What You'll Get
Darwin theorized that the fittest species would survive, which explains dinosaurs’ sudden extinction following the expiration of their gym memberships. See one of prehistory’s heavy lifters with today’s Groupon to The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer. Choose between the following options:
- For $59, you get a one-year membership for four people (a $125 value).
- For $18, you get a one-day pass for four people (up to a $36 value).
Founded in 1954, The Musk Ox Farm brings visitors face to face with a 600,000-year-old species as staff works to preserve the beasts known to native Alaskans as “Oomingmak” or “The Bearded One.” More closely related to American mountain goats than to the bison they resemble, musk oxen once shared the Ice Age Earth with gigantic ground sloths, majestic woolly mammoths, and bloodthirsty saber-toothed hamsters. Visitors can observe and interact with the animals up close, learning from guides and exhibits about the musk ox's fascinating history and curved horns, sometimes used for defense, but more often rented out as ski jumps by vacationing field mice. Experienced staffers lead tours daily every 45 minutes during summer hours through August 30. Around Mother's Day, opening day at the farm, patrons get the chance to witness calves, which usually are born between mid-April and early May.
Membership isn't limited to family, so purchasers of the one-year option can bring any three friends, siblings, or Charlie's Angels re-enactors at every visit. Children ages 4 and under get in free with a paying adult.
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Sep 1, 2012. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per household, may buy 1 additional as a gift. Limit 1 per visit. Valid only for option purchased. Must activate membership option by 8/31/12, expires 1 year from activation date. Valid only 7/27/11-8/31/11 and 5/31/12-8/31/12. May redeem across visits. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About The Musk Ox Farm
The Musk Ox Farm director Mark Austin is the first to admit that Xenon, one of 2018's two calves, is the cutest thing in the world. Her thin legs take wobbling steps. Her fine fuzz tickles her giant mother’s belly. And when she ambles through the pasture after nursing, her bright pink tongue wags from the side of her mouth. Xenon and Argon are just the beginning: the farm will soon burst into a flurry of feeding, combing, inserting microchips, tending to mothers, and, of course, greeting visitors.
Though he acknowledges the endearing quality of a baby musk ox in spring, Mr. Austin worries that visitors to The Musk Ox Farm might get so caught up with the new calf that they miss the farm's larger project. “I’m trying to battle the perception we’re a roadside attraction. It’s not just about getting out of your car and snapping a photo of a musk ox for your Alaska photo album.”
Not that Mr. Austin hasn’t snapped a few photos of Xenon. He simply hopes the spectacle won’t overshadow the nonprofit farm’s scope, which begins and ends with the animals themselves. Although the majestic species is about 600,000 years old, domestication efforts began only 60 years ago by Farm founder John Teal. Every spring, the several-hundred-pound animals shed their qiviut, a thick under wool. So when Mr. Austin looks at Xenon, he sees not just a huggable calf, but the source of positive economic change for rural native Alaskans. “The animals are fascinating,” he says. “But it’s the big picture that gets me up in the morning.”