The zoo has a reptile house, mostly snakes, lizards and a few frogs. Oh, and hissing cockroaches! When I was photographing this little turtle D came up behind me a said "Morla, the Ancient One?" Which made me laugh because that's exactly what I was thinking. I love it when we're on the same vibe.
(A reference to The Neverending Story, my favorite childhood movie)Morla, the Ancient One:
The zoo has large turtles too. We apparently arrived at dinner time and they were interested in well, dinner. It's amazing how fast a hungry tortoise can move!
I thought the zoo had a rather large collection of monkeys, apes and lemurs. Some were quite active while we were there. A few might have even gotten some of A's fruit loops...
The Gibbons were making a tremendous hoopla while we were with the tortoises but by the time we made it over to their enclosure they were as quiet as mice. I was amazed at the size of this orangutan's hand print. I know I have small hands but the scale impresses me. I would not want to meet one in the jungle!
The red pandas were really adorable, much cuddlier than raccoons.
The large cats were mostly busy napping, but that didn't stop us from appreciating how beautiful they are.
The giraffes were walking around their paddock, quite active. I love that you can measure how tall they are when they come to their feeding station.
The elephants were pretty boring. Both of them stood in the same spot doing this little foot shuffle. In the gift shop we saw artwork done by the elephants. I would have liked to have seen them painting.
This little toucan watched me intently the whole time I was at his cage.
The flamingos, however, were buttoned down against the chilly wind. I couldn't even believe we had flamingos. It might be South Carolina but I would have thought it too far north for them.
The zoo also has a petting area with domestics like chickens, pigs and goats. These goats were just dying for affection, it nearly broke my heart. They would come up to you and look at you with their big goaty pupils and stay with you as long as you were willing to love on them.
Afterwards we decided we were ready to eat. They humored me and we went to Mellow Mushroom. D was able to get A interested in some peek-a-boo but she didn't like the hummus we offered. I guess it's an acquired taste.
