Good Friday at the Zoo

Whenever the kids have a day off of school, we try to do something fun.  What is more fun than a day at the Zoo?  Everyone knows that a zoo visit is one of my absolute favorite things to do with the kids.  It's a good thing the kids love it too!  

This being Good Friday and most Houstonians out of school, it seemed like the entire city had the same idea.  Wow, was Hermann Park and the Zoo crowded.  To top it off, it was a beautiful April day.  My plan had been to get down there when the zoo opened, but me being me, we ran a bit late.  I had a few things I had to get done before we could get the busy weekend started.  Oh well, I was determined not to stress out on our day of fun.  It's a really good thing that was my frame of mind because it took us almost 45 minutes to find a parking space (that cost $10 vs. the normal free parking) and discovered huge lines at the gate.  Thankfully, I'm not one to stand around and quickly proceeded to the front to discover that with my membership card, we didn't need to stand in line.  Woo Hoo!!

Once inside the Houston Zoo, we had a great time.  We got really lucky and for the first time saw a trainer feed a lion.  While walking by, we spotted the trainer take off a section of glass and set down his stuff.  After a few minutes he began to call "Jonathan" the male lion to come over.  Shockingly, Jonathan got up and came right over to the trainer.  It was explained that Jonathan needed some medicine or vitamins, so he put them inside raw ground beef and then placed it on a stick.  Jonathan sat there and ate several helpings of meat and licked his chops.  We were standing right next to the trainer.  It was amazing.

 

Since we had last been to the Houston Zoo, they opened a brand new African Forest exhibit.  We weren't planning on staying at the zoo for a long time so we spent most of our time seeing the new African exhibit.

My kids, especially Daniel, love to look at the Houston Zoo website and YouTube channel of the animals.  When he found out there were Rhinos now at the Zoo in the African exhibit, he was just dying to see them.  The last Rhino, who had been there since I was a child, died when Daniel was just a small fry.  He had no memory of ever seeing a rhino, even though we have pictures of the old rhino.  Daniel got his wish.  We saw Rhinos!!

Kids with tribal maskas

A new experience at the zoo in the African Forest is feeding the giraffes.  The kids were thrilled to have the opportunity.  Especially to get that close to the giraffes.  

Laurie was too timid to feed the giraffe, so she ended up giving Daniel her lettuce.

Can you see Daniel's face?  He couldn't believe the giraffe's tongue reached out and grabbed it.

Ashley was very calm and steady holding her lettuce for the giraffe.

SMILE!!

After the African Forest, I gave them the choice to see one more exhibit at the zoo before leaving.  We had one vote for monkeys (Laurie) and two votes for Reptiles.  Laurie conceded and we were off to the Reptiles.  I love, love, love to take pictures of the animals.  For years we have kept a photo album of all the animals we've seen and taken pictures of at the zoo.  So, I could bore you with the 75 pictures I took at the zoo today or the 13 I took with the reptiles, but I won't.  I'll just leave you with a great picture of Daniel with the Komodo Dragon.  He is one of our favorites.

Staring contest with a Komodo Dragon

 Just so you know that I have a big heart for my little Birdie, we did a swing by the primates to see if we could get a sneak peek at the orangutan baby named Aurora.  She wasn't out in the yard, but we did spend some time watching a few of the others play before heading for the exit.

A great day at the Zoo deserves sno cones!

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...How About You, You, You??

For the last three years, the kids and I have made at least one trek to the Houston Zoo in August.  Yes, we realize we live in a hot, humid city, but if you let the heat get to you, you'll spend months of your year inside.  Braving the high of 97 degrees with a heat index of 105, we went to see any animals that were crazy enough to be out in the heat like us.  Surprisingly, we saw a fair number of animals and lots of people.

Laurie in the middle of a temper tantrum 

 They rode the carousel 3 times.  Each time on a different animal.

I got my workout when Birdie got a little tired. 

Yeah - They got to touch an alligator!

Daniel Loves the Zoo!

We spent time listening to several keeper chats - learned about sea lions, monkeys, porcupines and a funny looking chicken.

The best part was being introduced to a new animal we had no idea even existed. While they were cleaning out a cage in the Natural Encounters building, we noticed several keepers standing around while a strange looking animal was being walked around on a type of leash.  We discovered it was a mammal called a Binturong.  An Asian Bearkat.  It looked like a cross between a black bear and a small predatory cat, only with a prehensile tail like a monkey. Very long sharp claws let us know it was an omnivore, and the keepers told us it can be quite vicious.  We were also told it has a unique oder and smells like FRITOS!  How funny.   Unfortunately, our pictures of it didn't come out, but I found a couple on the internet.  It's not on exhibit but one of the many animals who live behind the scenes at the zoo.  We were very lucky to get a peak at it while out for exercise.

Even after I told the kids we wouldn't stay long, we ended up staying at the zoo for 4 hours!  We were exhausted, but had a wonderful time.  Happy Belated Birthday Birdie.