New-Yorker-blog-karenrobbins

No trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is complete without a visit to the meerkats exhibit. It's inside the new area where the elephant exhibit is. It took a while to get the colony started but they are producing and entertaining as only meerkats can do.

Out in the wild, a couple of meerkats will position themselves to look out for the rest as they forage for food. I always wondered why one would stand in a high place and search the skies. I thought maybe they were interested in some of the planes that flew over but I learned from the National Geographic website that they are actually standing guard and watching out for birds of prey. While they only stand about six inches tall on all fours, raising themselves up on their hind legs makes them about twelve inches tall. Each one weighs about two pounds fully grown.

Their natural habitat is the southern plains of Africa and they are related to the mongoose. They eat a diet of insects, lizards, birds and fruits. Some are tamed as pets and used to cut down the rodent population.

The merkats make several burrow and tunnels to not only protect themselves from predators but also to cool off from the scorching African sun. Dad meerkat helps raise the two to four babies each year, teaching them to forage and keep watch standing tall to look over the grass and search the sky.

At the Meerkat.net site, I learned that the dark band around their eyes helps the sun glare. Wonder if that's where the athletes got the idea to paint the dark strips under their eyes on a sunny day? They can spot a bird high in the sky but because they are nearsighted they might miss food right in front of them so they rely on smell for those times.

They are extremely social animals and love wrestling and
playing with one another, all of course while someone stands sentry duty. The day we visited, they were engaged in wrestling mostly. The group of five or six looked to be younger pups. And sure enough, over on the hill in the middle of the exhibit, the sentry watched another airplane go overhead noting that it hadn't circled like a predator so no alarm was sounded.



If I could pull up a chair and sit by the exhibit I think I could watch them play and interact for hours. What's your favorite zoo animal?

I'm beautiful and I know it!

For a few years now we have had a membership pass to our local zoo, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. At first we got it because it was a great place to take our grandkids when they came to visit but as they moved away, it wasn't as convenient. We reduced our pass to just the two of us. Why, you ask? Because we love the zoo!

Clemet Zoo is about 20 minutes away from us and so when the weather is nice, we go there to get some exercise. The zoo is a bit spread out so there are plenty of trails to walk on and of course we get to see the animals and flowers along the way.

We also get to reminisce about some of the places we've been. Especially in the Australian section of our zoo. We've actually seen koalas and kangaroos in the wild. They look a tad better in the zoo as they are well cared for.

Ah, finally a cool summer day!

There's always something new. This time there were a few new monkeys in the primate building we hadn't see before--young ones cuddling with mom.

Mom loves me best!

The grizzly bears are still into sibling rivalry. They've grown a lot in the last year. There were four of them at one time when they were just cubs. I believe a couple were sent off to other zoos. While they're not so cute anymore, they are still entertaining as teenagers.

My absolute favorite animals are the merkats. They are such characters! But more on that tomorrow.

Let me whisper sweet nothings in your ear.

My, what a long tongue you have!

Of course the animals aren't the only thing to watch at the zoo. We love to see the kids get excited when they see their favorite animals or watch some of the antics of the zoo critters. Reminds us of our grandkids and makes us wish for another visit with them to our favorite place.

Everyone's attention is so focused on the animals at the zoo that they often overlook the beautiful flowers that so many zoos have used to landscape the grounds. It takes a lot of work to to plan to soften the look of cages and exhibits and encourage the view of an animal in an environment that might have some similarity to its natural habitat. Hats off to those who work so hard to keep it looking so nice. Next time you are at your zoo, take some time to smell the roses.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Flowers