Babies! Because that's what happens in the Spring!
So I was in Saskatoon earlier this month and my sister and one of her roomies and I all went down to the zoo to see the new baby animals. Of course, they were several weeks old by the time I got to see them (maybe even months) but they were sooo cute just the same! I'm still bugging Miss B, my sister's roommate, to upload her pics from that evening because my camera died part-way through our adventure and she has some shots I want to add to this post (are you reading this B???). (^_^)
So without further ado, here are the youngins!
Mother Goose and her "goose-lings". (I couldn't remember the proper name for baby geese at the time: goslings.) Look at their adorable short necks!
The bear. There was only one. He strolled past us at the fence and then proceeded to go take a nap on a large rock in the background.
Then we went to see the goats since there were right next to....well, the next animal is a surprise! But they were the whole reason for our trip to the zoo in the first place... (^_~)
What a cute "kid"! He was super-playful too. In the picture below you can see "Mama Goat" and "Billy" with their "kid" inbetween. The poor baby kept trying to bound up onto the rock with his papa but each time he got up there the daddy goat would nudge him back off again! I felt so sorry for him. But he didn't give up, even when he got pushed off again...and again...and again...
Ok admit it....you scrolled down to peek at what the "surprise animal" was, didn't you? Well, didn't you? I know that I would have. (^_~)
So here they are: the BABY WHITE BENGAL TIGER CUBS!!! *cue AWE-ing crowd* They were born on May 31st so are just over a month and a half in these pictures.
Can I just say: "I WANT ONE!"
The rare cubs are named Jasmine and Jafarh (from Aladdin, in case you've been living under a rock) and are on loan to the Saskatoon Zoo until September 2008 from the Toronto Zoo. They were pretty sleepy when we got to their room (I hate saying "cage"...it just sounds so cruel) so we didn't get much action aside form a few yawns (see below)...
...and a few half-awake strolls across the quarters to settle down a few feet or inches away from their old spot for another nap.
One.... Two...
Three.... Four...
Five... Six...
They're TWINS! Did I mention that yet? I WANT ONE! Did I mention THAT yet?
And, just for comparison's sake, I'm going to skip a little ahead in our evening and post the pictures of Rani (mama) and Raja (papa): the proud parents of those adorable cubs next. According to the CTV article only ONE out of TEN THOUSAND tigers is born white and that's only if it's lucky enough to have both its' parents born with the recessive gene that changes their colouring to white/brown strips/blue eyes. Also, there are only about 5000 wild tigers left in the world and that number is predicted to become extinct in the next ten years. That's so sad.
Not sure who's who in most of the adult tiger photos...I think the one on the right is Rani because her belly seems to be hanging down a bit like new-mommies everywhere...a little extra loose skin after birth.
RIGHT: Rani in the back and Raja closest to the camera.
LEFT: It was hard to get both of them in one shot since they kept moving in circles all the time. (Rani is R and Raja L)
LEFT: Looks like Rani again. Look at the detailed markings on her face. Isn't it beautiful?
RIGHT: Raja
Here's a picture of some prairie roses that I saw growing next to the tigers' cage.
Back to the rest of the tour in order now.
The cougar we saw only paced restlessly by the fence. It didn't stop the entire time we were at it's confinement.It was really hard to get a clear shot since it barely paused at each turn-around. It's zoo-mate on the other hand, couldn't be bothered. It was a pleasant evening and he was much too busy enjoying a snooze.
Next we went down to the pond. Apparently it was nap-time for the members of the goose-persuasion.
The ducks were more active taking a refreshing swim in the pond. The ducklings are a little hard to see in the pictures but if you click them and view the larger image you should be able to see them better.
Next are the Bald Eagles! The first pictures show the full-grown adult. That second image is when he was about to unfurl his wings, unfortunately my camera clicked a fraction of a second early and so I got this instead of the full-on-wingspan. But it's still a pretty neat picture I think. (^_^)
And here's the "baby" eagle. My dad is an avid birder and told me that the young ones look like that for about 5 years while they grow into their adulthood. So who know how old this little guy actually is?
This next shot isn't very clear. I couldn't get my camera close enough to the fence and so it automatically focused on the fence and not the bird, which, by the way, is an owl....sleeping on it's face...on the ground.
There is a story to go with this owl. When we got to the cage we all saw this sleeping-owl. Only it wasn't moving. At all. So we all thought: "What if it's dead?!" And so we pondered this a while and several other zoo-goers come to look at the owls and also question the living-status of the one on the grass. Finally my sister and I went to see the people who worked the ticket desk (since there's like no other staff around the zoo) and I told them about the owl. The guy at the desk laughed and said that we weren't the first couple to come and tell him about the elusive "dead owl", and then he proceeded to explain about that particular owl's odd sleeping habits. So there you have it folks: not all owls sleep in trees. And just because it's laying on the ground doesn't make it dead.
Then we saw a Lynx. But he stayed at the back of his cage so my picture is, once again, mostly of the fence.
Then we saw the foxes. But the one nearest us was sleeping and had it's back to us. (It seems that a lot of the zoo goes to bed at the "super-late" hour of 7:30pm...)
Next were the wolves. One was sleeping, since, as previously pointed out, it was about "bedtime" when we were visiting.
But he woke up after a crowd had gathered to watch, and the two wolves showed their friendship. (^_^)
The white one even stood patiently by the fence and allowed some rather "brave" (stupid, imo...wolves can turn on you in a split second and I, for one, do not relish loosing my fingers) man to scratch his side. The picture did make it look like he was just a big tame puppy though.
The came a symbol of prairie life for one an all: the prairie-dogs!
LEFT: These little guys were so cute! And that mini-outhouse...hee hee...
RIGHT: And, of course, the popular nap-time picture in keeping with tradition of all the animals we're seen so far...that's their food dish btw.
Next came a long-eared deer.
Followed by another goat. Quote of the day:
Julia: Look, the goat's molting!
Becky: That's birds (you idiot), goats shed.
Julia: Yes, I am an idiot. (^_^);;
Then some more deer: daddy, mommy, and baby. In that order.
Then the bison. The baby calf is asleep by the fence. He woke up quickly though and came bounding over to the fence where he stood patiently for me to take many pictures.
Can you see how his tiny humpback is already forming? And he already has tiny nubs of horns too!
The swan we came across was already down for the night.
Ahhh....then we have the peacock. I did everything I could to get this guy to fan out his tail but to no avail. (I think Miss B has a picture of me chasing it down one of the zoo paths too...heh....) Of course, I guess I just wasn't his "type".
She was.
Then we went to the duck pond again to feed the ducklings. Unfortunately the feed-machine was out by the pond, so I jogged back past the bison pen and bought a rather decent-sized handful of feed there for only a quarter and hurried back. The ducklings mean business when it comes to food! Be careful or you might loose a finger. lol. Miss B has better pictures of these duckies, plus ones of us feeding them.
And lastly, here's the porcupine. He was in a little cage right near the baby tiger cubs. We went to visit them one last time before we left and I just had to take a picture of him. He looks so cuddly with his quills down. Although the picture would've been more interesting if he'd put them up...
There WILL be more pictures once I figure out the correct combo of threats & bribery that it takes for Miss B to send me her pictures from that evening.
So without further ado, here are the youngins!
Mother Goose and her "goose-lings". (I couldn't remember the proper name for baby geese at the time: goslings.) Look at their adorable short necks!
The bear. There was only one. He strolled past us at the fence and then proceeded to go take a nap on a large rock in the background.
Then we went to see the goats since there were right next to....well, the next animal is a surprise! But they were the whole reason for our trip to the zoo in the first place... (^_~)
What a cute "kid"! He was super-playful too. In the picture below you can see "Mama Goat" and "Billy" with their "kid" inbetween. The poor baby kept trying to bound up onto the rock with his papa but each time he got up there the daddy goat would nudge him back off again! I felt so sorry for him. But he didn't give up, even when he got pushed off again...and again...and again...
Ok admit it....you scrolled down to peek at what the "surprise animal" was, didn't you? Well, didn't you? I know that I would have. (^_~)
So here they are: the BABY WHITE BENGAL TIGER CUBS!!! *cue AWE-ing crowd* They were born on May 31st so are just over a month and a half in these pictures.
Can I just say: "I WANT ONE!"
The rare cubs are named Jasmine and Jafarh (from Aladdin, in case you've been living under a rock) and are on loan to the Saskatoon Zoo until September 2008 from the Toronto Zoo. They were pretty sleepy when we got to their room (I hate saying "cage"...it just sounds so cruel) so we didn't get much action aside form a few yawns (see below)...
...and a few half-awake strolls across the quarters to settle down a few feet or inches away from their old spot for another nap.
One.... Two...
Three.... Four...
Five... Six...
They're TWINS! Did I mention that yet? I WANT ONE! Did I mention THAT yet?
And, just for comparison's sake, I'm going to skip a little ahead in our evening and post the pictures of Rani (mama) and Raja (papa): the proud parents of those adorable cubs next. According to the CTV article only ONE out of TEN THOUSAND tigers is born white and that's only if it's lucky enough to have both its' parents born with the recessive gene that changes their colouring to white/brown strips/blue eyes. Also, there are only about 5000 wild tigers left in the world and that number is predicted to become extinct in the next ten years. That's so sad.
Not sure who's who in most of the adult tiger photos...I think the one on the right is Rani because her belly seems to be hanging down a bit like new-mommies everywhere...a little extra loose skin after birth.
RIGHT: Rani in the back and Raja closest to the camera.
LEFT: It was hard to get both of them in one shot since they kept moving in circles all the time. (Rani is R and Raja L)
LEFT: Looks like Rani again. Look at the detailed markings on her face. Isn't it beautiful?
RIGHT: Raja
Here's a picture of some prairie roses that I saw growing next to the tigers' cage.
Back to the rest of the tour in order now.
The cougar we saw only paced restlessly by the fence. It didn't stop the entire time we were at it's confinement.It was really hard to get a clear shot since it barely paused at each turn-around. It's zoo-mate on the other hand, couldn't be bothered. It was a pleasant evening and he was much too busy enjoying a snooze.
Next we went down to the pond. Apparently it was nap-time for the members of the goose-persuasion.
The ducks were more active taking a refreshing swim in the pond. The ducklings are a little hard to see in the pictures but if you click them and view the larger image you should be able to see them better.
Next are the Bald Eagles! The first pictures show the full-grown adult. That second image is when he was about to unfurl his wings, unfortunately my camera clicked a fraction of a second early and so I got this instead of the full-on-wingspan. But it's still a pretty neat picture I think. (^_^)
And here's the "baby" eagle. My dad is an avid birder and told me that the young ones look like that for about 5 years while they grow into their adulthood. So who know how old this little guy actually is?
This next shot isn't very clear. I couldn't get my camera close enough to the fence and so it automatically focused on the fence and not the bird, which, by the way, is an owl....sleeping on it's face...on the ground.
There is a story to go with this owl. When we got to the cage we all saw this sleeping-owl. Only it wasn't moving. At all. So we all thought: "What if it's dead?!" And so we pondered this a while and several other zoo-goers come to look at the owls and also question the living-status of the one on the grass. Finally my sister and I went to see the people who worked the ticket desk (since there's like no other staff around the zoo) and I told them about the owl. The guy at the desk laughed and said that we weren't the first couple to come and tell him about the elusive "dead owl", and then he proceeded to explain about that particular owl's odd sleeping habits. So there you have it folks: not all owls sleep in trees. And just because it's laying on the ground doesn't make it dead.
Then we saw a Lynx. But he stayed at the back of his cage so my picture is, once again, mostly of the fence.
Then we saw the foxes. But the one nearest us was sleeping and had it's back to us. (It seems that a lot of the zoo goes to bed at the "super-late" hour of 7:30pm...)
Next were the wolves. One was sleeping, since, as previously pointed out, it was about "bedtime" when we were visiting.
But he woke up after a crowd had gathered to watch, and the two wolves showed their friendship. (^_^)
The white one even stood patiently by the fence and allowed some rather "brave" (stupid, imo...wolves can turn on you in a split second and I, for one, do not relish loosing my fingers) man to scratch his side. The picture did make it look like he was just a big tame puppy though.
The came a symbol of prairie life for one an all: the prairie-dogs!
LEFT: These little guys were so cute! And that mini-outhouse...hee hee...
RIGHT: And, of course, the popular nap-time picture in keeping with tradition of all the animals we're seen so far...that's their food dish btw.
Next came a long-eared deer.
Followed by another goat. Quote of the day:
Julia: Look, the goat's molting!
Becky: That's birds (you idiot), goats shed.
Julia: Yes, I am an idiot. (^_^);;
Then some more deer: daddy, mommy, and baby. In that order.
Then the bison. The baby calf is asleep by the fence. He woke up quickly though and came bounding over to the fence where he stood patiently for me to take many pictures.
Can you see how his tiny humpback is already forming? And he already has tiny nubs of horns too!
The swan we came across was already down for the night.
Ahhh....then we have the peacock. I did everything I could to get this guy to fan out his tail but to no avail. (I think Miss B has a picture of me chasing it down one of the zoo paths too...heh....) Of course, I guess I just wasn't his "type".
She was.
Then we went to the duck pond again to feed the ducklings. Unfortunately the feed-machine was out by the pond, so I jogged back past the bison pen and bought a rather decent-sized handful of feed there for only a quarter and hurried back. The ducklings mean business when it comes to food! Be careful or you might loose a finger. lol. Miss B has better pictures of these duckies, plus ones of us feeding them.
And lastly, here's the porcupine. He was in a little cage right near the baby tiger cubs. We went to visit them one last time before we left and I just had to take a picture of him. He looks so cuddly with his quills down. Although the picture would've been more interesting if he'd put them up...
There WILL be more pictures once I figure out the correct combo of threats & bribery that it takes for Miss B to send me her pictures from that evening.