Sequoia Park Zoo

As Arcata, Eureka has a redwood forest.  The 105-year old zoo, park and gardens all sit adjacent to the forest.  There is a small garden next to the zoo, which we walked through first before entering the zoo.  Since we have been here the sky has been overcast with the sun occasionally peeking through.  However, the moist temperate climate here certainly produces some beautiful flowers.

Just inside the entrance to the zoo there is a small pond with Chilean flamingos.

It was John who noticed the baby flamings, a least a couple of them.  He is not in the picture, but a larger young one still had the grey feathers.  We are not sure when they turn pink.

Pictured above is a red panda.  In his homeland of China, and other parts of Asia, his coloring works  for him as he blends in well there with red moss and white lichen.  There was another animal in his pen, the cavy.  Also called "maras" that animal is the largest rodent in the world.  He can run up to speeds of 20mph and jump as high as 6 feet.  Argentina is his homeland.

Except for a cage of monkeys, a yak, two grey fox, and a building with snakes, fish and frogs, that was about all for the zoo.  They are in the midst of a big construction program.  The farmyard, however did have a variety of animals, including a bee house and a cage of mice in the barn.  We were intrigued by the size of a couple of the goats, one of which stood at least 4 feet tall.  The zoo keeper informed us that the taller goats are dairy goats- the shorter ones are used for their meat, as well as for eliminating brambles and brush.  Oddly enough, we were also told that sheep are milked.

After hiking through the redwood forest we stopped at the playground in the park to get a good look at a most unusual piece of playground equipment.  The slides, pictured above, are built off a platform which is located on the top of a stump.  That stump was the mother tree for about 12 redwoods which encircle what was once the original tree.  Children were certainly enjoying playing there!  After our visit to the zoo we toured Fort Humbolt, where Ulysses Grant served as a young captain in the 1850s.  There is only one original building left of the fort. The historic area of Eureka is also interesting, I will save that for another posting.