Ark Encounter nest in them. Much of the wood used to build the Ark Encounter was sourced from renewable forests or trees infested by beetles. During construction, former President Jimmy Carter toured the Ark Encounter, accepting an invitation from LeRoy Troyer, president of the Troyer Group. Ark Encounter opened on July 7, 2016, a date (7/7) chosen to correspond with Genesis 7:7: "And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood." AiG also announced that, for the first 40 days and 40 nights of Ark Encounter's operation – an
Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo displeasure with man ("There’s nothing but sinning, wickedness and violence there! / Remind me to wash mankind right out of my hair!"). Noah is then commanded to build an ark of gopher wood and fill it with pairs of animals—one male and one female—in spite of the constant mocking by the sinful citizens of Fun City ("Noah! Noah! Don’t do any more! Your boat’s a laughing stock! / Ha! Ha! But Noah went right on building the ark, and his hammer went knock, knock, knock!"). Accompanied by a Latin-American samba rhythm, Noah and his family then load the ark with