On Saturday, we decided to go to the zoo.  Emily had an early basketball game at the rec center, and we came home, messed around, ate lunch, and were off!  While we try to avoid the Free Day like the plague, since it is always ever so crowded, we just happened to have chosen that particular day to visit.  It saved us $28 dollars, so well worth the free fun afternoon.

We arrived around 2:15, and found that, with the nice weather in the 40s, the animals were all out and active.  Well, maybe not ACTIVE.  More like waiting for their keepers at the doors to their enclosures to feed them.  We saw many animals that normally are not out and about when we visit—the arctic foxes and the wolves being ones I have never seen in 10 years of visits to the zoo.

The baby zebras were out and we witnessed 2 of them nursing, then running around on those long skinny legs playing.  The polar bears were quite playful too.  Their swimming hole had a lot of ice on top, so we witnessed the polar bears swimming under the ice and coming out on the ice.  We could see their black skin underneath their white fur.  One of the largest came over to the glass where we were standing and “itched” himself on it.  Very cool.

As always, a trip to the zoo is not complete without a trip to the pacaderm house.  And this time, we learned an extremely interesting fact about the Tapir.  They can shoot poop at least 10 feet.  I kid you not.  Thankfully, we were not the “lucky” recipients of the pooh in the face, but Emily was RIGHT NEXT TO THE CHILD.  We learned first hand why its not a good idea to lick the guard rails(as many children are liken to do).

I wonder if it is a defense mechanism of the Tapir, or for his own private amusement?