Image: (Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1925)
The Zoo in Montecito
In November 1924, a writer from the local paper paid a visit to the Feather Hill Poultry Ranch in Montecito. "Housed snugly in a vacant chicken house were . . . Tango and One-Step, black bear cubs . . . In an adjoining yard, Jack and Susie, full-grown ostriches with their son Rudy, ruled over a mixed flock of peacocks, turkeys, and guinea hens.
"Scattered about the ranch were hundreds of other rare specimens of birds and wild animals." They included a coyote, badger, wildcat, New Guinea Crown Pigeon, a pheasant. In addition to the zoo animals, there were thousands of egg-laying chickens on this 59-acre ranch.