8/15: Chicago's Zoo

When Steven and I were in Chicago visiting our daughter, Natalie, her husband, Adam, and their month-old daughter, Clara, they suggested we all visit Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. We jumped at the chance knowing the zoo was where Adam had proposed to Natalie several years ago!

This was a humorous reminder about why we all need to wear masks during the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately, the chimp in the Center for African Apes didn't cooperate and turn around for me so I could take a better photo!

Here's a trivia fact about kangaroos for you: as they're unable to move their feet in alternating steps, they 'walk' by using their tail or they hop instead! And another bit of useless kangaroo  trivia: a 'mob' is a group of kangaroos!

Rites of Spring was a terracotta sculpture by Milton Horn that depicted a ram and a figure in Greek mythology, Pan, who was the god of forests, fields, wild animals, and shepherds. After Horn created two identical pieces in 1952 for a now-demolished building in Chicago, they were reclaimed and this one was donated to the zoo with the express purpose of being accessible to children.

Did you know that Grevy's Zebras unlike other zebra species often live on their own in the wild? Females passing through a male's habitat stay for just a few months at most. Males warn other males to stay away by vocalizing loudly. 

I recall that we watched this one Grevy's zebra for a good ten minutes or so as he played with the huge ball, pushing it back and forth in its enclosure! 

As about one-eighth of the world's remaining Grevy's zebras live in zoos, the health of the zoo population is critical for the endangered species' future. Scientists have been trying to figure out for a hundred years what use zebras' stripes are! The ideas they've come up with include deterring flies, preventing overheating, confusing predators, or even sending signals to other zebras.

Since it was a pretty steamy hot day in Chicago, Adam got quite concerned that tiny Clara was getting overheated in her stroller as we walked around the zoo. He and Natalie were great new parents - I was so proud of them.

When Steven and I were in South America several years ago, he joked that I took hundreds of photo of flamingos. Nevertheless, I still 'needed' a couple more of those here at the Chicago Zoo!

Our visit to the zoo was shorter than we all anticipated because we were all concerned about Clara. Steven and I hope to be in Chicago for Clara's first birthday in July. Perhaps we'll be able to head back to the zoo then as we only scratched the surface on our first visit. I'm sure Clara will have a lot more fun seeing all the animals than on her initial visit!

A mural I enjoyed seeing near Natalie and Adam's Wicker Park neighborhood:

Next post: On to Indianapolis!

Posted on January 19th, 2021, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, en route home to Denver after a month on the road exploring many national and state parks in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. I feel a new day is dawning tomorrow here in the US  with the inauguration of the new president - let us all hope for brighter days ahead. Please stay safe and connected with family and friends as the pandemic is still raging all around us.