I have been going to the St. Louis Zoo since I was a little girl. We often took our kids to the Zoo on vacations, and have taken the grandkids several times already. Simply put, I LOVE going to the Zoo! It has changed so much over the years, and yet it remains the same.
One of my favorite places in the Zoo is the aviary. The aviary is one of the world's largest free flight bird cages. It was built for the 1904 World's Fair and was the motivator for the creator of the Zoo in 1910.
These were two of the many, many birds flying around the aviary. I could have sat and bird watched for a very long time, but 3 little girls had other ideas!
I call this one "lioning around". They thought it would be cool to put their head in the lion's mouth and pretend to be scared. The funny thing is that Emily pulled her head up and the iron teeth "bit" right into her head. Yea, I laughed. LOL
Apparently the Lions had the day off. This lazy critter was the only lion we got sight of. But that's ok, there were plenty of other creatures roaming about.Is this a humparump?
I call it a camel with a tude.
Twin Zebras
Saw lots of long necked hickey covered critters.
I honestly think they were posing. And, yep Ladystyx, it is an Opaki! A cross between zebra and giraffe.
This guy laid down in front of us and struck a very manly pose.
The girls loved the carousel. The carousel features hand-carved wooden animals representing protected and endangered creatures at the St. Louis Zoo.
Puffins and Penguins
The Zoo has an awesome Puffins and Penguin house. As with many of the animals, though, it was hard to get good pictures because they are behind glass. Those penguins are so darn cute posing like they do. I had never heard of Puffins before.
I got a gazillion pictures of tigers and monkeys. Am having trouble figuring out what to post. Would the fact that I took 200 pictures have anything to do with that???
Here's your polar bear, Iggy :)
I was taking a picture of this peacock when it decided to attack me... I was shocked to see that I actually got a picture of it flying at us. The girls were kinda like OMG and didn't want anything to do with birds after that lol.
Gazelle
Elephinks
You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends' nose... unless you are at the St. Louis Zoo.
This is it for now. I've never had such a tough time trying to decide which pictures to post!!!!! Soon I will post more pictures from our evening at the hotel and visit to the Science Center the next day.
12 comments:
Great pictures, Punkn. I loved seeing them all. You got some great shots there, and even the ones you said were thru glass came out amazing well. Sure looks like you had a wonderful time at the zoo. Thanks for sharing your pics. :)
Awwww. I love the polar bear picture!! I agree with Alice Kay, you took great pictures - the ones with the girls hamming it up really made me smile. I appreciate the "discrete" shot of the elefink! The sheer number of animals you saw is incredible. I can see why this place brings you back time and time again.
Marvelous post, Punkn!
TY ak, I'm glad you enjoyed them! Lol iggy, fortunately the elephink strutting his stuff was out of the lens range of the camera, or it would have been part of this share, you can count on that!!! We didn't even go into the reptile house (the girls vetoed it and fearing snakes myself, I agreed). The hippo pictures didn't turn out very good. The number of types of animals I didn't post far exceed the ones I did post. If anyone is ever in Missouri, the St. Louis Zoo should be top on your list of must dos.
I was looking at your pictures again - and I noticed that the Lion your granddaughter had her head stuffed in has a sign that says "donate" on it.
Now that's giving 'em a piece of your mind huh?
I also was looking at your first bird close-up picture and thought to myself, that has to be a Kingfisher (we have many of them locally along the rivers and canals) but this one is unlike any I've ever seen, so I went to the Zoo's website and found out it might be a Micronesian Kingfisher
While at the Zoo website I looked at the some of the other pages - and discovered one for the Carousel and one that surprised me - being a HUGE Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom fan - the page was about the Marlin Perkins Society Next time I get to ol' Saint Lou you and I are going to the Zoo!
LOL Iggy, I can't wait to share that thought about her donation with Emily.
I can't wait to go to the Zoo with you - I love going to the Zoo with kids, no matter what their age!
The Missouri Botanical Garden is also a "must see". Click here for a virtual tour of the gardens.
Looks like you all had a wonderful day!!! Now I wanna go to the zoo..of course our zoo isn't that big but it was named one of the top smaller zoo's in America :-) Now if I could just remember to take the camera
LOL actually Humparumps is hubbys term...I usually call them Heffalumps (after the term Winnie the Pooh's word for them). They are actually iggy's Elefinks.
Im having the same problem with my pix of the Aquarium (took over 100 plus 3 videos)so that's why I havent posted that entry yet. Maybe later today. *shrugz* I do love going to the zoos and aquariums for sure. I take more pix there than I do most other places.
I love going into the Aviaries too and could spend a good deal of time in them but I dont. Why? Well because I swear I must have a bull's eye tatooed to my head. If it's not me getting bombed on then it's my camera. *wrinkles nose*
LOL Styxie, I would have sworn a Humparump would be a camel! *shakes head and laughs* Ya better get those acquarium pics up soon!
Karla, I don't the size of the Zoo really matters. (Forgetting the camera does, tho)They sure are fun! I would have welcomed a smaller Zoo by the end of the day because if it was there... we had to see it (except for snakes lol)! We were so pooped that I was asleep by 9:30 that night, which is totally unusual for me (midnight is more my speed lol)
Awesome pictures, punkn! I too love the aviaries. My favorite is the Wild Animal Park near San Diego. Most of the animals are in huge areas that well represent their natural habitat. In the aviary, you can purchase a little cup of nectar for the Lorikeets to drink. I have pictures of them up and down my arms, on my shoulders and head...and of course what goes in must come out, lol. Fortunately it cleans up well.
That would be so cool chicagolady. They don't provide nectar but it sure is cool with all the plant life, water and birds around you. *wonders if chicagolady will post a picture of herself covered with lorikeets*
Oh dear, I'd have to dig those out from a photo album. Hmmm...
Great pix!! I also love the aviary at the zoo. And the penguins are a big favorite of mine, along with the polar bears and the otters. Looks like you all had a great time, for sure.
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