We were one of about 10-12 families at the zoo this morning bright and early just about 730am. The zoo opens to everyone else at 9am. HA! We had the zoo all to ourselves!! We had a wildlife show presented with all sorts of creatures. We said good night to the nocturnal animals...
woke up the day time ones...
(The possum does not sleep upside down. He has a strong tail, but not that strong.)
FYI: Baby alligators call for their mommies when they feel scared. If you hear a baby alligator...run!)
and even got a weather report from Dilly-Dally the Groundhog. Cute name!
Andy was not too excited about petting any of the animals. But Alex was pretty cool about them being around him. Grandparents, slow thy hearts...these were NOT mean or scary animals. And they were handled by the zookeepers. :) He looked at them, too. But I got a blinking picture - ugh...
FYI: Coral Snakes are nice. Corn snakes are mean. Remember it this way:
Red on black - Friend of Jack
Red on Yellow - Kill a Fellow
Personally, I will not be near any snakes unless it is this type of situation.
The other one is a skink. He was smelling Alex. :)
Yep, Andy is just fine sitting tight with his Jungle Crackers. LOL
Once the show ended, it was time to head over to the Boma Yard to meet Kali the Elephant. In the mornings, the elephants are given a bath, so I suppose that since he is the smallest he was done first. :) And, yes - Kali is a he. By the end of the Summer, there will be FIVE male elephants. It is an experimental thing going on at our zoo, and ours is the only one in the nation to do this!
The Boma Yard is the place where we are able to be closer to the elephants than just the regular "habitat" area. It was amazing to watch him eat. The gates are HUGE and run on hydraulics. They have them trained really well, too. The zookeeper said "back" to Kali so they could open the gate for us. He did what he was told. He kept his trunk up, too, during that time. I am guess that is for safety in case Kali decide to grab a stick and take an "escape whack." I hope that the guys are all happy living together. I really don't want to hear about a stampede on the news one of these days... Anyway, good times at the Boma Yard!
Andy is pretty excited. He's climbing the gate trying to get a better look at his elephant. Yep, his. He said, "me" most of the morning :)
Breakfast time for Kali.
That orange ball is a cantaloupe - his favorite. I wish I got a better pic of his smashing it up to get the good stuff.
I don't care who you are - elephants are beautiful and amazing creatures.
Is this not the cutest kid???
After the elephants, we headed over to the Safari Cafe for breakfast - fresh fruit, pancakes, yogurt, juice. Nice little spread. Gotta love being there when everyone in Birmingham is still sleeping LOL
When we were finished, the rest of the Zoo had opened up so we waled to our favorite spots other than the elephants - The Predator Zone and the Savanna.
Can I just say that bright and early in the morning is an amazing time at the zoo. The animals are awake and cool and happy and ACTIVE!!! Any other time we come we never see ANY of this!!
Loves the tiger like his Daddy :)
We never see this many giraffes out!
Why, yes, my camera is awesome. He was kinda close, too. I really didn't zoom in a ton. :)
How cool is this guy? It was like being at the live showing of the Lion King!
Apparently, he does this every morning and then...
Chills the rest of the day. Sweet life :) His Queen is inside taking care of their cubs - she had 5 babies on April 11th! Click the link to see pics and videos of them! They are adorable!!!
And last, this is soooo cool! I can't believe how loud the zoo is in the morning. Sounds like our house waking up, too! HAHAHA!!
Click here if you have trouble viewing.
And last, this is soooo cool! I can't believe how loud the zoo is in the morning. Sounds like our house waking up, too! HAHAHA!!
Click here if you have trouble viewing.
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