Zoo Night

We all headed up to the zoo this evening because they were having a special "late night" where gates didn't close until 9pm. It has been pouring all afternoon, and we hit a few showers on the way up, but by the time we got to the zoo it had just about stopped and warmed up to 70 degrees - perfect to run around without getting hot and the rain got rid of all the mosquitos (and people scared of getting wet).

We had a blast - the big kitties were prowling around, including the leopard and snow leopard (which we've NEVER seen moving before), they had a special birdshow with new jokes and hands-on helpers for the 40 of us that showed up, and when we rode the carousel there were only four others with us! We fed the birds while we ate dinner and pretty much did whatever because there was no one else to bother. Yes, that meant we had chimpanzees swinging from fences and zebras running down the paths chasing cougars, but the animals who were already asleep didn't seem to mind and we went home with very, very tired critters who slept the whole way home (except for Sada who couldn't stop talking until we put in a quiet music CD and told her to think instead of speak).

Fossa vs. Lemur

We took a four-hour trip to the zoo today - avoiding the summer crush by going this week before all the SL schools start their summer vacations. The latest exhibit up there is Madagascar animals - complete with hissing cockroaches and even a fossa! He's the size of a large cat, and looks like an emaciated rottweiler with muscles bulging everywhere and giant fangs that poke out when he yawns. I asked if they ever put lemurs in with him to make the exhibit a little more interesting, but apparently there aren't enough lemurs in captivity to make it doable. Oh well!

There was a downpour in the afternoon so the kids played on the playground that was suddenly deserted (my duckies know how to run through the raindrops and enjoy sprinkles). They had the whole thing to themselves for about 15 minutes until it stopped pelting, then the families who had taken shelter in the gift shop returned. We left it to them and went on the zoo train instead. Choo choo!