A day at the zoo! Part 1

On Friday we renewed our membership to the Santa Barbara Zoo.  This is our second year being members.  Almost a year and a half ago now I had heard on the news that one of the giraffes was having a baby and I convinced Mr. Bird we HAD to go check it out.  That was the beginning of our love affair with the zoo.

With our fancy new camera in tow we hit the road Saturday, stopping for brunch on the way so we could have plenty of time to play at the zoo. The marine layer began to clear just as we arrived, apparently the first clear day in a week.  The animals rewarded us all for the sunshine.

Our tour started with the Capybaras, giant guinea pig like things.  We got to see them feed later and it was adorable.

Even the American Alligator was out for everyone.




The Chilean Flamingos were next.  I took a dozen pictures of them because this cute little pair was posing nicely for us.

I just love their colors!

We'll end today's installment with the Asian Elephants, Sujatha (Suzi) and Mac (Little Mac).  We were able to be at the enclosure during the zookeeper talk and learned that Little Mac recently had dental work so that she could eat more easily. She's "little" because she's about 1,000 pounds smaller than Suzi, but since her dental work she's already gains 300 pounds!  You can read more about the 4 days and 30 people it took here.  Now let's meet Suzi and Little Mac.

Little Mac

Suzi

I was so concerned with getting great pictures of them that I neglected to get pictures of them painting!  Yes, they paint.




Little Mac will actually use a paint brush and brush strokes on to the canvas.  Suzi likes to eat the paint brush so they used a behavior she already new (a blowing behavior used for testing for TB) and they put a piece of bamboo filled with paint in her trunk and tell her to blow!  It sends paint splatters out onto the canvas.  They auction off the original art to charity, but they sell prints in the gift shop and we had to bring one home.  Fortunately they don't charge auction prices and being members we get a discount!!   See this link for a little bit about how they paint. I'm still searching for better images. If all else fails I will photograph the print I brought home for you!

Before I sign off today here are few more images of the awesome pachyderms:

Next time it's all about the Giraffes, Meerkats, and some exotic birds.  Stay tuned for our exciting large cat news!!

Cheers,
this little bird