we're going to the zoo

On Wednesday we had a Boys' Day, starting with a visit to the Reid Park Zoo.



The day was gorgeous, not too hot for a Tucson morning in June, and all the animals were active.



First we visited the tiger lounging in his pool; the first time I've seen the tiger this close and the first time I've seen him in his pool. He swam right up to the guard wires to play with two dead birds that had fallen into his pool. Mandy said, "Imagine the dumb luck. You're a bird, living in Tucson, and you fall out of your nest. What're the chances you'll fall into a tiger's pool?"



Here's Evan feeding Denver a biscuit. Denver digs biscuits while the other giraffe, Texas, is rather shy and doesn't often come over for her fair share. Later we observed Denver and Texas swatting flies with their 18-inch long tongues, sending rivers of spit flying.



This little dude was trolling the grounds with his keeper. At first I thought it was a baby anteater, but I guess it's been two years since the baby anteater was born here and I imagine he'd be pretty much growed up now, then I thought it was the sloth I never see (the keeper informed me that the sloth is still at the zoo but nocturnal so pretty much nobody ever sees him), then the keeper informed me this critter is a Tamandua (pronounced cha-man-doo-ah) and web research led me to discover he's also known as a Lesser Anteater. The boys got to pet him but only on the back, as his front claws are really big and sharp for tearing open termite mounds.

We watched Boris the Polar Bear do his touches and flips during a long swim, we couldn't find the dwarf caiman but the capybara was lounging in her pool. Didn't see any of the birds but did see a peahen and chick. The peacocks were vocal. Maybe it's still mating season? A fun day.