The Alaska Zoo

Hi, all.

I hope your week is going well. We're all fine here. Alan has been busy at work. He was on-call over Fourth of July weekend, and he got called out of the house at 5 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday mornings. This past weekend, he had to be in the office for a full day both Saturday and Sunday. I hope we can get out of here this weekend to do some fishing or something. Should be some decent salmon fishing coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Since Alan had to work this past weekend, Meggie and I went to the zoo. This is Meggie mesmerized by the Dall sheep. It's pretty impressive watching them run up and down huge boulders without even a slip.


The animals of the Alaska Zoo are not particularly impressive. The zoo has a decent assortment of native species, like the Dall sheep you see here. Most of the native animals were orphaned or injured in the wild and so ended up in the zoo.

The zoo does have a small collection of imported animals, like this tiger. But they don't have much. And I can't say I mind, because it's not a very big zoo, and I don't like to see animals crammed into spaces that seem much to small for them. We already have a huge controversy roiling about Maggie, the zoo's African elephant. PETA doesn't think an African elephant should be living in a place covered in snow five months out of the year. The organization also objects to her being housed alone, which is unfortunately inevitable in a zoo this size with only one elephant. You can read all about the controversy here. We didn't see Maggie during our visit to the zoo. She had been moved out of the elephant house, because the zoo is constructing an elephant treadmill to give her better exercise. I'm not sure I need to see the elephant (I've seen them before), but I'd like to see the elephant treadmill. That's something you don't see everyday.

The best thing about the Alaska Zoo is that the entire property is wooded. It's like taking a walk in the forest broken up by the occasional animal exhibit. It was really pleasant since last weekend was so hot. Yes, 80 degrees feels hot to me. It's all what you're used to, I guess. The trees provided a nice amount of shade. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. And, although the zoo doesn't have that many animals, I can't complain about the entrance fee. It was very reasonable, and even snacks were cheap. A soda is a dollar. Popcorn is a dollar. What attraction sells snacks for a dollar anymore?

Much of the zoo's walkways were boardwalks, raised above ground to allow plants and streams to continue unimpeded. Here is a stream that still flows through the middle of the zoo. It was really a nice walk, and the running water and trees cooled us down.

Well, I must run. I'll publish this without giving much thought to grammar and such. Meggie is crying. Doesn't want to nap anymore.

Hope you are having a good week.

PS--Since the grandmas will ask: Yes, Meggie's eyes are puffy. She and I are both having allergy problems. Probably part of the reason she's so grumpy right now.