Gaggles of geese, a town of prairie dogs, a conspiracy of lemurs (although I’m not sure three is enough for a conspiracy), and a banditry of chickadees – you can find them all at the Saskatoon Zoo!
It was a busy day with lots of families checking out the animals when I visited in the final days of May. All the animals who aren’t made for the cold are back in their outdoor digs. That includes the lemurs. I like to think these two in the picture below were playing pat-a-cake. One with its hind legs and the other with its front legs.
I just learned as I was writing this blog that it’s not patty cake. All those years saying patty cake, but I guess it’s pat-a-cake? Who knew?! I blame my parents and babysitters for teaching me wrong. 😊
I was excited to check out the prairie dogs for the first time since last fall. They were quite a hit with the kids when I was there, because they are hard to resist and there are a few babies.
Also on my check list was a trip to see the Pallas’s cat, which until this visit, I hadn’t glimpsed yet. I finally saw her! Unfortunately, she was way up high (typical cat) in a hammock, but still, she stared right at me. One day I hope to see her on the ground. Pallas’s cats are so cool. I knew nothing about them until I started writing the Saskatoon Zoo Foundation blog. They are a small wild cat, about the size of a domestic cat, with rounded ears on the sides of their head and very thick fur. According to what I was reading on the interwebs, the only other zoo in Canada with a Pallas’s cat is the Calgary Zoo.
Spring is a great time to visit the Zoo with all the greenery and the white and pink blossoms of the cherry trees, or are they decorative crab apples? I don’t know, but I love to get pictures every year BEFORE the wind blows the blossoms away. It was already starting to happen the last time I visited. From afar, you might think it was snowing.
That’s the thing about the Saskatoon Zoo and Forestry Farm Park. It is beautiful no matter the season. So much work has been done to beautify the grounds and provide better homes for the animals who live there. The Saskatoon Zoo Foundation continues to raise funds to build a much-need larger home for the bears, along with other projects. One of the major fundraisers, ZOOGALA, is June 12th and it is sold out. Thank you to all of you who are supporting the Foundation. If you would like to donate, click here: Donate – Saskatoon Zoo Foundation
I end this blog with two shots of the serenity you can find at the Zoo. The final shot is of the zebra’s summer home with a breathtaking pond view. BTW, a group of zebras is called a dazzle! There are three zebras at the Zoo, so I’m not sure that makes a dazzle, but a dazzle of zebras really feels apropos for its group description.
See you at the Saskatoon Zoo!
Your Saskatoon Zoo Foundation blogger,
Carol Thomson
