Petting Zoo Is for the Birds Too

They couldn’t see anything and all they could hear were a couple of geese honking, but then and there, Omar and Carolyn Gonzalez knew the place would make a perfect home for their birds.

“I’m standing there in my pajamas and Uggs at 10:30 at night,” Carolyn Gonzalez said. “But Omar and I knew what the place would look like in the light. That it could be a magical place.”

The next morning, they made an offer on the 1.4-acre property in San Juan Capistrano’s historic Los Rios district. Six weeks later, the couple are on the verge of bringing two Orange County gems together and saving them from closure -- Omar’s Exotic Birds and the Jones Family Mini-Farm.

The mini-farm and its 300 emus, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, goats and geese went on the market more than a year ago when Gil and Millie Jones decided 16 years in the petting zoo business was enough. Omar’s was being forced from its Lake Forest location because of a downtown redevelopment project on El Toro Road.

“The timing was great,” Carolyn Gonzalez said. “I think everything happens for a reason. Now, it’ll just be the Jones Mini-Farm with wings.”

Jones thought he had sold the farm in late October to the Steiner Institute, a nonprofit educational organization. But the group disbanded and the deal fell through.

“We finally found the right buyer after a near-disaster,” said Jones, a former San Juan Capistrano mayor. “These people have great vision, great energy and they’ll turn this place into something we can be proud of.”

Escrow isn’t expected to close on the $2.1-million deal until next week, but Jones is already envisioning that birds and animals will draw quite a crowd on Los Rios Street.

“It will be an attraction,” he said. “This is not a theme park. It will be natural habitat in an open environment.”

Jones said he was most thankful that the Gonzalezes will keep the child-friendly animals.

“We had people offering more money, but there’s more important things in this world than money,” Jones said.

“These people were committed to keeping the petting zoo, and that made the difference.”

After losing money for decades and watching several competitors close their doors, Jones’ enterprise began to turn a profit the last few years. But liability insurance costs and the constant attention the animals required convinced Gil and Millie that it was time leave the business to someone else.

Until a 4,500-square foot boutique can be built at the rear of the property, the two dozen colorful birds -- mainly parrots -- will live in the Olivares House, a century-old home listed on the National Registry of Historic Houses. The birds, which sell for up to $2,000, come with a money-back guarantee and free grooming.

The Gonzalezes said they were planning a museum and gift shop in the Olivares House and a walking path featuring birds and animals in the petting zoo area.

“We want people to think of this place as a country farm,” Carolyn Gonzalez said.

Will everyone get along?

Jones doesn’t have any doubts.

“We already have 5,000 wild crows at the farm flying all over the place now,” he said. “We have chickens, geese, turkeys and emus. It’s a bird town already -- they’re just adding to the population.”