Do The Zoo!

Last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and it happened to be the nicest day of the year so far. I decided that I wanted to go to Lincoln Park Zoo because it is free and fun to do. My grandpa gave me his old (by old I mean like a year, he has the top of the line everything) digital camera on Christmas, and I decided that the zoo would be the perfect place to try it out.

I always seem to do the zoo in the same order, and that usually involves stopping by the seals first. This time they were easier to view from the underground underwater viewing area.

It was one of the first days I could remember that we were able to actually see the wolves in their pen. Or at least see more than one! Usually they are hiding in the den and naturally they are not very active during the day. It was really neat to see the pack and I was able to test out that 26x zoom on the camera!

Pretty freakin' zoomed.

The otters were out and playing. Well, kinda. One of them was asleep in a little niche in the wall. The other one was playing with people through the glass and making kissy faces!

 I love the flamingos. If you stand there for a minute a fight (or at least some amusing posturing) is sure to break out.

 These guys are not cute by any means but I thought it was ridiculous how many naked mole rats were sleeping in one den.

You have to visit the big cat house at the zoo. Lincoln Park has a pretty decent one, and you can usually find the cats in their habitats, unlike some zoos where finding the tiger is worse than a Where's Waldo book.

Thats how Godzilla sleeps!

We went by the petting zoo and saw the biggest bunny ever. EVER. Like, this guy would have eaten my cats, including Buu.

And the chicks.. well.. chickens totally dig Mike. They all started freaking out at him and came right up on the fence as soon as I backed away.

 There was a pretty kickass view of downtown. What can I say? Lincoln Park has its perks.

I can't take credit for that little bit of graffiti but I wish I could.

There was recently some renovation on the rhino exhibit. They moved the camels to the other side of the zoo and expanded the rhino exhibit. Even so, the rhino wasn't really feeling up to socializing. She was cute though!

Oh, and the camels didn't look too happy about being moved either. Or maybe it was just the one with the shaved butt that looked sad...

Ass-less chaps?

And of course no trip to the zoo is complete unless you visit the Lincoln Park Conservatory. They were pruning some of the trees and part of the main room was off limits that day but we got to see most of the rest of it. I love the fern room. When you enter that area there is a plaque that says that "a small dinosaur might be most comfortable in this area" because many species of fern were around during the time of the dinosaurs. The care takers at the conservatory had hidden little plastic dinosaurs throughout the room! I got pictures of all of them but here are just a few...

We also visited the orchid room that has a beautiful koi pond with some pretty big fish.

 The flowers in the showcase room are my favorite though. I love taking pictures of flowers. They are good subjects and they never move or talk! None of these pictures have been touched up but the colors seem larger than life to me.

Mike and I in the showcase room

Well we still had half the zoo to see, so we hit up the bears. The polar bear was missing on our first walk through but we went buy again and caught her.

 The sun bear at Lincoln Park Zoo had a surgery on her jaw and now her tongue hangs out. The "zookeepers notes" that they have posted assures you that she gets along just find despite the fact that her tongue is hanging out of her face all day. I think she is kind of cuter for it.

 All of the animals were pretty active that day, however, I think the penguins put on the best show. It was hard to capture, but they were going nuts swimming, jumping, and playing. I have never seen the penguins so active!

One was leaping out of the water right in front of us!

I love the African savanna house. They expanded the meerkat exhibit and those little guys were being really cute. They also have a room with a floor to ceiling fish tank full of cichlids. Cichlids might not be the prettiest fish or have the brightest colors but they're pretty neat to watch in such numbers. Someday when I am rich I hope to have a fish tank that looks exactly like it.

Loafin' around.

I would live in that room if I could.

We headed over to the aviary. I'm not sure if they actually call their bird exhibit an aviary but it sounds a lot better than "bird house". I love the birds. One of the rooms is open so they can fly above you and even walk right across the path in front of you. The colors on some of those guys were amazing.

The Nicobar Pigeon. Can you believe he is related to our city birds?!

I wish this picture would have focused better but its still beautiful.

 We finished up the day with the African dogs and our national symbol, the bald eagle. I have never seen so much bird poop in one cage, those eagles really know how to take a dump.

Lil puppins.

Fierce!

I really like the Lincoln Park Zoo, and not just because it is free. A lot of people have mixed feelings on zoos and the captivity of wild animals. I guess I just figure that if they are in a zoo I may as well enjoy them being there. Ideally, yes, I would like them to roam free in their native habitats, but many of those habitats are being destroyed. It is also a chance to learn and to educate people about some of the coolest creatures on our planet. When we make people aware it gives us a better chance to help the animals.

And don't forget to hug your hippo daily!

I know this was a ton of pictures but I have even MORE that I might upload later once I go through and decide if any were worthy enough. I definitely have more from the conservatory. I am really digging on this camera!