I
promise we are not flaunting our summer clothes on November 28. There is
no way that's why I took this photo.
Thanks, Dwayne, for recommending the
Sonoran Desert Museum. I'm conflicted about zoological gardens, but this one was certainly nice. However I feel about them, I enjoyed this one a lot.
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| Prairie dogs try to look scary. |
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| We were made. We ran out in terror and disgrace. |
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| This prairie dog is not a dog, and is not on the prairie. Discuss. |
Through no planning of our own, we happened to catch one of the two raptor demonstrations of the day. These birds flew through the crowd like Blue Angels.
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| Gray hawk at the Raptor Free-flight |
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| Harris hawk on saguaro |
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| Barn owl |
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| Odd duck at the walk-in aviary |
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| The elusive "Whachu talkin' 'bout, Willis" hummingbird |
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| Bee house. Free rent to solitary bees (pollinator area) |
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| Butterfly garden (pollinator area some more) |
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| This cactus is new to us. We call it the Lethal SparkleStar cactus. |
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| I got my eye on you. |
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Hypomelanistic Western diamondback rattlesnake. Don't call him "albino." That really honks him off.
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| We stayed all afternoon. |
You know Judy would say...
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| "The End!" or... |
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| "Really The End!" |
...but, it's not.
If you have zoo-ro tolerance for animals in captivity, I can't recommend this place. Even the hummingbird house and walk-in aviary will bother you. There are bears and big cats and otters and beavers and deer and javelinas. I'm just telling you how it is, so you know ahead of time.
However, the animals who live there are indigenous to the area - no giraffes or elephants - and their habitats are extremely clean and fairly spacious; they are appropriate to the animal. The residents have "enrichment" activities to stimulate them and pique their interest. One could argue that they are safe.
We liked it very much, but we're also willing to imprison six cats, so you know what kind of people we are.
