A Great Day for the Zoo

Yep, that is right. The zoo in January. It was not too bad weather-wise and the animals were loving it! They were the most active I have ever seen them. Our first stop was in the Primate House, and we had a really neat experience. The chimpanzees were all sitting toward the back of their enclosure when we walked up to the window that looks into it. We were pointing at each chimp and talking to the girls about what they were doing (eating, cleaning each other) when one of the chimps hopped down from his spot and meandered over to stand right in front of the window we were at. Kristin completely freaked out that he was so close and looking right at her. So in trying to calm her down, I told her to wave hi to him, so she did. Then...he waved back! I swear I am not making this up. He stood right by the window, raised his right hand up by his face and waved right at the girls. He then picked up some food and climbed back up to where he was sitting before. We stayed there for a while hoping he would wave again, but he didn't. He jumped back down and came over to the window a few times, but no more waving.

After the Primate House, we stopped by the cheetahs (all were out laying in the sun), the meerkats (enjoying a snack of peanuts), the giraffes, and the elephants. The elephants were especially feisty and at first I could figure out why. Then I realized that they had ALL the elephants together - usually the 1 adult male is separated from the 1 large adult female and the 3 smaller females. Well the male was...excited...to see the females. We watched the 3 smaller females kick a ball around while the other 2 elephants disappeared behind a barrier. All I can say about that is - maybe we'll have a baby elephant in 22 months!

During our entire visit we could hear the male lion roaring periodically. So after seeing quite a bit of the elephants, we headed over to see the big cats. First up were the white tigers (my favorite!). Their habitat is setup with a viewing window that allows you to only be as far away from the tiger as the glass is thick. Camryn was all about "petting" the tiger as it paced in front of the window. Kristin was not nearly as excited - those tigers are BIG when you get that close. Every time the tiger would walk by, Camryn would pet the glass and the tiger would rub its face on the glass. So cute! Kristin eventually sat next to Cam, and even patted the glass.

We came to the male lion next. Since we had heard him roaring several times already, we had the girls ask him to "speak" (like our dog, Cappy, does). They kept repeating "peak, peak" and then he sat up and started roaring! It was great. He even roared a second time while we were standing there! Such a show-off. He really was beautiful with his long mane.

I overheard someone saying the following, "It is just wrong to put the zebras directly across from the lion so he can just see them all day long, but not ever get to them." It is true that the zoo is setup with the zebras straight across from the lion, but I feel bad for the zebras. Every time that lion roars, it must send a chill down their spines.

Our final stop on this day was in the parakeet cage. The girls love to feed the parakeets from the tiny little seed sticks.

At that point it was getting past the girls' nap time, so we decided to head home. Overall it was a great day for the zoo. Not too many people, not too cold, and tons of active animals.