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter Attachment.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Take time to enjoy the flowers. Get Outdoors and commune with nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Coleman Feeds Animals — Lazy 5 Ranch

I’m combining Debbie’s Six Word Saturday with XingfuMama’s Pull Up a Seat this week while continuing our Adventures at the Lazy 5 Ranch.

Before get into our adventures let me tell you that one of the reasons we went on our adventure was to give Coleman a special outing before his birthday (today’s his birthday). Coleman turned Seven (7). The first gallery of images show Coleman Pulling Up a Seat while waiting for the Wagon Ride.

This next gallery depicts Coleman feeding some of the Exotic Animals that came alongside the Wagon we were riding on during our Safari adventure around the Lazy 5 Ranch.

Coleman Feeds Exotic Animals
at Lazy 5 Ranch

The last gallery illustrates Coleman feeding Giraffes during the Safari Wagon Ride plus showing a bit more of the Wagon.

Coleman
Feeding the Giraffes
on a stop
during the Wagon Ride
at Lazy 5 Ranch

Click on images to enlarge.

Debbie’s Six Word Saturday-2026.07.25

XingfuMama’s Pull Up a Seat #30-2026.07.25

Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment; Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; 15100 Mooresville Road; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a funtastic weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Monochrome Madness/LAPC — A Family Adventure in Black and White

This week is a free week for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness; instead of following her lead on Profusion I am combining my Monochrome Madness post with the Lens-Artist Photo Challenge’s theme of Adventures. I’m sharing a few Black and White images of our Adventures at the Lazy 5 Ranch.

Here are my entries …

*Antlers on the wall*
*at the*
*Wagon Loading Area*

*The Horses and Wagons*
*waiting for visitors*

*An Eland*
*following the Wagon*
*we were riding in.*

*An Axis Deer*
*peeking around*
*a tree.*

*Coleman feeding a*
*Scotch Highland Cattle*

Click on each image to enlarge.

Leanne’s Monochrome Madness/2026.07.23 (Free Week)

Leya’s Lens-Artist Photo Challenge (LAPC) #405 — Adventures

Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment; Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a funtastic week ahead. May your week be filled with love, laughter, and happiness. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Which Way Challenge (2026) CWWC: Any Which Way (Your Choice) Week 1 —07.24.2026 -07.31.2026 Will run for 2 Weeks]

Welcome back to another Which Way Challenge (CWWC). I trust everyone has had a good week and able to spend some time to take a walk or hike in the vast outdoors. This week’s I’m allowing y’all to choose your own Which Ways for this week and next with the theme of CWWC: Any Which Way (Your Choice). The Which Way can be any path, sidewalk, trail, or road as long as the Which Way is clearly discernible. As always signs are always welcome.

For further information regarding the Which Way Challenge (CWWC) feel free to check out the home page here.

When I began preparing this post after last week’s went live I had thought of sharing a hiking adventure Coleman and I had two years ago in 2024. However, best laid plans do change occasionally as did mine for this week.

We had an incident with Coleman this week (I won’t go into details, but prays are appreciated). This is a special week for Coleman so his mom chose to take us on a special adventure up in Mooresville, North Carolina to the Lazy 5 Ranch.

I am sharing a few images of our adventures here with y’all.

Arriving at Lazy 5 Ranch …

The Lazy 5 Ranch is approximately an hour’s drive north of us in the City of Mooresville, North Carolina. It is privately owned and operated by Henry Hampton. It receives no federal or state funding. Henry Hampton has been raising exotic animals for over 50 years. He started out with the exotic animals at his own home and allowed school groups to visit viewing the animals from the opposite side of the fence.

In May of 1993, Mr. Hampton’s dream became a reality and The Lazy 5 Ranch officially opened. It opened with just five (5) staff people and only two (2) operating wagons. We chose to have a Wagon Ride with the driver commenting on the animals we were seeing instructing everyone to remain seated as long as the Wagon was moving. We could move around or stand to take pictures when the wagon was stopped.

The Lazy 5 Ranch has grown tremendously since its beginning with over 600 animals from six (6) continents. The animals can be viewed everyday all year long by horse drawn wagon or from your own personal vehicle while traveling along a 3 1/2 mile safari ride. As you can see, I have only shared a fraction of what we saw on our adventure visiting the Ranch.

Click on each image to enlarge.

Thank you to those who have participated and supported the Which Ways Challenge. I appreciate y’all sharing your Which Ways with us.

For an idea of other’s Which Ways from this past week’s challenge, be sure to click on the following links below.

Suzette’s For Deb’s CWWC Any Which Way Paved [in Black and White]

Geriatri’x’ Fotogallery’s Roads And Bridges

Marina’s Fence

Cath’s Which Way… {Monochrome Roads}

Dan’s Ain’t No Cure — SoCS

Dawn’s Which Way: Train Track in the Weeds

Marilyn’s My Way Or The Highway?

Dawn’s Around the Bend in BnW

Deb’s Which Way Challenge (CWWC)

Next week we’ll continue with the theme of CWWC: Any Which Way (Your Choice) [07.31.2026].

Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T7 (2000D) with Canon EF-S55/250mm lens and Altura UV Filter attachment; Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Location: Lazy 5 Ranch; 15100 Mooresville Road; Mooresville, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have an adventurous weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Swamp Water

Buffalo

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Foraging

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Red Sindhi

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Here Little Piggies

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Milling Around

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Greater Rhea

Lazy 5 Ranch

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At The Cross

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