Space Farms Zoo & Museum

Whatever dreams Ralph and Elizabeth Space harbored in 1927, when they bought a quarter acre plot in northern Sussex County, they could not have imagined that their tiny general store, gas station and repair shop would grow to the 100 acre recreational complex it is today. Space Farms might well be Northwest New Jersey's original Roadside Attraction and Menagerie, but only because Ralph wanted to supplement his family's income by trapping predators threatening farm animals for the state Game Department. Bobcats, foxes and raccoons were caged in the spring until their value as pelts would increase in the fall. But when the time came for their demise, many of the animals were saved by the pleas of the Space children. The animal collection soon grew to a size which began to attract attention.

Young Bengal tiger cubs graduate from their nursery to the grassy outdoor enclosure in the zoo. When released to their outdoor home, the infant cubs will weigh about 75 lbs..

Today, people still enjoy doing basically the same thing as they did more than 80 years ago... visit the animal collection and maybe have some candy and a soda. Of course, there's a little more to it than that, well into the third generation of Spaces hosting visitors to Beemerville. The zoo now holds the largest private collection of North American wildlife in the world, including over 500 animals from than 100 species from around the world including tigers, lions, newborn jaguars and bison. The zoo's most prominent resident was Goliath, who at 2,000 lbs. was the largest bear in the world until he died in 1991. As the zoo has grown, so has the Space Museum which, since the Great Depression, when people traded items for food at the Space General Store, has become home to over 100,000 items collected throughout the USA. Now displayed in eleven buildings, the assortment of rare autos, carriages, wagons, farm tools, antique firearms and artifacts of nearly every description are a marvelous portrait of American rural heritage.

New in 2009: Hokkaido Bear Cubs, Leopard, and Old Forks

Japanese Hokkaido Bear Cubs have emerged from the den at Space Farms Zoo. Photo by K. Talasco.

The Hokkaido cubs are a hybrid cross between American and Japanese Hokkaido bears. Cute as their namesake toy, the bear cubs are about the size of a bread box, 10 lbs., with intriguing white fur collars. The mothers are very protective, shepherding the cubs on their first forays out of the den.

Fred Space is renowned worldwide for his breeding of endangered bear species. The last purebred pair of Hokkaido bears were brought to Space Farms to breed under his supervision. Space Farms sent the purebred cubs back to Uneo Japan in the 1980s and the specie continues in Japan to this day because of the selective breeding accomplished at Space Farms.

A new black leopard cub also arrived at the zoo in time for this spring's opening. The black leopard is commonly known as a black panther. The scientific term is melaninistic, black spots on black background fur instead of black spots on tawny colored fur. Her spots shimmer in the sunlight like a jacquard silk fabric. She weighs 35 lbs at six months old and is full of cub energy. The leopard cub was previously involved in educational outreach shows in N.Y. and outgrew the program.

An adult male leopard will weigh up to 200 lbs and be 4 feet long from nose to base of tail, females slightly smaller. The tail of the leopard is approximately 3 foot long and is used for balance when jumping from ground to tree. Leopards are known for making a kill in the wild and dragging it up into a tree for storage. This practice eliminates the possibilities that other animals may poach on the leopard's meal.

In the Space Farms Museum, new barn doors are the finishing touch on the recently refurbished Plow Barn. A hundred foot farm folk art mural is background to many types of plows on display. Prominently featured are three Deckertown plows, manufactured by the O.J. Little Foundry, (Deckertown is now Sussex, N.J.). The Plow Barn Museum at Space Farms is full of different plows used for different soil types and crops. Wooden, homemade plows are retired alongside forged metal plows. Drawn by horses, oxen or man power, the plows sliced through the Sussex County soil creating a row for planting seeds. Seed planters are also on display in the museum.

The Deckertown Plows are on display with cultivators and other antique farming equipment at Space Farms Museum.

Also displayed in the Plow Barn Museum are Ferrell Hay Forks. Invented in Sussex County and manufactured in Newton, the Ferrell Hay Fork was used throughout the United States. A pulley attached to the roof of the hay mow held the giant crab like metal fingers. A rope attached to the Ferrell Hay Fork would swing the fork to the wagon full of loose hay. A lever was flipped by rope and the metal fingers would fall into the loose hay. Next a horse, attached to the rope, would walk out, drawing the Ferrell Hay Fork up and closed, capturing the loose hay within it. As the horse walked farther, the Ferrell Hay Fork would rise into the rafters of the hay mow. The farmer, using the rope would then swing the full fork into position in the mow, and release the hay.

"I remember using one of these as a young man on our farm," says Fred Space. "Our horse's name was Blaze and she knew exactly what to do. The Ferrell Hay Fork made putting the hay in the mow a lot easier than forking the hay in by the pitch fork full."

Space Farms: Rt. 519, Beemerville

Space Farms Zoo and Museum is open daily starting April 11th, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Admission prices are $13.50 per adult, $9 per child and $12.50 per senior. Call 973-875-5800 or click to Website