School Time: Zoo Field Trip



The kids went on a field trip to the Zoo right before school got out. I was so excited when I saw that they were going. I immediately signed both of them up and volunteered to go with the school. The kids went with the school on their bus, and I met them there. They were excited to have me come along on their field trip. Raphael came too! We ended up having our weekly play group there, so met up with several other friends. Both kids got to participate in shows. Cosette was the kid volunteer for the Safari Splash show (her second time), and Henry was a kid volunteer in the Animal Friends show, where he wowed the presenter with how much energy he had. The kid would not stop jumping. It was one of our better zoo days we have had in awhile.

Raphael is a little boy now, and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He gets really excited to see the animals in and out of their enclosures. There were some of the wild Long Tailed Macaques stealing some food from some of the zoo animals. It is always entertaining to see the wild monkeys, as long as they do not try to steal our food.



 The kids got to get up close and hold some invertebrates, which is the correct term for bugs. Cosette got to hold a caterpillar, which they had the whole caterpillar to butterfly transformation on display. There was a area with all the caterpillars, then one with the cocoons, and then the butterflies! We are obsessed with the Very Hungry Caterpillar over here, so they knew the whole process and it made me so happy that they got to see the whole process in front of them in real life. I love the Zoo! Even if they are learning about bugs, what a great learning experience for them. Cosette loved having the caterpillar crawl around on her palm and arm. She very gently pet it and got to feel how fuzzy it was. Such a great educational experience. Henry got to hold a giant millipede. It was on an apple slice it was eating. He was very excited about that. Raphael was not allowed to hold anything or touch anything because he will only grab things and that would have meant death for the invertebrates.

I talk about how much I love the Zoo, and how its always a great and new experience every time we go. This time we discovered a colony of native bats that roost on the top of the cover at the orangutan enclosure! They were all up there snoozing the day away It was awesome! Our zoo back in Tennessee had the slogan "there is alway something new at the zoo" That can be applied to every zoo.



I know that some people may have issues with zoos, but I am so grateful for them. How would I ever get to see a Sloth Bear, or a Malay Tapir? They are wonderful for us to learn more about the creatures that inhabit our planet, and the more we know about something the more we are likely to take care of it. And there was this quote by the Fragile Forest exhibit which I thought was beautiful and thought provoking. One of the things I love whenever I go back to Tennessee is hearing the birds sing in the morning. My life would be by far less enriched without hearing those beautiful bird songs. 

Here is a little video with some clips from the day.


We Love The Zoo!

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