Another Visit to the Snake Farm and Animal Zoo

We met Monica and Richard at the Snake Farm and Animal Zoo and had a grand old time.

Unlike the camel, the buffalo couldn't stick his head through the bars, so to touch I had to reach out my hand and he reached out his tongue. It was slick.

If Benjamin Franklin had had his way, the turkey would have been our national symbol. This guy kept puffing up and gobbling. He was fun, but that red stuff on his nose/neck is creepy/icky/gross.

There was only one peacock, and maybe 6 peahens. This was the most flamboyant peacock I have ever seen. He kept spreading his feathers and shakin' em as he approached the ladies. I got my best peacock pictures ever today. He just kept showing off.

Princess, the lesser anteater (or Tamandua), is off at a breeding program while they are remodeling. The zoo now has two white lion cubs. So adorable! And one of them was growling/roaring--it was too cute! The lion cubs were definitely the best part today.

One of the cubs (the female we think) was very spunky and interactive. She would run back and forth in her pen chasing Ross.

I was doing the football shuffle and it became unclear who was running who. She wore me out!

After spending two and a half hours at the zoo we had late lunch/early dinner at the tea house in Gruene. The food was delicious and afterward we were stuffed. We walked around town...they were having a little art festival/sale thingy (Guene Market Days.) Both the Zoo and Gruene were totally different from when we last went in September. In September both were empty. Today both were really bustling--the goats in the petting area weren't really interested in being fed. I had a great weekend and can't wait to go back. The lion cubs are currently 4 months old and weigh 45 pounds each. The keeper said they are gaining half a pound a day. I am looking forward to watching them grow up.

State Fair 2013

Even though we are still a little jet lagged we had to visit the State Fair before it closed.  The weather had really cooled off since we left. I wore a cashmere sweater, and hoped for the best.  It was nice to walk around without carrying any bags--no camera (just the phone), nothing.

As always, my favorite part of the fair was the petting barn. This year I got to pet the zebras--they are usually far back in a corner because they bite.  I also got to pet the baby kangaroo, some Brahman calves, and a lot of other animals.

Fried guacamole--our favorite.  The only other fried food we had was a fried blackberry pie.

A sheep being shorn.  We saw lots of sheep, bunnies, and horses.

We went and saw the bird show.  Apparently the show is there every year, but we have never seen it.  They had cool hawks, an owl, and other birds.  One bird even sang Old MacDonald.  It was freaky.

Free ice cream!

I liked this goat asleep in the red tire.  Goats are silly.  A chicken was standing on top of a goat, which is funny because goats are usually the ones standing on something.

I don't know what this thing was called.  It had conical horns.  The freaky thing was that the horns were very warm.

Snake Farm and Animal Zoo

Every time I pass the Snake Farm and Animal Zoo in New Braunfels I think "I want to go there!"  After seeing the place on Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs, I really wanted to go.  I bought discount tickets online and we finally went.

The inside part is FULL of snakes.  I'm not weirded out by snakes.  I liked looking at the different colors, patterns, and shapes of the snakes.  Yeah--all snakes aren't just round like a water hose.

 This was the King Cobra.

This Sahara Sand Viper freaked Ross out.  He didn't like how it was hiding in the sand.  In the bottom left corner you can see its eye sticking out of the sand.

I liked the coloring of this White Lipped Python.

In addition to snakes they had a couple of tarantulas, a hissing cockroach, a gecko or two, skinks, bearded dragons, and you could see some crocodiles, ring tailed lemurs, and such.

Outside they had lots and lots of animals.  We bought a small bag of feed and told we were allowed to feed everything but the primates and the sea otters.  We saw a camel, bison, longhorns, zebras, mountain lions, peacocks, peahens, chick peas, chickens, chicks, ducks, lemurs, monkeys, emus, ostriches, coatimundi, warthogs, owls, macaws, parrots, turtles, tortoises, wolves, a hyena, fennec foxes, an african porcupine, ponies, and more.

Our favorite animal was the lesser anteater, also known as the tamandua.  She was super friendly.  She tried to hard to reach her nose out to us.  She stretched so much her ears popped through the fence and she got a little stuck.  She was the cutest thing ever!  Her little palms looked so pink and so human.

Here is  a short video of Princess.  I was too busy marvelling at her to take many photos or videos.

Here I am feeding the lama.  I hugged the lama.  I hugged a baby goat.  They were just so cute and soft. The petting zoo area really was the best part.  It is off season, so the goats were practically attacking us for the food.

Denver Zoo

We took a 4 day weekend this past weekend and went to Denver to visit Aunt Judy. On Saturday the weather was beautiful. We walked to Einstein's for bagels in the morning, then we spent the afternoon at the Denver Zoo. We were at the zoo until they kicked us out. The zoo was impressive. We saw animals we'd never seen before--like an anteater! 

I love peacocks. One day I will have a peacock. I don't care what my neighbors say.

At the end of the day the lions were all relaxing. This guy looked so soft I just wanted to pet his wrinkly face and bury my hands in his big mane.

This is a pygmy falcon. Tiny little bird of prey. When we first saw him I thought he was stuffed, but nope. He puffed up and slimmed down and looked around for us.

 The anteater!

The cutest thing at the zoo--the arctic fox. If that doesn't get your oxytocins flowing, then you are an awful, cruel person.