Oh, and our preferences change yet again. This visit the kids were more focused on the Seattle Aquarium with the zoo on the back burner so we came alone to focus on the wild animals. And oops I find I was so focused on the animals I missed most of the information signs so I just have to wing it. It was also rather courous that Woodland Park Zoo in the hotbed of the internet was able to grab the prime URL of www.zoo.org that every zoo would like to have
Today the Brown Bears were very active so I wasted most of my electrons here and have a large collection of photographs. These Brown Bears of which Grizzles are a variety can also get quite aggressive and the Park Service has some conflicting advise on how to Stay Safe With Bears. Lori's childhood friend reports the Park Service has been feeding them in Northern Idaho using bells to announce the presence of the food. Jingle Jangle like the noise horse tack makes as you ride down the trail, BRILLIANT.
Not too far away and in a very welcome natural looking setting the Grey Wolves are keeping a close eye on the Elk in the adjacent enclosure who is keeping a close eye on them. On some level they both realize there is a fence between them but yet again there is UNDERSTANDING.
They also keep a wary eye on the humans passing by their home.
I think this guy is a Sea Eagle which leads quite naturally into the raptor show.
The lady in white holds a small owl and the lady in blue holds a Golden Eagle. These birds have been injured and cannot survive in the wild so the zoo is allowed to keep them for educational purposes hence the show.
Finally we have a type vulture, two hawks, and an owl who I do not have a specific names to tag on them. I do recognize some but birds are not really my greatest interest but they are plentiful and colorful.
Just one last bird is a Southern Masked Weaver. The white guys on the rocks I think are were classified as Mountain Sheep although I cannot find a clear definition of the difference between sheep and goat. They are not Big Horn Sheep.
Starting with the bears I'll finish with the lion and some where along the way I missed the tigers. I am not really sure if the Hippopotamus is full sized or a pygmy since again I missed something for comparison and the info sign.
Oh, how our preferences change with time. The Komodo Dragon
was still on the list but first place for Alex had been taken over by the Giraffe
. I think it helps that they have a big natural looking enclosure rather than the dirt yard with high fence in most zoos.
For Sam it was very obviously Fish
with this a favorite. Normally it just lays on the bottom but on our second pass through the aquarium area he came up to see us and I could get another angle.
The birds were rather less of an attraction and the free fly parakeet cage was a little scary with the birds flying in all directions and wanting to perch on people as well as the branches. The hornbill was cute in that he would move whenever I moved to keep sort of behind a leaf that partially protected him from view. Not sure what that accomplished except hiding the bill.
Finishing this visit to the Woodland Park Zoo is the Leopard
who was busy wearing a rut in the ground and what I think is a Fishing Cat
from the color and markings. Surprisingly most wild cats seem to like water.
On each visit to Washington we make sure to visit the Woodland Park Zoo at least once. We have also become quite adept at using the bus from Aurora Village to get here with the minimum hassle.
Woodland Park is a raptor rescue center and have shows most days to exercise the birds and show off their progress. All of the birds have been injured, mostly in conflict with modern society, and although they are functional they are not capable of surviving in the wild.
One of our granddaughter's favorites at this time was the Komodo Dragon. I'm not sure of the exact variety of goat but I just thought it was really kool.