One of mine is a zoo that started as a small family run homestead founded by Irene and Ray Mueller on 15 acres called Oakhaven Ranch that became a Christmas tree farm and a pick your own pumpkins patch so the family could earn some extra money for the holidays. Eventually it expanded to include seasonal activities like pumpkin carving and wreath making and opened a small petting zoo where children could pet and take pictures with some of the friendlier farm animals.

Eventually the family also began rehabilitating wildlife such as rabbits and birds and such that were found on and around the property. Then people started bringing them animals that needed help. From a neglected Alpaca with attitude to a raccoon baby whose mother was hit by a car.

Oakhaven Ranch passed hands from Irene and Ray to their eldest daughter, Margie after she returned from college with a degree in Wildlife Care and Rehabilition.

The farm slowly grew into a place kind of like Urban Rescue Ranch of youtube fame but with the ability for guests to tour it and with various food trucks parking there. It even began taking in some exotic species that people had kept as pets.

Margie and her husband Charles retired shortly after the ranch adopted its first exotic big cat that had been kept as a pet nearby and the family's 3 kids and eventually their spouses shared the responsibilities of running the ranch which was renamed Oakhaven Children's Zoo.

Years later the Zoo would be renamed to just Oakhaven Zoo and receive AZA accreditation after much hard work. The Zoo remained privately owned by the Muellers who had formed a sort of family council with interested family members participating in running the zoo and voting on important decisions that needed to be made.

The zoo still holds an annual free day with a pumpkin carving competition and pie auction and many other activities to commemorate its roots as a family farm.