Early Hours at the Zoo

When YA was four, we had a nice day at the zoo.  As we went through the Minnesota Trail, there was a beautiful lynx right in the middle of its habitat.  YA was mesmerized; she stood right in from of the glass and stared at the lynx.  The lynx stared back; they literally had locked eyes.  The two of them stood still like that for a good five minutes.  YA broke eye contact to look to me and at that point, the lynx bolted for another part of the habitat.  I probably should have realized at that moment that YA had some animal whisperer talent.   Maybe it started that day – the lynx has always been one of her favorite animals.

We get emails from the zoo so we were aware that there were two lynx kittens born at the zoo in late spring.  The email announcing that the kittens were out for viewing came a couple of weeks back; YA has been on me ever since to get to the zoo. 

Yesterday, since I had Blevins in the afternoon, we zipped down to Apple Valley at opening time, 9 a.m.  The plan was to go see the lynx first, then see other stuff, then circle back to the lynx before heading home.

Going in the cool morning was great!  All the animals were up and about (except the beavers).   We even got to see the two martins, who are NEVER awake normally.  The wolves, who are usually all sacked out in the back of their area were up, rolling around and even coming right up to the windows!

Saw the red pandas, the sloth (who is usually sleeping when we’re there), all the otters, the caribou, the big moose.  Even the prairie dogs were all up and working on their breakfast.

We did go back to the lynx – the kittens had found a way to climb up to the top of their habitat and were looking down at all of us.  Even though we could hardly see them and they weren’t doing much, YA had us stand there almost 10 minutes.

All in all, it was a glorious day at the zoo.  I think we’ll probably head out early and get there at opening from now on!

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

23 thoughts on “Early Hours at the Zoo”

  1. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    Morning. Although this cold does not help with that this morning, I slept until 6:55 AM, almost an unheard of occurrence with me.

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  2. Morning! Husband often wants to start a project after supper, and I beg him to let us wait till morning, when I’m fresh. Truer now than ever before…

    The exception would be for folk dancing, if I could still fit that into the schedule. One I get started moving, the brain seems to kick in.

    However, I can also be a night owl, if I’ve got book with a compelling story.

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  3. Blevins Update.
    Sunday, November 15
    2 p.m.
    Occasional Caroline’s House

    The Unsettling of America by Wendall Berry
    &
    Stranger in the Shogun’s City by Amy Stanley

    Couple of Notes. Looks like Wendall Berry titles are more in demand now since he passed away last week so don’t wait. ALSO… we pushed Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI to January since the waiting lists are still pretty long.

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  4. Oh I am definitely a morning person! But that does not mean I always go to bed early. It is so easy to starting watching Brit Box or recorded Masterpiece and then falling asleep during the program. I prefer to exercise in the morning as well.

    Going to the zoo early sounds very smart if you want to see and observe the animals anticipating breakfast! I have enjoyed walking around Apple Valley with the fall colors but this year will be out of town most of October so may miss them. Two years ago I was up in Grand Marais in October and the sunrises over the lake were wonderful. I got up early so I did not miss them!

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  5. I used to be a night owl, but that faded about 10-15 years ago. Now I force myself to be a morning person to still get in a full day of activity. Alarm goes off at 6 am almost every day. Occasionally I’ll sleep in but rarely go past 7:00.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  6. im afraid im both and it does have consequences. 12 to sleep 6 to rise.
    i feel like its starting to cause brain fog but my brain is always a bit foggy and in reality 6 hrs is 60-90 minutes longer than the last 50 years so it feels like im responding to my body slowing down but i still cant find 8 hours in my bag of tricks
    it has happened but there are usually drugs involved

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