Saturday, February 12, 2011

Life's a Zoo!

This is a perfect time of the year to visit your local zoo for a nice quiet afternoon stroll. This past week, I took a trip to my local zoo, Beardsley, in Bridgeport, Ct. With the exception of the warm climate exhibits, all the other exhibits and animals were out enjoying the sunny, but brisk day. It was a tad nippy at 22°F to be out waking in the zoo, but the sun was bright and warm.

The animals were enjoying the sunshine such as this Red Wolf basking on a rock


and even playing in the water was this River Otter.


Turning the corner, Mr Tiger was full of energy in the snow, playing with an empty trash can, and pacing his perimeter.




Strolling around the grounds were many peacocks, peahens, and guinea fowl.



There was a white Peacock who was displaying his beautiful plumage. He reminded me of a beautiful girl with lovely tresses.



After spending time outside watching the animals playing, I headed indoors to check out the tropical exhibits. There were beautiful birds, bright, but deadly Poison Dart frogs, and my absolute favorite animal of the zoo: A tiny Pygmy Marmoset. What a cutie! These guys are about the size of a small chipmunk. They are the smallest of the monkey species. They live in small family units of 5-7, the parents mate for life, and their babies stay with them until they are old enough to leave the nest. I could have stayed and watched them for hours.



In all, I spent about 5 hours wandering around the zoo by myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful day, and learned about a variety of new critters that I had never seen before.