A Day at the Zoo With my Family

 Hey everyone. About a month ago my mom had the idea to go to the zoo with my grandma as a family outing. Since it's been years since I've been to the zoo, I jumped at the idea, taking a day off and ready to have some fun. It's been years since I REALLY went to the zoo, having been to the wild lights many time in recent years (like here, here, and here), but all the animals were asleep except for the reptiles. This will also be one of the last times I'm able to do stuff with my family before I'm married (because I'm getting married at the end of the year, I even had a bachelor party). Before the zoo I went out to breakfast with my mom to her and Dad's favorite breakfast place. Mom had an omelet and I had bacon and eggs. After breakfast we went to pick up my grandma, and that was a bit of a story. She and my parents have these friendship lights that both change color when one of them touch them, connected via the internet, and hers was having a problem. Mom thought it would take a while to fix it, but I fixed it in minutes (just the old IT trick of turning it off and turning it back on again). We loaded her up and went to the zoo.

When we pulled up to the front gate and unloaded my grandma and myself so she could walk slowly up to the front while Mom parked. Since stupid COVID is still stupid, the zoo is running with limited capacity and everyone has to wear masks. We got in through the front gate and got the rental wheelchair for my grandma. Since my mom was still recovering from her broken wrist it was my job to push her all day. It's OK, it's not like I wasn't going to be the one to push her anyways. It was no problem, I got my exercise that way. After getting all set with the wheel chair we ended up getting our picture taken for a souvenir picture. It was fun.

Our first stop was the first exhibit in the zoo, the butterfly house and bird aviary. Well, it would be the butterfly house, but because of stupid covid we were only able to go to the birds. It might have been for the best, considering my grandpa used to volunteer at the butterfly house and we lost him earlier this year. It was kind of interesting, since I knew the butterfly house and aviary so well as a child and the 2nd entrances that we never used because it was always the main entrance, a bit of a childhood dream of "going the other way" was being realized. The birds were fun, and it was nice and warm in the building. Unfortunately because of covid we weren't able to use the spinning plastic things that tell you what each of the birds are, but they had these little yard sign things to say instead. I don't know if the exhibit changed much in the 10 years since I was last at the zoo, but the environment sure didn't. I remembered all the different terrain and seating locations, but the little inclines were REALLY noticeable when pushing a wheel chair. At the end we stopped at the one place where we could still sit, and I took a picture with my grandma. I had to retake it because my jacket has the reflective stripes and the flash made everything black except for the bright reflective stripes.

After the aviary we went to the otter exhibit. Unfortunately the otters were inside their indoor house and we weren't able to see them. Oh well. We went to Amphibavile after the otters, it's where they have all the amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.). Because of covid and the Midwest fall temperatures they closed off the brass frogs that squirt water. Oh well. It was fun looking for all the different amphibians, and seeing how they camouflage themselves in their habitats. Back when I was younger there was this educational video that would loop in a theater, and there were blocks that were meant for seats that you could move everywhere. In the 15+ years since I was there, and likely due to covid they had to close that off. Oh well, I basically memorized the video. My other favorite part of amphibavile was the giant terrarium walking path thing where you could see the frogs up close and personal, and I could see my favorite frog in all it's colors, the poison dart frog. I love how it has these bright colors, and unlike all the other animals that take these very Earthy tones to blend in with the environment, the poison dart frog is all "I'm bright blue, or red, or yellow, don't mess with me because even touching me will make you sick." Yeah, maybe it was a bit of a liability having them jump freely around guests, but I remember a zoo keeper telling me they change their diets so they don't secrete the poison. They also had a free roaming sloth in the walking area, which I guess also wasn't the smartest thing since sloths are kind of dangerous with their giant teeth and claws, and that they sometimes fall from the tree because they grab onto their own arm thinking it's a tree branch and let go. I was still able to see the poison dart frogs, even if it was behind glass. They replaced the walking path with an enclosure for the giant salamanders, which when I saw how big they are and where they were living before, I definitely understand why they had to move them. They were basically living in a tube; it'd be fine for your average sized amphibian with plenty of room to move around, but not for these big guys. I guess it's a worthy trade off for the giant salamanders to be happier.

After the amphibians we took the wetlands path over the central pond. This was something that was kind of new to me since it used to be just a giant pond without the dock path. I remember it being under construction, and being there when I went back in highschool, but it wasn't something I really did before. My mom kept asking me why I kept taking such a weird steering path while walking the dock, and it was because I was avoiding running over goose poop. It's not like I really cared about the rental chair (it's a zoo, they're used to animal poop), but my legs kept running into the wheels and I didn't want to get goose poop on my pants. We tried to see the beavers after the amphibians, but they too were inside. Luckily they had a video feed of their inside house, so we were able to at least see them sleeping.

After the bust with the beavers we went to the reptile house. Since the reptiles don't really "go to sleep at night" like all the other animals, I would see them at the wild lights. It was fun seeing them with my mom though, since she likes reptiles unlike mskate, and my grandma is ok with them (not scared or dislike, but not really like either). We had a lot of fun looking at all the snakes and lizards. What was really fun was seeing a massasauga, the only snake we ever had to worry about when camping in boy scouts. Sure, it wouldn't be fun being bit by a garter snake or the others we could find when camping, but it would just require some basic first aid (like the times it happened). Massasauga on the other hand, well that's an ER visit and thankfully never happened. We were able to find most of the snakes, and enjoyed seeing the alligators, crocodiles, and turtles. Speaking of turtles and scouts, there was this time where some boys in my troop had the bright idea of catching a snapping turtle at summer camp. Those guys are nothing to mess with, they'll bite a finger clean off, but they somehow managed to bring it from one side of the lake all the way back to main camp. Fun times.

After the reptiles we saw the camels, but most importantly the fountain. Rackham Fountain is an icon of the zoo, and we got our picture with it. We also reminisced about the fun times when we were little going to the fountain. Right by the fountain there used to be "the dinosaur experience," which had a bunch of animatronic dinosaurs on a walking path. It was really cool, but they got rid of it around 2000 from what I remember. The joke was always "why don't they have real dinosaurs, what a rip." After the fountain we went to the red panda exhibit (who was off on maternity leave) and the tigers. The tigers were rescued from private zoos, and that's when I gave my mom a little crash course that "yes, there are crazy rich people that say 'I want to have a tiger' and they are basically in their backyards." I know this because I watched Tiger King.

Now for the really fun thing, the great apes; chimps and gorillas. We got to see a gorilla hanging out on the tree toy, and then climb down. It was really fun seeing them active. My grandma kept asking "how much do you think they weigh" about all the big animals, but this time I had an answer for her about gorillas, because I remember them weighting around 300-400 pounds. She was quite impressed with them. But what was REALLY fun was seeing the baby and child chimps with their foster mom. I asked the zoo keeper how the foster mom was decided and apparently the birth mom got hurt around child birth time so the humans had to care for the really infant chimp (nursing and such), but they always would show the baby to the adult chimps behind the fence so they could see if maybe the baby would be able to find a foster mom. The oldest and most respected female chimp really seemed to take an interest in the baby, and when it was time to introduce the baby to the family she scooped him right up and said "you are mine now." Their big worry about human nursed chimps is that they would associate more with the humans and wouldn't go into being a chimp, but this little guy took right to being a chimp and doesn't show any signs of wanting to be a human, and being brought in by the oldest and most respected female meant he was accepted by the rest of the chimp family.

Now while it's always fun to see cute baby animals, baby apes are especially fun to watch, because their mannerisms are almost exactly like baby humans as is the parent mannerisms (at least these were). The baby chimp was holding onto the foster mom while she was going to a different side, while the child chimp was following close behind. The foster mom found a nice place to sit and was just like "OK, you two just play nicely while mama takes a break. The baby chimp got off and started curiously exploring his environment, while the child chimp was "come on, let's play," tackling him and climbing all over him, while the baby was pushing off and having fun as well. Then the child found a pile of hay and started picking it up and putting it on his head, and putting it on the baby. And then he decided to climb down the rope swing to do his own thing, and you could tell the baby wanted to follow but just wasn't strong and coordinated enough to play with the big kid. All the while mom is watching to make sure they don't do anything dumb, occasionally reaching an arm out to break it up. I swear, it was just like watching a parent with a toddler and a kindergartener. If you ever get the chance to watch baby chimps play together, it's great.

After the great apes we went to the flamingos and storks. My mom was making jokes about how the storks are a sign of what's to come (mskate and I are going to have a lot of babies). The peacocks were also hanging out at the flamingos. This was the first time we saw them, so I asked "oh, are they no longer free roaming?" My mom told me "oh no, they are definitely still free roaming, they just seem to be hanging out at this exhibit." They were, I saw plenty later (which I'll elaborate with a later story). We also saw lions (which also had a rescue story; it turns out a lot of animals have their rescue story posted), snow monkeys, and rhinoceroses. Chimps weren't the only apes with a child, we also saw a little snow monkey. He didn't have a child friend to play with, so he was playing with the adults. It was following who I guess it's mom, and trying to play on a branch and kind of falling off, while mom just kind of watched him make his own mistakes. He also started chasing after maybe dad until he got board and went back to mom. Again, just like human children. It's hilarious. The rhinos were where the elephants used to live, but they no longer have elephants (which is unfortunate since they were my favorite animal as a child).

Around this time is when we decided to have lunch. We went to the closed off quick service outside restaurant by the train stop and ate our meal there. Mom brought Jiff to go, crackers of the gram, salteen, and club variety, M&Ms, and a variety of goldfish crackers. Sure, not the "healthiest" of meals, but it was enough to keep us happy. My mom made peanut butter gram crackers for grandma, and then I made her eat some peanut butter "because you need to get some protein." She would always say that when I would make a "less than healthy" meal, so it's always fun to tell her the parenty things she would tell me as a child and teen. We reminisced about how much fun the train was, because it used to be free and since my brother was really into trains there would be times where we would just ride the train all day. Unfortunately it was closed because of covid, and stopped being free around the time he stopped being into trains, so it was just the memories.

After lunch we saw warthogs, zebras, and giraffes. My grandma was impressed by the length of their necks, pointing out how long it must take for food to reach their stomach. They had a giraffe encounter thing where guests can feed the gram crackers, but "because covid" is becoming a running thing, none of that. After the giraffes, we saw the red panda, and that was fun because the little guy was having lunch out of a cool whip container. It was great, we just happened to be walking by when it was feeding time. There was a family eating at the picnic tables by the red panda and a peacock was coming up to them. We looked at them and said "do you think we should tell them to be careful?" It's a reference to a story I'll tell later.

The next stop was the kangaroo exhibit. This is a really cool exhibit in that it's an open path and the kangaroos are free to walk around and over the path. You might think "but what about the safety of the animals," but from what I know kangaroos are incredibly strong and will be able to easily defend themselves against a human. Then there's "but what about the safety of the humans" and from what I know they aren't very curious animals that don't know their own strength (like a chimp or a tiger) and will generally leave humans alone. I'm not an expert, but from what I've seen on Animal Planet and based on the experience I had, "you don't bother them they won't bother you, and don't mess with them because they WILL lay you out." It was really cool, because some of them were rather close to us and I was able to get this great picture.

While there I told my family about the last time I was here and how one of the kangaroos had a joey in her pouch. I also did the "can you jump as far as a kangaroo" thing and made it about 6 feet.

After the kangaroos we went to the wolves, and it was fun reading about how wolves communicate, and that their body language and different vocal sounds are near identical to dogs. Like, exposing their belly is a sign of submission, and wimpers mean they're sad or scared, and I'm just like "yep, dogs still have a lot of wolf in them." After we got off the wolf path I realized we missed the grizzly bears and polar bears. I changed our direction to catch the exhibits we missed. The grizzly bears were also rescues, with their mom being killed when they were cubs and them getting saved from the harsh Alaskan winter that they wouldn't have survived without mom. My grandma didn't really know where we were going so I said "the Berenstine Bears," and again she asked how much it weighed.

Our next stop was the polar bears and arctic circle. Unfortunately the tunnel and buildings were closed (because of stupid covid), but we were still able to see the outside stuff. The biggest thing being the arctic foxes. They were REALLY cute; little white foxes that looked like babies but were actually full grown. The one was happy to just lie there and sleep, and the other kept pacing back and forth looking at the people coming by. It was funny, you could see that he kept following the same path back and forth to the different viewing windows; the grass was all matted down and he would just follow that path. Really cute. We also got to see a seal, but no polar bears. Since part of the exhibit was closed off, we got to take the "alternate entrance and exit," once again answering my boyhood curiosity.

The arctic circle exit was pretty close to the bald eagles and wolverines, so that was our next stop. The wolverine was pretty active, and we wondered if it was Sparty or Buckeye (because many years ago the zoo got 2 wolverines and named them after the UofM rival school mascots since UofM are the wolverines). We don't know but what was really cool about the eagles is we got to see one issue it's "territory defense call." A wild hawk (one not part of the zoo) was circling above the exhibit and you could see the alpha eagle keeping an eye on it. When it got a little too close for comfort it let out a "get out of here" call and then left the area. We also saw retired thoroughbred race horses in the same area, and they told the story of the horses before coming to the zoo. One saw 47 races and the other only saw 4 or so before suffering a career ending injury. The farm animals with the barn was in the same area, but because of covid it was closed.

The next stop was the prairie dogs. These are my mom's favorite, she always enjoys seeing the prairie dogs, and they are cute especially when they're popping their heads out of their holes. A really cool thing with this exhibit that I'm sure many other zoos have is a little tunnel with domes for kids to crawl up in and pretend to be prairie dogs and getting an up close view. I used to REALLY love doing that, and even did it as a teenager because I still barely fit (and it's still OK for teenagers to do things like that, just kind of weird but not "creepy adult"). Naturally because it's a confined area that kids practically lick, and not very easy to clean since adults can't fit in the tube, it was closed due to covid. I do remember it smelling funny when I was a kid, probably because it's never cleaned.

After the prairie dogs were the bison. We actually had a personal story about bison that we were reminiscing about. When my grandparents and great aunt went on a grand canyon vacation they did a bison tour, and my great aunt got out of the car to get a close up picture. Naturally she shouldn't do that, because bison are aggressive and WILL trample you. Everyone was yelling "LADY, GET BACK IN THE [probably profanity] CAR!" It was fun reminiscing about that since my grandma can't really do trips anymore.

The next few stops weren't too eventful. We saw ant eaters, vultures, pelicans, and storks. We pointed out how big the nose was on the ant eater, remarked at how big the talons were on the vulture, and made baby jokes about the storks. By this time we were back at Rackham fountain and took another picture. I parked Mom and Grandma at the fountain so I could get Dipin Dots (the ice cream of the future). We thought the Coney Island would have the Dipin Dots, but they were closed. I went back and got the family and we went to another food stand that did have Dipin Dots. I got a small bowl of chocolate, and sat us at one of the tables around the stand. This is when a peacock came right up to us and was eyeing my ice cream. It was like 1 foot away from us, I could reach out and touch it if I wanted to, and I knew what he was after (and since male peacocks are bright colors while females are brown-gray, I knew this was a male). This isn't the first time I've dealt with a peacock wanting my food. When I was about 4 years old, I was eating a peanut butter sandwich while watching the elephants. As I was eating it, a peacock came up and took it out of my hand. I was crying, worried they were going to kick us out because "I fed the animals" (which is against the rules, punishable by removal from the zoo), and mom had to reassure me "I didn't 'feed' the peacock, he STOLE my sandwich." About 23 years later, a peacock was trying the same thing, only this time since I was a grown adult I was able to hold my food above it's head while shooing it away. It then went to investigate my mom and grandma to see if they had any food it could steal (which they didn't). I got these cool pictures though.

I also don't remember where I snapped this, but I also got a "peacock waiting to go into the store." It likely saw it's reflection and wanted to interact with the other peacock.

Peacocks are interesting birds. I guess since it was getting cold they weren't sounding their calls. On a spring/summer day you can normally hear "oawh-wah, oawh-wah," but it was surprisingly quiet.

That was pretty much the end of the day. We walked by the playground that they REALLY downsized. It used to be huge, with a "young children" structure and "older children" structure, and all these creative monkey bar type things, all geared to "how animals move." Granted, everything seems much bigger when you're a child and it was probably the size of a standard park, but it at least had 2 jungle gyms with "zoo inspired features," this was now just a simple jungle gym with some animals painted on it. We returned the wheel chair and picked up the walker, packed up everyone, and went home. All and all it was a really fun day, we were there for about 6 hours. Even if covid put a big damper on some of the exhibits, the animals were generally pretty active. I know there have been times where we went and they were just sleeping and not doing much, but not this time. It was also a pretty great "end of an era" day trip since we used to go to the zoo all the time when I was little. This has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.