August was hot and most of the animals at the Louisville Zoo are just trying to stay cool but at the end of the month we broke down and finally went to see who was moving around.
As expected most everyone was just hanging around with the tortoise being a little more active in the heat.
Another of the heat loving or at least tolerant animals the camel turned to give me the look like Give me a kiss
. This is one of my very favorite zoo pictures along with the giraffe baby playing kissy face at the Jackson Zoo I'll show in 2010.
Also doing well in the shade was the bald eagle giving me the glare that was the basis of the founding fathers choosing it as the national emblem. I think the carved door was just in a wall by the tiger exhibit and I don't know it's function but I liked the wood carving and craftsmanship.
Taking a break from the heat with the indoor exhibits you expect the bats to sleep during the day but their enclosure was darkened so they were a little active but still hard to photograph in the low light. Also it's not trick magnification, these fruit bats are really that large. In contrast the porcupine huddled at the top of the branch is really as small as he looks.
My photos of the id plaques is starting to pay off since I can say this is a Mexican Beaded Lizard, an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake in the middle, and Philipine Sailfin Lizard on the sticks.
Finishing up on the inside exhibits is the albino alligator, an African Bullfrog, and the rock hyrex which looks a lot like a guinea pig or groundhog but is more closely related to the elephant and the manatee.
The free fly cage had a lot more than these few birds. Since animals are not enough fun the zoo has installed a human free fly zip line. We are seeing a lot more of zoos becoming more like amusement parks probably trying to make the zoo more self supporting and less dependent on the ever diminishing tax support.
The tiger exhibit was a treat with a large glass window to get up close and personal. They have periodic shows with the keeper demonstrating trained behaviors. She explained about waiting for the animal to do something they like and then rewarding it with a treat and a signal. With work they will come up to get their teeth brushed or even put a leg up for a blood draw.
This is one of my better pictures of a male lion since they normally just lay around and sleep. The zebra were studiously ignoring me but the kangaroo was curious.
Here in the African area the ostrich is sitting in regal splendor on a nesting site but I don't think there were any eggs. The addax with the big twisting horns is noted to going weeks without water. This is a white or wide mouth rhino built for grass mowing compared to the black rhino I showed at the Fort Worth Zoo that likes to browse on bushes and small trees.
The Guanaco looks a lot like it's llama relative and also has an offensive minded attitude being able to spit and kick forward.
Again like Fort Worth I could not get my buddy the wart hog to look up and smile sweetly for the camera.
Finishing up right near the zoo exit I finally talked Lori into a ride on the carousel just across the walk from the very social ringed tailed lemurs playing up and down their rock cliffs.