Young Love

Stretch is his name. The day we went to the zoo he was only 2 weeks old. This was his second day out for viewing.

The Reason

One of them anyway. She had four. It almost looks like he/she might be trying to mimic Mom. I'm quite certain, on it's own, it would not have had Mom's success. I think it will have to wait until it grows to fit it's feet.

Not Happy

Boy, were we in for a surprise. This past week was our oldest granddaughter's spring break from school. We(I) decided we would pick up the girls early and go to the zoo. Add in the fact that it was half price day and it truly was a zoo.

We later found out that half price day during spring break is the busiest day of the year. This year they broke their previous attendance record by more than 2000 people. There was over 16,000 that one day.

Nevertheless, we had a great time. We saw everything we wanted to see. It just took us longer.

There were some unpleasant moments, mostly instigated by parents, but this one was provoked by a group of kids taunting the lion. She was protecting her cubs and did not appreciate their antics. At one point she lunged at them growling loudly and barring her teeth. She bounded from one side of her enclosure to the other in a blink of an eye. I don't know why she did not jump over the ravine circling the enclosure. I am sure she was more than capable. It worked though. The kids screamed and ran away in fright. YES!

Early morning

is the best time of the day.

We finally received some much needed rain but it also turned much cooler and gloomier. Fog is not a frequent occurance around here but we had two days where it was fairly heavy. I got up early one morning grabbed my camera and was out shooting before sunrise. When the sun started to rise, I was able to get this shot.