Zoom Zoom is channeling his inner “Invisible Man.”
I am so spoiled! Before we left on this month-long trip, Zoom Zoom purchased tickets to this zoo. The Zoo, opened in 1965 with birds, prairie dogs, farm animals, and a few squirrel monkeys. Now the Zoo is 24-acres and has hundreds of animals in exhibits that look natural. Pulling into the parking lot and parking under the solar panel covers, it wasn’t apparent at first glance as to where the entrance to the zoo was. We just sort of followed the small crowd. The zoo is having growing pains! That’s good for them! There are construction fences outside and throughout the property which are camouflaged with zoo signs. There were plenty of volunteers and workers around to help us out! Since Zoom Zoom purchased the tickets online, all he had to do is pull up the emailed tickets with a barcode and the attendant scanned them. We followed a construction fence maze and entered the quaint zoo. I so appreciated the workers reminding the patrons to put their masks on. This was not only to protect us, but some of the animals that are susceptible to illness too. The zoo limited the number of patrons allowed and is only open 8am-2pm. We got there at 8. What a blessing, too! The animals were awake and being fed. We were able to see all of the animals! A few of the exhibits were closed because of COVID-19 or, like a set of birds, they were nesting.
If you know me at all, you know my favorite animal is the giraffe! They have a pair of reticulated ones here – male and female. I bet we spent at least 30 minutes just watching these two. The male would follow the female all over their enclosure. She wanted her space. By the time we left she was nuzzling him. These gentle creatures have the sweetest looking eyes. Zoom Zoom did a great job at capturing them.
Male
Female
Parts!
LOVE!
After the giraffes, we looked at the rhino. Oh my, can they eat! It was munching on what looked like sweet hay. After it got it’s fill it was just like a baby and fell asleep!
This pair of Grizzly Bears was super cute. These two are sister and brother from Montana. Their mom taught them some bad habits on where to eat (in town, out of your garbage can, from restaurant dumpsters …) so it was decided that the Zoo would adopt them. Since it was so early in the morning and it was feeding time, we got to see them chow down on some raw meat! Their teeth and their claws were quit impressive! After eating, Ronan went for a swim and Finley played a little and then took a nap! The enclosures at this Zoo are so impressive. It actually looks as if they are living in the wild.
Look at those claws!
Ronan is having fun.
Finley checks out her ball.
Hmm… should I swim or take a nap?
Nap. Definitely a nap!
After seeing the bears we headed over to the elephants! Two sets of elephants were separated by a fence. There was one male and 2 female elephants and two babies. The ones closest to us were the two baby elephants and a mom. How fun to be an elephant! Using your nose for eating, bathing, AND drinking – bonus points for Jesus’s ingenuity! Again, Zoom Zoom got some fantastic pictures. I take good ones, but his are so good! One of the photos we both got was when the daddy elephant came over to the fence where the mommy and her babies were. I have NEVER seen elephants kiss, but I promise these two were kissing over the fence. The male was sequestered on the other side of the fence with the other female. You’d think we were in Utah!
We saw this unusual critter – Baird’s Tapir. I didn’t know these guys like water! While we were here at the zoo it spent a lot of time soaking in the water.
We were able to get some great shots of the anteater! These two were super active. I accidently got a few photos of the female’s tongue sticking out! It’s sooooooo long!
Zoom Zoom thinks I have a fancy paint job!
It’s hard to see my skinny tongue here.
Oh, much better!
What is a zoo without its’ birds? Most of these I have NO idea what they are, other than beautiful!
The American Spotted Necked Otter is a fast little sucker! Trying to take a picture of him was no easy feat! Between Zoom Zoom and I we were able to get a few good ones!
Like all the other animals – it is nap time!
It’s “Turtle and Tortoise Time!” (RHONY reference)
This guy is called Herbie. He weighs 500 pounds and is at least 50 years old! They don’t really know how old he is because he came with the zoo!
The Meerkat are probably my second favorite animal at this zoo. I love how one will be the lookout while the rest of the group does their Meerkat things. Zoom Zoom noticed that two of them were missing an arm. Turns out that these two are moms of a couple of litters.
I like to think of this guy as the “FUN” Uncle. He is keeping lookout but with his own style. All he needs is beer!
This last section of pictures is my section of – Just Because We Took the Picture!
This artist’s art work was all over the Zoo. She made these mosaics and the donor plaques. Beautiful work!
I saw the sign first! Yep, LOOK UP!
They have some beautiful foliage.
Memorial artwork in memory of Dr. Thomas Miller, DVM
Socially distancing in 2020…
The End!
I know, it’s a head scratcher! Why is “This Area Temporarily Closed?” *The restroom was open!