I have never gone to a zoo where you get to interact so
closely with the animals. The very first
attraction after walking in the front gate is a giraffe feeding pen. They have built elevated platforms, so you’re
actually standing eye-to-eye with the giraffes.
You can buy lettuce from a booth, and the giraffes will actually eat it
right out of your hand. I can officially
say that I have been licked by the long, black tongue of a giraffe now. We were so enamored by this, that we kept
going back and buying more food.
Literally, spending lettuce on lettuce.
One guy near us commented that he couldn’t believe he’d just spent $20
on lettuce, and his girlfriend replied, “Yeah, but it was totally worth
it.” I couldn’t agree more.
I also had a personal encounter with the big, daddy male of
the giraffe population. Khalid was being
kept separate from the females, for obvious reasons, and he was making his way
over to a bucket to eat some grass. As
we walked by, the grass dropped out of his mouth right on me. So, I scooped it into a pile and held it up
to him (even on an elevated platform, he was towering two feet over me). He gently ate it right out of my hand. It was the coolest thing, because nobody else
was around, so it was just for me!
From there, we made our way around to the other African
exhibits. Like the new meerkat babies,
which were so little and curious. Or the
African elephants, which were sticking their trunks straight up in the air to
pull grass from a bucket hung up in the tree.
While everyone else bustled past, racing from exhibit to exhibit only
spending a few seconds looking at the animals, my wife and I took our time soaking
in each animal…just standing and watching.
I have never enjoyed a zoo so much, as I did taking time to see the
animals for their individual personalities and quirks.
The path wound around to the Australian exhibits next, where
we had another amazing up-close encounter.
We got to pet a wallaby! She was
sitting there by the path eating a leaf, and she let us walk right up to
her. I was stroking her back and
scratching her face, and she stopped eating the leaf…holding it halfway to her
mouth, closed her eyes, and just enjoyed being caressed. It was absolutely amazing!
After the Australian exhibits, we decided to have lunch at
the zoo café. We got our food and went out
on the patio to eat and enjoy the gorgeous weather. Wandering around freely between the tables
were about a dozen peacocks, gobbling up anything thrown their way. I enjoyed feeding them my wife's French fries. She was terrified with them getting so close.
From there, we headed to the monkey pavilion, where my wife had an up-close encounter with a two-toed sloth. Apparently, breaking from the normal habit of
sleeping throughout the day, the sloth decided that she was hungry and crawled
across the trees strewn above our heads to get to the feed box. My wife was enamored with watching her eat
and interact with the zoo staff. She was
even more enamored to find out that because of the slow metabolism of the
sloths, that they only poop once a week.
Can you imagine that?!
The next area boasted a moose that likes to stand in the
water and soak his feet, two magnificent pacing mountain lions, and two
trouble-making grizzly bears. Emmett and
Digger are adopted brothers, who were put into the care of the zoo, because
they kept wreaking havoc in the neighboring towns. We got there just in time to watch the zoo
staff feed the curious grizzly bears.
The pair grabbing their feet, sitting back, and doing yoga poses for handfuls
of fruits and vegetables!
The last section we ventured into was the Asian exhibit, and
there we were given yet another treat.
The Amur tiger was feeling very playful and proceeded to put on a show
as he tried to get on top of a plastic barrel floating in his little water hole,
rolling and biting until the barrel submitted.
After he had conquered the barrel, he attacked a big red rubber ball
floating around as well, wrapping his muscular arms around the ball and
attempting to pop the ball with his sharp teeth.
After that it was time to leave, as the zoo was
closing. So, we made the jaunt back down
the mountain. In the car ride, we discussed
how amazing it was that God had made each animal, adapting it to its purpose
and environment. The power and beauty
combined within their skin is awe-inspiring.
We spend so much time avoiding and fearing the animals, that we never really
take the time to see how amazing they are.
It was the best day at the zoo that we have ever spent.
For dinner, we had a light dinner at The Cracker Barrel and
called it a night. Tomorrow, back to
Denver.
