Watching the Wildlife

I love this shot from the Lowry Park Zoo. Jason was taking pictures with his new camera and wanted me to feed the giraffe so he could get a shot up close. I spent $2.00 for one cracker. The giraffes have really long tongues and they eat those crackers in a big hurry. I held out the cracker, the giraffe slurped it up, I heard Jason take his photo, then I threw my camera up and jabbed the button - lol. I had no idea if the giraffe was even in the frame. This was my result and I love it!

Looking a little more normal. They have the neatest eyelashes.

This owl did not like me and refused to look right at me. I'd get in front of him and he'd turn his head the opposite direction. I'd walk over there to get a photo and he'd turn back to the first position. I learned to shoot as I walked past :O).

A beautiful Okapi. I think it's neat how he looks like a cross between a zebra and a horse.
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Now, more babies from the zoo. They were really my priority. I already posted shots and a video of the white tiger twin cubs.

Black and white colobus monkeys.

These are squirrel monkeys. Not a great shot - I had to take it through two mesh fences. The blob on the mother's back is actually a fairly new baby. It had very little fur. The baby was so new the zoo wasn't even mentioning it yet.

Photos above and below are of a Mandrill and her baby. They are relations to the baboon. Awesome colors on the mom's face. The baby didn't want to get too far from mom's side, but you can see him peeking around her in the top shot.

Right in the middle of the shot, you can see a tamarin baby. Again, I was shooting through fencing. This baby was trying to explore a bit on its own, but the mom was having none of that. Everytime the baby got out on the tree itself, the mom snatched it up and put it back in a box at the back of the enclosure.

Baby ring-tailed lemur. Look at the mom to the right in the photo. You can see the baby sitting in her lap. Its head is right under the mom's arm, then going down you can see its back, its left leg pulled up, and one little arm hanging on. Both lemurs had babies, but after about 30 shots I found that this was the best photograph I got.

Here is baby Randee, an orangutan. I showed her in a previous post. Here, Randee was playing with another orangutan that was hiding under the canvas. They were a lot of fun to watch. The zookeepers give them clothes and pieces of fabric to play with. When Kali and I were at the zoo 2-3 weeks ago, Randee's mom had a red t-shirt she carried everywhere. On this trip, she still had the red shirt, you just can't see it in this photo. Supposedly, the cloth helps calm the orangutans and gives them something to play with.

These babies were living in a pond in the hyenas enclosure. I wouldn't think that would be a prime place for raising babies. Maybe that's why the mom has them so hidden in this bush at waterside.

These last photos are just some random shots I took. The Lowry Park Zoo is an incredible zoo. They spent a lot of time landscaping the enclosures and adjacent areas to mimic the native homes of the animals. This is a great homeschool field trip, if you get the chance, or a great trip for anyone who really loves animals and specifically animal babies!