On the 18th, we decided to go to the zoo. It was a slightly cooler (though still pretty hot) day, so it was a decent day for walking around, and we hoped that the animals would be more likely to be out as well.

I do feel like I should mention... we're really lucky that Colorado has a program where SNAP recipients get steeply discounted entry to most of the publicly funded scientific and cultural attractions in the city, which includes things like the zoo, the museum, and the botanic gardens. That's the only reason we are able to go to these places, because otherwise it'd be a lot harder for us to afford.


All four of the lions were out, but I liked the picture of these two. Though it looks a bit like a meme template, with the one lurking behind, haha. (He was actually yawning, not snarling, ha.)


From the Tropical Discovery building, a neat lizard I don't remember seeing on previous visits.



Sleepy hyena!

Over by the wild dogs, they were being fed! A whole half of a pig, ha.


That's a lot of meat! The two in the front dragged most of it down a ways.


Here you can see some of them heading back to where part of the carcass was hung up for them to get at.

The one in front with the half of a pig, the one sitting sort of strangely, only has three legs. I don't remember what has caused him to lose the leg, but he's stayed a healthy member of the pack.


Look at the cute tamarin! That tail!

The orangutans were the surprising stars of the day. (Surprising, to me, because I always sort of thought that I didn't care much for the various apes. Over the last few years, I've realized how interesting they can be to watch!)

Today, they were hanging out in their outdoor hammocks... with magazines, haha. I could not tell what magazines they were "reading", but they seemed to enjoy turning the pages, and looking at each page. It was really fun to watch them!


You can see the newest baby climbing here, and the magazine that the adult is holding. Having the baby wandering around and playing, while mom is relaxing in the hammock with a magazine just felt really funny.


This is Beruni (the dominant male of the group.) He had gotten a lot of interest a couple years ago (and still), because a couple years ago, he sired a baby with one of the females in the group, and the female died very suddenly and unexpectedly. The baby was still extremely young, and he completely took over childrearing. That's not a behavior that has been seen before from a male orangutan, so it was very interesting.


The lorikeet aviary was open!

But let me tell you, one of these little fuckers (not one of the two pictured, probably) bit the absolute shit out of my thumb. It was just before they were offering the little "nectar cups" to feed them, which is something that's time-limited, and I'm guessing she was just very put out that I didn't have one for her. She swooped down and landed on me the instant we were inside, and made a beeline for my hand... not finding any food, she just gnawed the fuck out of my hand. A volunteer came over to try and get her to move, and she just would not quit, and the volunteer had to bring another employee over. "Rose" the lorikeet did draw blood, though not too terribly, and mostly it just felt like a terrible bruise for a week or so. I've got two spots that are still a little scabbed over, though it all healed up fine.

We came back through once the feeding time started, because Alex wanted to, ha. The birds were less rude to him when he had food for them.

Though one of the employees was also talking about the gay lorikeet couple that they still have. (A tweet thread about them went semi-viral a couple years ago, with the zoo politely arguing with a woman who wanted to insist it was impossible that animals could be homosexual, and that they were "simply brothers" or whatever.)


The fishing cat! I want to pet the kitty!


A monarch butterfly! I am always excited to see monarchs, and even more exciting to actually see them on the milkweed.


Przewalski horses, my beloved!

Then to the Tropical Discovery building, which is primarily the reptile/amphibian/fish building.


Frogs! These guys are, I believe, yellow in the wild, but lack the right poisonous insect diet for it in captivity.


A lovely gaboon viper. It will surely not bite and kill you! :)


The garden eels are so delightfully weird!


Neat fish. Spotted grouper, I think it was?


Lake Titicaca frogs, my beloved weirdoes!


Monitor, judging you.

And then on our way out, as the zoo was getting ready to close (because no matter the fact we always try to get in at the earliest timeslot available, we always run out of time), we actually got to see the raccoons!

They have a pair of leucistic raccoons that were picked up locally, and taken in as unlikely to survive.





Their names are cashew and pecan.

The tapir was NOT out, which was a shame. He's my favorite, and Alex hasn't seen him in years! The only time the tapir has been out was when the time Alex didn't feel well, and my mom, Taylor, and I went without him.