Finally a dry, but foggy morning and about 18C when we woke up.
Today we planned to visit the Brownsville Zoo; looking at the web it didn’t seem too big of a zoo, and our expectations weren’t that great. As we went out to the truck the rain returned, luckily it was a very small shower and we were good for the rest of the day. We headed back south towards the old part of town and parked at the zoo, coincidentally (!?!) today was half price day for out of State visitors.
Once we got inside and saw the layout of the zoo it was apparent that a lot of thought had gone into the design and a lot of exhibits existed in a fairly small space, but the place didn’t seem crowded .
Almost immeadiately we came across the gorilla area which had attracted a lot of interested visitors. The reason soon became apparent, there was a new arrival in the form of a 10 day old baby. Watching the mother and baby was amazing, it was almost like watching a human mother and her baby, the mother was continually patting the baby or rubbing it’s head or kissing it.
Mother and Baby Gorilla, Brownsville Tx
The zoo had a wide range of animals from around the world, although to Lyn’s dismay there were no elephants.
There was a building dedicated to Australian animals which was kept fairly dark as many of them were nocturnal and this was a way to keep them active during zoo hours. The following exchange took place between a zoo guide and a couple from south of Canada and North of Mexico, to my warped sense of humour it rates right up there with last years “Is Christmas day on December 25th in Canada as well??”
Guide: Did you know that all mammals native to Australia are marsupials?
Couple: Oh, is that why you keep it dark in here?
OK, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
We found this colourful tortoise in the Asia section. Evidently these have been well document as to having a life span of around 150 years, with some evidence pointing to some having survived to > 180 years!
Radiated Tortoise, Brownsville Tx
The name “Radiated” refers to the lines radiating downwards from the centre of each plate on the shell. These lines, and the legs, are a more vivid yellow than the picture shows.
All in all, a good place for a trip, and well worth visiting if your in the area.