The bf and I invested in a pass to the Henry Doorly Zoo this year through his work. This is something that he does every year but this year, we went in on it as a team so that we could visit the zoo together. He has spent enough time there that he knows the place like the back of his hand. Me, however...I think I can count the times that I have been there on one hand. It's time to change that.
In the past, I always seem to have gravitated towards one location - the Scott Aquarium. First, the penguins are there and I have always adored penguins. Second, I love the jellyfish and the leafy seadragons, just to name a few. At some point I plan to experiment with some silk dying using this image, which I took during a previous visit, as my inspiration.
But I digress. On the day we chose to go most recently, the weather couldn't have been any better. In fact, quite a few others agreed with us including countless busloads of school children. The place was definitely hopping!
We headed from the main entrance through the crowds and directly to the Desert Dome. During the short walk to the Desert Dome, I became momentarily distracted by these:
I'm not sure what kind of flower these are but at some point I'm going to ask someone who knows these things. They are commonly seen around Omaha this time of year which makes me wonder if they are native.
Once in the Desert Dome, there were so many creatures but one of my favorites was the Klipspringer. These are a type of African antelope. They're small in stature (although it's difficult to tell by this picture alone) These cuties were attracting a lot of attention. We couldn't tell which one is the mom-to-be but it will be neat to return and see the little one once he or she is born. These are already miniature so I'm sure that the mini-miniature will be too much cute in one place for me to handle!
Next we saw this little guy:
He was one of several who were all looking off to their left with unswayed curiosity.
After making our way through the deserts, we went to the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit which is underneath the Desert Dome. This is where another favorite of mine is housed - the bats. They have so many bats at this zoo! I didn't get any pictures in this particular area because it was so dark and I didn't want to disturb any of the creatures with a flash. The days and nights are flipped in this exhibit so that during the day when visitors are there, the creatures think it's night and are very active. Many of the bats were flying around and swooping at the fruit that was out for them to eat. It was really great to watch!
After this, we went over to the Cat Complex, where apparently it was nap time...
Here's the white tiger...
Here's another tiger enclosure...
If you zoom in on this one's face (above), you will see that the tip of his tongue is sticking out ever so slightly. Hee hee!
And on the other side of that same enclosure...
Finally, this cheetah was awake. He was pacing along the fence but I managed to get a good shot of him. It was hard to tell if he was riled up about something or just felt like pacing back and forth along one area of fence. He was quite beautiful though, and equally intense.
After the Cat Complex, we took a brief look at Durhams Bear Canyon before deciding to go get some lunch. We were so beat from the several hours of walking that we opted to relax rather than return to the zoo to see more. We will have more chances to go back. And in the meantime, I have some wildlife at home to keep me occupied.
This is my cat Marble as she tames the wild tissue paper.
And here is Morgan, fearlessly guarding the sacred scratching pad with rolly ball.
I showed them the pictures of their distant relatives. These two remained aloof but I think deep down they were as awed by the big cats as I was.
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