Raza the giraffe comes in search of treats from Wildlife Safari visitors. 

It pays to have nieces in high places.

Sunday was a day teeming with animal wonderment, including one pinky-nabbing emu. My great-niece, Autumn, works in the education department at Wildlife Safari, a 600-acre wildlife refuge and education center in Winston. Lane and I made the 90-minute trek north to accept her generous invitation to tour the facilities with her and Jonathan, her significant other. She had plans up the sleeve of her red panda suit (which she wore) for two encounters of the spectacular kind.

Lane and I became children as we started with a tour of the education building and a walk around Safari Village, which is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week and is always free. Safari Village includes an assortment of Wildlife Safari’s animal ambassadors used for educational purposes, including outrageously cute red pandas, cheetahs, cavies (large guinea pig-like creatures), lemurs, an aviary and a petting zoo. There are beautiful snakes, a tarantula and various and sundry lizards, as well. The Safari Grill provides an opportunity to take a break with a burger, fries and a cold drink while gearing up for the next leg of adventure. And the gift shop provides ample temptation for souvenirs.

At 12:30 it was time to board the open-air truck that hauls a few lucky ducks like us to a chosen encounter. Autumn had arranged for us to visit the giraffes and feed them their favorite greens. As we bumped along, I was so excited I got teary-eyed.

Raza, a year-and-a-half old male reticulated giraffe beauty came striding up to greet us in anticipation of a feast. His huge head and neck reached right into our midst, with his foot-long-plus tongue wrapping around our lettuce offerings. I recently read a captivating novel based on a true story called “West with Giraffes.” Seeing these majestic creatures returned me to poignant scenes in the story, especially when the characters mentioned their eyes, which are so large and beautiful, it’s as if you could see their African homeland in them if you looked deeply enough.

Jack, a shy Masai giraffe, stood watching and curious, but not ready to chance it. Raza didn’t want to let us go any more than we wanted to leave. The difficulty was not touching or petting him with his exotic face so close to ours. He’s a wild animal and handling him could cause him to walk away.

After lunch in the grill, we boarded the truck again for our next adventure with some big cats, which would not be sticking their heads inside our area. Nor would we stick ours inside theirs. Sumatran tigers are gorgeous animals with vibrant orange and black striping. Riya is a female who loves to paint for the price of some lean, red meat nibbles. The keeper mixed up a pallet of red and orange nontoxic finger paint, shoved it under the fence to Riya’s large enclosure along with a blank canvas, and told her to step. She dutifully complied, stepping first in the paint and leaving her paw print for posterity when stepping a second time on the canvas. We each received one of her creations as a colorful souvenir from a magical autumn afternoon.

We cruised the drive-through spotting lions, rhinos, hippos, the largest black bears I’ve seen anywhere, bison, zebras, Watusi cattle (the horns!), and many other roaming critters. On our way out, we took advantage of the feeding station. And now for a PSA. Do not offer animal chow from your hand to an emu. The little fallow deer and blackbucks have no upper front teeth and sort of lip the food from your fingers. I guess emus don’t have teeth either, but they do have hydraulic-powered necks and large, karate-chop beaks and they know how to use them. One practically took my pinky.

Just like the day, this column is way too short to tell all. So, support their wildlife efforts and make the short drive. Prices vary for the drive-through and encounters. No two visits will ever be the same. I already can’t wait to return.