Awwww

Baby wild bunnies at Nana's. The one G is holding isn't a part of the nest. the pictures are about 2 weeks apart.

Butterflies- Stages

I knew when the caterpillars arrived they were bigger than expected. It was confirmed when they J'd within the a couple days.




So we are waiting for them to emerge from their chrysalis.

Butterflies- Arrival

We ordered some Painted Ladies and they arrived today.
They are bigger than I expected but at least the head caps were inside so we could discuss the molting.
After they arrived I printed out a really great book for us to complete as they grow. It is great that they arrived right after our trip to the zoo last week. What a follow up!!

We're Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

Our zoo membership is about up and since we are not going to renew it, in favor of a zoo that is a part of the AZA reciprocal program,we went to check out the new exhibits. We saw the Butterfly exhibit... MAGICAL!!!! The Koala Exhibit... yawn. Did you know they sleep a lot. The biggest surprise of the day was when we went into the remodeled Ocean building and found a SHARK PETTING POOL!! It was so cool. Have you ever heard of spyhopping? Spyhopping is the act of coming out of the water vertically, and momentarily staying out of the water in a manner akin to a human treading water. A powerful individual can spyhop as much as half of its body out of the water. Spyhops may well be used so that the shark can examine its surroundings above the surface—for instance to look at prey. One of the babies was so high up on it's tail fin it hit it's head on the sign in the water. We'd never seen such a thing before. Over all a great day at the zoo!

Animal Kingdom

Note: While viewing the above slide show turn off your air conditioning, open you your windows and bump around in your seat. There it is just like you are really on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride at Walt Disney World.


WDW's Animal Kingdom is an amazing zoo with a few rides tossed in to make it a theme park. Every path is scattered with lush flora & fauna. We were able to see new animals we'd never heard of and up close views of old favorites. You can find a list of some of the species here.

Some exhibits were captioned by "chalk" boards rather than static printouts. Such as this one at our new favorite animal the Okapi.


Or the Massive Gorillas


AWSOME!!!!!

Did you know that Hippos sleep underwater and that their bodies natural rhythm floats them to the top for air about every 5 minutes? G thought that the one in our picture was a rock or dead until he bubbled up for air. I could have stayed in there all day.


In one section there were bird guides you could carry with you. Talk about the Ultimate Hide and Seek. G loved this and was disappointed that we did not find all of the birds.




While at Rafiki's Conservation Station we listened at a trainer explained how and why they train the animals to respond to a clicker (feeding, measuring, medical care...). They demonstrated this with a Tamandua or Lessor Anteater. Once they put the animal away they talked some more with the 3 kids... did I tell you September is a great time to visit?! Because there were only 3 they each got a turn "being" an animal and learning with the clicker. Then they gave each a button to wear. Buttons are big this year at Disney but more on that later.



Oh... I almost forgot, there is a really cool dinosaur play land made to look like a dig. There are many educational posters and replicas. G enjoyed the actual dig, though at closing time they must cover the mastodon bones to hide them from a poaching professor. Wink, Wink. G didn't know there were fessors at Disney.


Finally (I promise), at the Animal Kingdom you must walk around the Tree of Life to get to the Bug's Life 3D movie (Excellent by the way). The carvings are breathtaking. Once inside the tree there are buggy things like one of G's all time favs... the Dung Beetle. He insisted on a couple of pictures.


I hope to lapbook about these truly wondrous animals, and if we do I will surely post it, but for now we have a bulletin board covered with our pictures and books & videos from the library. Until next time...