Zoo Visit = Three Kinds of Otters!

Last Saturday, it actually got up into the 40s (!!), so we took advantage of the comparatively warm weather with a trip to the Minnesota Zoo.

We hadn’t been about a year and a half (cough*conversion*cough) -- our last time was with the Little Cowboy -- so it was great to re-up our membership and check out everything new! In particular, we were looking forward to seeing the Russia’s Grizzly Coast exhibit, home to Capers. :)

Even on a “warm” winter day like last Saturday, it’s still heavenly to walk into the humidity of the Tropics Trail -- check out those orchids!


The Tropics Trail is also home to the zoo’s Asian small-clawed otters, the smallest species in the otter family.

Around the corner on the recently refurbished Minnesota Trail, Emmet and a friend woke up long enough to say hi …

… and then went back to sleep.
The northern gray wolves came right up to the windows of their new Minnesota Trail habitat.

On Russia’s Grizzly Coast, the Amur leopards and the grizzly bears were snoozing in easy viewing range, too.

And of course, something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time: getting to meet the zoo’s new sea otters! As you can see from the pics below, they were completely rambunctious -- terrific to watch, a little challenging to photograph.

I mean, seriously: don't those underwater shots look like the famous pic of the Loch Ness Monster's flipper? Maybe Nessie is a giant otter. :)