At the Zoo, Part Two!

I said I'd come back and do part 2 of the pictures from the zoo visit, and here I am doing just that.  Shocking, isn't it?!

We'll start with the otters, who are great fun to watch as they swim and dive and play around their enclosure.  They're actually one of my favourite animals.

They have a large pool to play in with a kind of 'island' in the middle of it that has a little fountain.

On to one of the slowest animals at the zoo - this tortoise!  The tortoise actually has a wheelchair because it was having mobility issues with its back legs, but the zookeepers report that its mobility is significantly improved, so it doesn't need its wheelchair very much at the moment.

Another quiet, silent type - the caiman.  It's in the same subfamily as the alligator, but it's much smaller. It certainly was enjoying time under a heat lamp on the day of this visit.

The meerkats are absolutely charming little critters.  Their expressions and poses are captivating and they cooperated well with being photographed!

So cute!  I like how they use their tails as a sort of 'kickstand' while they check out their surroundings.

These tiny marmosets were also very charming.  I was interested to note how many colours were present in their fur - at first they seem just grey, but when you look closely, there's a sort of golden brown mixed in with the fur - they must camouflage quite well, exept for those ear tufts.

Look at that cute little sleeping hut!

The local wildlife also enjoy the zoo - I spotted this chipping sparrow on the side of one of the paths.

This lovely swan stayed very still and quiet for its photo shoot.

This cat is a serval, native to sub-Saharan Africa.  A few people have them as pets, which I don't think is a great idea.  They do have really beautiful markings though, and are quite small for a wild cat.  

There is a double set of fencing around its enclosure so I couldn't get pictures without the mesh in the way.  

There's a spot where you can hand-feed alpaca and European fallow deer.  They are quite sweet animals and seem to enjoy the contact with visitors.

The woman who shears my sheep also shears the zoo's alpacas, and I happen to have a couple of their fleeces.  I haven't spun them up yet.  

The deer and alpaca enclosure also was temporarily hosting these two pigeons.  The male, who is chasing the female (typical!) is quite beautifully marked.

This little one is a red fox, but it's a different colour morph compared to the usual red foxes one sees.

These are squirrel monkeys!  They are incredibly cute, and very active.  They were eating almonds and pieces of fruit.  They seemed to get into little squabbles when one would get something that another one wanted.  Just like some people, I suppose! These images are taken through glass, which is why they look a bit cloudy.

Eating an almond.

This is a very sleepy woodland caribou, with a group of mallards in the background.

These lovely rhea were quite beautiful.

They came right over to me for a visit, and I was so enchanted by them that I forgot to take close-up pictures!  

There are peacocks at the zoo, which is a little bit funny because my friend Teresa has a peacock on her farm, and I tend to think of them as farm animals more than zoo animals, but I suppose they are quite rare.

I spotted a little caterpillar on the railing at the peacock enclosure.  Not a zoo feature!

The black bears are absolutely gorgeous animals, and they were enjoying a snack of carrots and apples. Again, I was really glad it was a cooler day, because often the bears are just sleeping in the sun.

Extra crunchy!

Nom nom nom!

And, the last animal on the zoo circuit is the peccary, and they are super cute too!  They live in Central and South America.

Good bye little peccary!  See you next time!

I hope you enjoyed the visit to the Magnetic Hill Zoo in Moncton, even though it was only in pictures.

A visit to the zoo (part 1)

Wow...I can't believe it's been almost a year since my last blog post.  Goodness, where does the time go?  Well, it all goes into my work, for the most part. I have a few topics I keep intending to write a blog post about, and then I just get busy with a gazillion other things on my to-do list and it never happens.  Well, today I am taking a few moments to share some pictures from a recent visit to the Moncton Zoo.  I don't often get out for those kinds of little adventures, so it was a nice change of pace to visit the animals.  

We went on a day that started out rainy and didn't clear up until quite late in the afternoon, which was ideal because there weren't many people at the zoo.  In addition, because it wasn't too warm, and there was a strong breeze, many of the animals were quite active and engaged, rather than just being hot and sleepy.  

I took a lot of pictures, so I'm hoping to split this across two posts, and I don't intend to wait a year to do part 2!

This interesting bird is a marabou stork, native to sub-Saharan Africa.  It's such an interesting looking bird, with a rather lovely greenish cast to its feathers.  It is very big, and the wingspan can reach  more than 10 feet.  The full height can be almost 5 feet.  Wow!

This is a Barbary sheep, which is native to North Africa.  This one was very photogenic.

Obviously, this is an ostrich.  The male ostrich has black body feathers whereas the female, like this one, is brown.  They are enormous, and their legs are so big when one considers how tiny many bird legs are.  

Here's a dromedary camel who was having a good laugh about something.  Probably me. 

The pair of lions was having a lovely time sunbathing.  They really seemed to enjoy the lovely weather.  It was about 18 Celsius (65 F) with mixed sun and cloud for my visit, with a strong breeze to keep the mosquitoes away.

A highlight of the visit was the baby ring-tailed lemur.  I couldn't get very close becuase they were at the back of their enclosure, interacting with the keeper.  You can see the baby on the mom's back in this image.

Here you can really see the fantastic tail of the lemur.

I also really enjoyed the red wallabies.  They're such an iconic animal down under, but it's exciting to see them up here!  They weren't very excited to see anyone - they were just enjoying a restful afternoon.

This Arctic wolf recently had surgery and you can see where her fur was shaved on the front leg.  She's recovering well.  What an amazing white coat.  

It was World Turtle Day on May 23.  I loved seeing these red-eared slider turtles at the zoo.  There were quite a lot of them in the enclosure, but I particularly liked this little group of three who had chosen to sunbathe on this rock.

The zoo also has an area that includes some domesticated farm animals, including pygmy goats, a donkey, some bantam chickens, some silkie chickens, emus, and guinea pigs.  This little guinea pig was particularly helpful with posing for photos. 

Soon, I'll post a second series of photos highlighting some other zoo residents.

Waddlesworth

Today there was a new visitor in the yard.  Actually, it might not be a new visitor, but it was the first time we saw it. I am not sure if this was the first time it saw us.  Regardless, I was pretty excited when Marc came home and told me to come outside to see a critter.  

Just look at that cute little face!

I've decided that its name is Waddlesworth.  I don't know if it is a male or a female, but I do know that this little groundhog is perfectly adorable.

I was able to get remarkably close to it, which surprised me.  

Seems that Waddlesworth might be making a home underneath some pallets beside the house.  He or she has a very endearing roly-poly sort of walking pattern, akin to a furry hippopotamus.

Waddlesworth is a big fan of dandelion leaves.  Here you can see one disappearing...munch munch...

I know some people don't like groundhogs because they can be hard on gardens.  So far, I haven't seen any damage.  I think that living next to the woods means that this little friend has lots of food choices.

Here's hoping Waddlesworth finds that he or she can find enough food without needing to raid my raised beds, and I'll be happy to share my yard.