Get Wild, Child!

Yesterday, we went on a Behind the Scenes Tour of our zoo. Once a year, Milwaukee County Zoo has a weekend where the public can visit areas of the zoo that are normally off-limits. It was interesting to see all the care involved in maintaining each habitat, and the health of all the animals.
 
The elephant is always a favorite stop for the girls.


 This tiger cub and his little sister cub are seven months old. They were so tiny the last time we saw them! It's amazing how quickly they change, even their temperament was completely different. Last time they were very playful and wild, and we either caught them at nap time, or they have really mellowed as they've gotten bigger.


 
Here, behind the scenes at Big Cat Country, we got to see a keeper measuring out food for the wild cats, and we went in a back area where they store all their toys and habitat enrichment. It stunk SO BAD back there, I really thought I might get sick! Imagine the smell a house cat sometimes has and then think how much greater that would be for lions, tigers, cheetahs, and a jaguar. Gross, gross, gross! Dave had to make fun of my sensitive nose...


 
And Alyssa had to copy my reaction ;-)


 The next two pictures were taken from the winter quarters near Big Cat Country. This is an indoor barn area where the animals stay when it's too cold to be outside. There were yellow lines that we were strongly encouraged not to cross painted all around this guy's habitat. I guess he's not too friendly.


 Alyssa was very quick to point out that I share a birthday with this cutie tapir. They post bulletin boards with important notes about the animals, their feeding, general habits etc and she took note of everything! This tapir kept lifting it's nose up at Emma, and it made it look like it was smiling at her.


 
Sweet giraffe.


 
One of the coolest things we saw was this female moose {deer mule, I think is what the tour leader called her}. She doesn't look too different from a deer, she was bigger than a deer though. The more I look at this pic, I think she might be a deer more than a moose but I don't know enough about what defines the species to say for sure, Dave was confident that our guide called her a moose. Anyway, she came to eat at the barn right as our tour was about pass through. We had to be really quiet, and she was so close that we could have touched her easily {although we were told not to!!} Because we were in an area that only the keepers enter to feed the animals, she seemed really comfortable with our presence.


 
Shy wolf.


 
Relaxing bear.


 
A 22 day old baby camel, the newest addition to the zoo.




A fun day at the zoo made me even more excited about this! The weather is warming up here, it's supposed to be in the 50s every single day this week! Hurray! Again, I realize this little button belongs in my sidebar but...The National Wildlife Federation is sponsoring a campaign called Be Out There! All this week as Spring is arriving in most areas, their website has all kinds of suggestions for cool outdoor activities to do each day to help your child "Get Wild." I know we are looking forward to time spent outside!!