Fort Worth Zoo

I was not too excited about touring another zoo, figuring not too many zoos can compare to the St.Louis or San Diego zoos. However, residents of this area encouraged us to check it out, and our AAA tour book rates it as a gem. It was quite crowded today because of spring break for many area schools, but a parking attendant told us that the crowd today was nothing compared to the number of people who would come out on a warmer day. It is a large zoo, 95 acres all total. I was impressed with the  areas in which many of the African animals are given to roam, complete with deep rocky canyons and waterfalls. I was also intrigued with the area which had  birds and animals of Texas. Texas has many different habitats; swampland to desert and hill country as well as piney woods and and sea shore. Not surprising, then, to find out that the state has coati (he looks like a raccoon), ocelot, bobcat, coyote, and jaguar. Another little critter who caught my attention with his bright green color was the cooter. The turtle resides in the Rio Grand watershed.

If you are eating while reading this you may want to skip what I have to say next. I was impressed by the dung beetle of Texas. In some parts of Texas he removes from the landscape about 80% of cattle dung, and also reduces the flies which breed in it. The beetle depends on the manure for most of its life cycles. He rolls the dung into balls which are the size of gulf  balls and burrows into it. There is a place and a job for everyone in this world! Sorry, but I just had to take a picture of this interesting beetle.

Now on to something more pleasant! I loved the aviary cage in the zoo, which is filled with many parakeets and cockatiels. They are a bit cuter than the beetle, I must say!

 In the aviary cage people may purchase bird feed and the birds are not shy in accepting the seed! Some even go a step further;  hop on a finger and beg for more.

We are heading out of the Arlington area tomorrow, our plan is travel south  and see more of Texas in the next few weeks. The rv park we are currently parked in is next to an airport for small planes and helicopters, so I am happy to be leaving. It can get quite noisy during the day. I was thankful for the few days we had of strong wind which kept the planes on the ground! We are also parked next to the location of the largest flea market in Texas. Fortunately at this time of the year they are here only on week-ends. We never know entirely all the facts about the parks we stop at when we make our reservations. Keeps life interesting for us.