my life in the zoo

We had a blast yesterday at the zoo. The behind the scenes stuff was fine, a bit boring for the kids, but the animals that were out and moving were so much fun. We went to the giraffe barn and got to go into the galapogas tortoise exhibit. There was a reptile thing where we saw one of the pythons close enough to touch. Some of the extra behind the scenes we skipped but our favorite spot was the big cat walk.

DS1 was playing for a LONG time with one tiger. He'd run outside and the tiger would see him, actually look for him. Then DS would run back into the place with the glass separation and the tiger would run right up to the glass. They would have touched noses were it not for the glass. Then they pawed at each other and the running game started over again. It was so funny and DS LOVED it.
He had watched an older boy doing the same thing with the lions and got the idea to try it with the tigers. It was almost closing time and I'm sure about dinner time for the tigers, so they were looking for some interaction. Plus it was a tad chilly... about 18° F.


The pumas were out and very playful as well. They were enjoying people watching. The zoo has a set of triplets (2 boys and a girl) that were found orphaned because a hunter had shot their mother. Fortunately he had reported it and a animal rescue team went out searching for the pups. They knew it was vital because they discovered that the mother was still lactating. These cats have been in captivity just about all their lives so when the zoo heard the story, they pounced on it and the cats were transferred to Phila. To distinguish the one male from the other the zookeepers have painted a black mark on its left hindquarter. It actually looks very natural though.

If you want a great book to read to your kids try Verdi. It's about a snake. This snake reminds me so much of the snake in the book, I had to take its picture.

The orangutans were having a blast but sadly I have no good pictures to share....