Wild Acres Hands on Animal Experience

About Wild Acres Hands on Animal Experience

Wild Acres Hands-on Animal Experience is an animal encounter facility at 84 Our Road in McHenry, Mississippi. Its website uses the tagline An Eco-Adventure Like No Other and organizes visits around ticketed animal encounter tours. The home page highlights two main offerings: Public Animal Encounter Tours, described as hands-on experiences with the natural world, and Private Animal Encounter Tours, described as private and personal. The page invites visitors to take a walk on the wild side.

The facility is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Its website lists a Things To Do page with tour and event tickets, a gallery, volunteer opportunities, a symbolic animal adoption page, and a summer safari camp. The site notes that some activities have age requirements and asks visitors to select the activity that best suits their party.

Exhibits and habitats

Wild Acres organizes its public experience around encounter tours. According to its Things To Do page, group animal encounter tours begin at about an hour and a half in length, are described as family friendly, and require tickets for ages three and up. Private encounter tours are listed for select dates with a four-person minimum, and the page mentions that a fox encounter and a baby animal encounter are available as extras.

Its animal adoption page names a number of resident animals. Those listed are Sammy the sloth, Jojo the red kangaroo, Danger the African crested porcupine, Finn the cougar, Mary Jane the southern tamandua, Gus and Sissy the black-capped capuchins, Spark the fennec fox, Kiki the golden spider monkey, Kira the African caracal, and Sprout the coatimundi. The page states that adoptions are symbolic, that adoptable animals may have many adoptive families, and that the animals remain in their Wild Acres homes.

The Things To Do page also lists Mammals and Mimosas, offered on select dates for ages 21 and up, which combines a paint class with an otter meet and greet.

Conservation and programs

Wild Acres lists several programs beyond its standard tours.

Safari Camp. Wild Acres runs a week-long summer Safari Camp. The 2026 camp was offered for campers ages 7 to 15, in age groups of 7 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 to 15, with two camp weeks, June 8 to 13 and July 13 to 17, and earliest drop-off at 8:30 a.m. Camp rotations are listed as Botany, Lunch and Recreational, Featured Creature with hands-on animal interaction, Arts and Crafts, Zoology, and Herping. Registration was described as including a camp t-shirt, a framed class picture, a water bottle, daily lunch, snacks and drinks, a seedling from the botany class, and daily art projects. A family discount was offered for additional campers from the same household.

Wild Homeschool Meet-up. The Things To Do page lists a homeschool meet-up lasting about an hour and a half to two hours, described as family friendly, with the whole family welcome to attend.

Volunteering. The volunteer page says duties may include cleaning, feeding, and assisting with field trips, events, and day-to-day operations. Volunteers receive Wild Acres merchandise and may bring their immediate family to see the animals for free, according to the website.

Symbolic adoptions. The adoption page describes a monthly symbolic adoption that helps care for all of the animals at the facility, including their meals, habitats, and enrichment activities.

Planning your visit

As listed on the facility’s website, Wild Acres is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. The website’s location page gives the address as 84 Our Road, McHenry, Mississippi 39561, with a phone number of 228-209-9436 and an email address of wildacresms@gmail.com.

Tour and event tickets are sold through the website. Ticket categories and current pricing are on the Wild Acres website. Group encounter tours require tickets for ages three and up, and some other activities carry age minimums, so the facility asks guests to choose the activity that suits their party. Private encounter tours, with the fox encounter and baby animal encounter as options, are listed for select dates.