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The Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, once in cattle, sheep production, now features animals of a different breed |
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By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas |
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February 28, 2002 -- Tucked back in the rolling Hill Country, between New Braunfels and San Antonio, there's a different kind of Texas ranch. The Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch likes to say it is "African safari ... Texas style!" On around 450 acres, the public is invited to drive through roads filled with fields of 60 to 65 species of animals from every continent, except Antarctica, said Trudy Soechting, owner of the ranch. The property was declared a Land Heritage Property by the State of Texas in 1992, and is a family-owned and -operated corporation. Soechting's great-grandfather, Louis Forshage, bought his first parcel of land around 1894, she said, and although she has not researched the acreage, said at one time, he owned a considerable amount of land in the area. Originally a cattle and sheep ranch, the Soechting family still raises cattle and Spanish goats on other areas of the ranch and in South Central Texas. "There's still quite a bit of property that's in the families that it was passed to. He had property in Seguin and then moved up this way," said Soechting. She has lived most of her life on the ranch, and both she and her husband were " ... born and raised in this county ... " and are still here. The rolling hills have many stories to tell, and one concerns an old log cabin on a cousin's property, near by, that still has arrow heads embedded in the walls from Indian fights with the settlers. "In about 1982, my husband was in the automotive repair business in New Braunfels ... and he decided to get out of it. Basically, he's the one that came up with the idea of the wildlife ranch. We started going around exploring, and at that time there was really only one (wildlife ranch) in the state that was open, and they have since shut down," said Soechting. Because of their love for animals and family, the Soechtings decided it would be a good business that could incorporate their two sons and their wives who are graduates of Texas Tech University and involved in agriculture. In 1984, the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch opened, and has expanded several times in the past years to include new species of animals, including Lemurs and rhinoceros. It is very important to the Soechtings to keep the normal habitats for the animals, and not to enclose them any more than necessary. The feed storage area can hold slightly over a million pounds of alfalfa hay, feed supplements and grain. The Soechtings said that in the past year, the animals were fed 550,000 pounds of high quality alfalfa hay and 198,000 pounds of grain, supplements, vitamins and minerals. "We take pride in that our animals are all in very good shape. We take much pride in that," said Soechting. The drive through the ranch takes around an hour, and many of the animals come right up to the car windows, since they can be fed by throwing provided feed on the ground near the cars. When asked about the best rewards of owning the ranch, Soechting referred to keeping the family close, working together, and the children who visit. "Basically, it's the satisfaction of the kids who don't get to experience what I did, and the love of animals. A lot of them have never seen animals, don't get to touch them. Just to know we're providing a place where they can do this and it's a family attraction is important to me," she said. |
