Tag Archives: zoo

San Diego Zoo Renovates Polar Bear Exhibit to Teach About Global Warming

The San Diego Zoo has an incredible polar bear exhibit, but it has just been renovated with education in mind. The climate changes have been hard on polar bears in the wild. Their natural habitats are dwindling and their food supplies are disappearing. The world famous San Diego Zoo’s Polar Bear Plunge exhibit hopes to educate visitors about the effect of global warming. There are three bears at the Polar Bear Plunge exhibit – 15-year-old Chinook and her nine-year-old brother Kalluk and sister Tatqiq. The $1 million renovation features “the world’s first moveable experience wall.” This wall will be removed … Continue reading →

Not-So-Spooky Halloween Events for Families

My young daughter would rather have her favorite stuffed puppy torn in half than have to stroll by a haunted house on Halloween. Pumpkin patches, hay mazes, and candy paths are more her speed. And thanks to hundreds of zoos and aquariums around the nation parents like me can celebrate the season with their young children without damaging an eardrum in the process. If you are part of the stroller crowd consider contacting your local zoo to see if they are hosting Halloween events this month. In the meantime, check out this list of Halloween happenings taking place at zoos … Continue reading →

Summer Family Road Trip—-Indiana and Georgia

If your family road trip takes you to Indiana or Atlanta this summer here are a few attractions you might want to make a pit stop at: INDIANA People are going bananas at Michigan City’s zoo… and now you can get in on the action too. As you might have guessed the hoopla centers around the zoo’s monkey exhibit. According to zoo officials, a spider monkey recently used a garden hose to scale the wall of a moat at the facility and took off for town. However, the agile animal’s escape was short-lived as he got caught at a nearby … Continue reading →

Have You Heard the One About the Boy and the Penguin?

Not too long ago my husband told me an outrageous story a co-worker had told him about a boy who smuggled a penguin out of an aquarium in his backpack. He swore up and down the story was true, and he believed it was, but I wasn’t falling for it. I told him I was going to check it out on Snopes and that’s exactly what I did. The result? It’s as I suspected. An urban legend. The Premise It’s told in different forms. The version Wayne told me was of a little boy who’d snuck off and had somehow … Continue reading →

Where To Take Your Little Ghosts And Goblins For Some Safe Halloween Fun

My 3-year-old daughter has only gone trick-or-treating twice in her entire life. The first time she went dressed as a Dalmatian and last year she was a giraffe. If you are anything like me disappoint sets in quickly about an hour after your child returns from gathering his/her goodies. What a shame that the costume you dropped $50 on (or spent 30 hours sewing) only gets to be used for a few hours on Halloween night. (Sure, there’s always the chance to show them off at various Halloween parties and you could leave them out for your child to play … Continue reading →

Taking Great Animal Pictures at the Zoo

As I mentioned in an earlier article about Photographing Animals at the Zoo, I love taking pictures of wildlife, animals and pets. I just love animals. Every time I have the opportunity to photograph an animal, I get in active mode looking for that perfect shot. I am also the type of person to continuously take multiple photographs all in one session. Which brings me to an important tip. If you are working with a digital camera, take lots and lots of pictures. Keep snapping going for that perfect shot. You will wind up with a lot of bad shots, … Continue reading →

Photographing Animals at the Zoo

Almost every family has taken their camera to the zoo a time or two. Usually in hopes of capturing that perfect shot of a wild animal, or just to commemorate a day at the zoo with the kids. However, there are a few tricks to snapping shots of our furry and not-so furry friends in captivity. I have never forgotten my camera when I have gone to the zoo, however I have forgotten to photograph my family while there. The reason for this, is that I seem to be obsessed with animal photography. I seem to always be on the … Continue reading →

Philly’s Wild Side

My 3-year-old daughter is wild about animals. So much so that during the course of the day she often morphs into a horse, cow, penguin, lion, or in today’s case, a pig. That’s right; tonight she jumped whole hog into character right around bedtime. Me: Okay, sweetie it’s time for bed let’s start picking up the toys. My daughter: I’m not a sweetie. I’m a pig. Me: Okay, but you still need to start picking up your toys, hon. My daughter: I’m a pig. Me: Taylor! My daughter: Pig! Pig. Cow. Horse. Giraffe. Some days (most days) I can’t keep … Continue reading →

Indianapolis Fever

In less than 20 hours a field of 30 men and three women will start their engines and gun it around the track for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500. Coincidentally, my family will be attending a wedding in Indiana next month and I have recently written several blogs about the area’s accommodations, outdoor activities, and other points of interest. In honor of the Indianapolis 500 I figured it was appropriate to add a few more must-see attractions to the list—both are new and have opened in just the past few days. Indianapolis Zoo—Oceans Exhibit According to zoo officials, … Continue reading →

Simon the Bush Baby

I live in Wisconsin… a state that doesn’t typically make headlines the way bigger metropolises like New York and California do. So when our local zoo was mentioned on the season finale of the number one rated television show in the country it was a big deal. If you didn’t tune in on Wednesday night to see Jordin Sparks receive the “American Idol” title then you likely missed the gift presented to outspoken judge Simon Cowell. On the night of the crowning host Ryan Seacrest revealed that “American Idol” donated $1,500 to the Milwaukee County Zoo to call its only … Continue reading →