Zoo & a Bit of Poo

Katy and I took Zac to the Henry Doorly Zoo here in Omaha yesterday on a planned day off.  My friend Jeremy and his family couldn't make it from Des Moines as planned, but their suggestion for the trip gave us a welcomed day away from work and we always enjoy the zoo.

Zac decided yesterday he was going to walk as little as possible.  We brought his baby stroller, which of course is quite large, so we could pack a lunch in the cooler. The fact the zoo even allows this is beyond incredible. It saves families so much money when they could very easily force everyone to buy water and food inside their walls.  And though yesterday turned out to be overcast thanks to some morning rains, it was extremely humid and in the 80s and we were losing plenty of fluids.  Having the extra water and the chance to stop and eat lunch there at the zoo was quite a bit of fun.

I have a few pics here, but not as many as I'd hoped. I was going to take video of the Lemur Island exhibit, of which I posted a pic or two of the last time we went, but it was closed yesterday.  We don't know why, but that was a huge disappointment.  We'll have to pick a weekday in the Fall to go back (never a Saturday in the Fall, of course; I am a Husker fan, after all) and see them. I'll try to catch a video then.  Zac did enjoy getting to pet the goats, who were all quite friendly yesterday.  He even got to pet some sort of chicken. At least I think it was a chicken. You tell me what that thing is.

So, back to lunch.  We brought sandwiches and chips and pudding for everyone, and when I was done I needed to clean my hands from the cheese puffs I'd eaten. I headed out from the protective canopy where we'd eaten, to walk the 7 or 8 steps to the restroom, only to immediately become a bird's litter box. Now, I didn't have to tell anyone, let alone Katy. When I returned from the men's room I could have explained away the wet spot on my left shoulder by saying something about the water getting away, perhaps.  But I'm an honest fellow, who likes a good laugh as much as the next person, and so I shared.  Katy found GREAT joy in this...maybe too much. But, the reason she loved it was the best part. She said that now she wasn't alone in experiencing bird poo up close and personal.

Ummm, what?  I mean, this is the second time in my life it's happened to me. The first was when I was riding my dirt bike back when I was 10 or 11 out in the open and somehow a bird spotted me and sent a little poo bomb my way.  Katy, apparently, has been hit three times.  Let me make it very clear that THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION.  I am not intending to win this particular battle.  I'll save that for the games we play against each other because, as any good husband, I try to win every one of those.  :) 

Zoo Day

Katy, Claire, Zac and I took a little trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo here in Omaha today. You'd think, it being mid-May and all, that the weather would be very pleasant.  You would be WRONG.  :)  Temps in Omaha were in the upper 40s to around 50 today, and combined with a nice northwesterly wind...you get the picture.  Or, here's one:

The zoo has a nice little area for the kids to pet animals, and the goats were the most interested in being a part of this process.  The chickens, while wandering about, seemed to have no interest in having children pet them.


There were also rabbits and guinea pigs and a baby goat around, but all behind gates. It might have been fun to see the pot-bellied pigs, too, but they were snoozing while we were there.


The Henry Doorly Zoo is one of the top zoos in the U.S. (look it up!) and it has much to offer. Given the cold temps, we were happy to spend our first 30 minutes or so inside the Lied Jungle, which helped warm us up for the rest of the three hours we were there.  Fortunately, many exhibits offer indoor viewing areas, such as those for the big cats, the gorillas, bears and even giraffes.  Wow those things are tall when you get to be up close to them.

I think the favorite part of the zoo visit for all of us today was a newer exhibit called Lemur Island.  In this short, suspended walk-through area, they have black and white ruffed lemurs, as well as red ones.  They are allowed to roam free, which makes for some interesting interaction, such as the one that considered getting up into Zac's umbrella stroller.  



Then, as we were watching a few of the lemurs playing in a tree, as you see here, something unexpected happened and none of us caught it on camera.  A black and white lemur decided to jump back from the tree to the walkway railing and the jump was right at us!  THAT was exciting!