A day at the zoo

In September Curt and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary by going to the Zoo.  The Zoo isn't huge or elaborate, but it was very fun, and we saw some beautiful birds and some interesting monkeys.  There were lions and tigers and capybaras too.  It was fun to walk around on a beautiful sunny day, and also fun to see some new animals that we hadn't heard of . 

 

Maned Wolf

The most interesting animal to me was the maned wolf. I had never heard of this wolf that looked like a fox on stilts and was very stinky like a skunk. Isn't this world full of interesting animals?  When we were approaching his cage, we thought there must be a skunk nearby. . . . but as we drew nearer we realized it was a smell much worse than a skunk.  We also realized quickly why the Zoo manager arranged for his cage to be on the far edge of the zoo, away from the other animals.

One of their largest collections was several varieties of wild boars. There were at least 6 or 8 different types, but being as I am not a wild boar expert, I really couldn't determine what distinguised them from one another.  

Curt and I enjoyed seeing this Condor as well.  He was quite a lot larger than he appears in this photo.





Capybara

 About a week before our trip to the Zoo we drove at night to the city of Bagé.  We had quite the wildlife experience driving at night.  We saw, yes you guessed it, (insert drum roll here) after a long 2 year search we sighted a Capybara. HOORAY!!!!!   Then at the zoo the next week, we saw these two cuties.  I just love how the pond is covered with a type of lily, and then when the capybara climbs out of the water he his covered with green. Too cute.



Gray Brocket

We saw lots of other fun wildlife on the side of the road as well
– 2 deer, 4 silver foxes, and a rabbit. 

Crab Eating Fox



Rhea



On the next afternoonwe sighted 3 Emu (a Brazilian type they call Rhea here.) I was surprised to see them because Bagé is the coldest area of our mission, and it can get down in the 10-20 degree Fahrenheit, I thought Emus were a more warm weather bird. So we felt amply rewarded for our long drive.