CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO

Its springtime at the zoo and many of the new babies are coming out to experience the world outside of their dens and burrows.  These are baby prairiedogs.  They are absolutely adorable, but they are a menace to farmers and ranchers because of their colonies of burrows and tunnels.

       

This meerkat reminds me a lot of our ferret at home, especially the eyes.  How can you resist a gaze like that?  I can't and our ferret has me wrapped around her little finger, or what ever you would call it on a ferret.

When we went to the zoo for the first time 11 years ago the big cats were exhibited in steel and concrete cages.  I remember crying when I realized that the strange marks on the cement ground of the enclosures were actually blood stains from sores worn into the pads of the animals' paws.  Today many of the enclosures are designed to imitate the animals' natural habitat.  These tigers lie in the shade next to a stream in the Asian Highlands Exhibit.

I'm not sure why this giraffe was moved away from the rest of the herd, but I came across him in the back of the enclosure, peering sadly over the fence.  I've always thought that giraffes have the gentlest looking eyes.

Of course I couldn't visit the zoo without getting a picture of peacock feathers!  I tried to get the whole bird, but he just wouldn't stand still long enough for a good shot.  He obviously had more important things to do, like checking out the little female peahen down the way.