Ren Faire

A friend and I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival on Oct 20th and 21st. We decided to camp there Saturday night. It was entertaining, to say the least. lol On Saturday we dressed up in period costumes. Apparently we were pretty realistic as there were a few people who thought we worked there - including, I think, some of the people who actually work there! :) It was lots of fun walking around, looking at the shops and seeing the demonstrations. On Sunday, we chose not to dress up and again had a good time. We attracted more notice from the workers though. Since we weren't in costume they knew we didn't work there - therefore we were treated like any other guest. Here's a few photos that I took at the Faire. :)

First - the bird demonstration:



And here are some random crowd shots:

What could be cuter than....

...puppies and cubs? :)

The Zoo is now home to 2 male Cheetah cubs and 1 male and 1 female Anatolian Shepherd puppies! The cubs are only a couple weeks old and are currently being hand raised by 4 very dedicated staff members. More people will be worked in to the feeding/care rotation as the weeks go on. The puppies are both 12 weeks old and are from a breeder in Missouri. You can check out the breeder's blog here. We are very taken with all four babies!

Eventually all four of them will be introduced to each other. They will program animals and will help educate guests on cheetahs, the threats to their survival and the conservation efforts that are underway to save them. The last part is where the puppies come in. Anatolian Shepherds are livestock guarding dogs (LGDs for short). These dogs are being donated to ranchers/farmers in Africa to help protect their livestock. Cheetahs are less likely to attach flock or herd of animals that are protected by an LGD. This means that the ranchers/farmers are less likely to go out and kill cheetahs. For more information about the LGD/Cheetah program in Africa, check out the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

Here are some pictures of the cheetah cubs and the puppies.

This picture is one that my supervisor sent us when she went to pick up the cubs from White Oak. They are only a few days old in this picture.

And here are some pictures I took of the puppies yesterday. At least one of the Carnivore staff will be going to the clinic every day to do "puppy play time" and bond with them.


This is the boy. Ain't he handsome?


Both puppies. The boy is in front and the girl is in the back.



Puppy wrestling!!! :)

So....Mac, the Zoo's just-turned-one baby elephant, decided to do some problem solving the other day. And a friend of mine happened to catch it with her camera. Due to construction he was recently moved into the Bull Yard (the Zoo has two elephant yards, one is where Thai, our adult male usually hangs out, and the other is where the females and Mac hang out). This has opened up a whole new world for him. He has discovered the joy of a "waterfall" and, while exploring his new yard, has discovered all sorts of things that he can explore the adults never get the chance too...usually because they are too big...lol

In this particular case, Mac found a small space between a post and a rock wall in the exhibit. He first tried to go through it face first and, when that didn't work, decided to try going in butt first. He did this several times and, after about 10 minutes, threw a temper tantrum...Here's the picture series that my friend got:

Hmmm....there's a gap here...

Perhaps if I push harder I can fit....

Hmmm....maybe if I *back* in I'll fit....

Surely if I push *harder* I will fit...

Dang it!!!!....Temper temper.... :)