A Day At The Zoo

We had an excellent day at the Philadelphia Zoo today. I have loved the zoo since I was little and visited it with my Mom and PopPop. Being the youngest of 5, these days of being the only child were exciting to me. But today I wasn't an only child, Jeanette also loves the zoo. We met Clayton around 10 am, he was our personal guide today. His real job involves fundraising and contributions, which is really why we were invited down. Clayton and Tammy, who is a Carnivore Supervisor (or something like that), took us all over the Polar Bear exhibit and behind the scenes of Big Cat Falls. IT WAS AWESOME!!! While we were watching Khan the Black Jaguar in his inside cage, a mouse ran across the top of a ledge boy did that get Khan's attention! He just missed swiping it with his paw. In the video you can see the mouse's body standing up right before it escapes through the ceiling grates. It was a perfect day to visit the zoo, the sun was warm and the air crisp, all the animals outside were loving it. The tigers had fun chasing each other and bouncing on each other's back. I think I now know were Tigger's bounce came from! The lions were just basking in the sun and letting everybody take as many pictures as they wanted. The paws on the male lion are huge. My favorites are the Polar Bears Goldie Locks and Klondike, they are both 29 year old females. Goldie Locks was sleeping in the grass with the sun shining on her. Klondike came right over to the exhibit wall and stayed for about 20 minutes, I don't think the fact that Tammy had fish with her had anything to do with it. It was very interesting listening to Tammy talk about all the work that goes on at the zoo that nobody sees. Clayton informed us that when the elephants leave to go to their sanctuaries, that the Elephant House will be converted into a new Children's Zoo. This will put the Children's Zoo closer to the front of the zoo. I was glad that I could see the elephants again before they move out. I think it is cool that the Zoo could find new homes for them where they can roam.