Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Keeping Up With the Animals at the Wildlife World Zoo

The founder of the Wildlife World Zoo, Mickey Ollson, originally began the place on a twenty-five-acre patch of land as a breeding farm for birds. His farm grew by trading animals with zoos until he said he had "a zoo no one could visit." He opened it to the public in 1984, and the zoo now encompasses over 200 acres and has Arizona's largest collection of exotic animals. It is a wonderful place to visit for those who love animals and being outdoors, like Denis and me, and-- you know me-- I like to bring you along whenever we visit.
 

This llama is in dire need of a brush. I've heard of bedhead, but bedback?!?


Exhibiting a very human-like trait, this sleepy black bear came out of its den to empty its bladder then promptly went back inside to continue snoozing. (I wish I had a dollar for every time I've had to do that...)



This is the young jaguar that took a particular interest in me. I should've taken his picture when we were in the midst of a stare-down.


Playing peekaboo with a king vulture.


Thomson's gazelles


This dromedary camel was being very obliging with another zoo visitor, but when I came along, it turned and gave me a different profile. So now I have a photo of a camel's butt. (Why am I reminded of my favorite "skunk butt rug" giggle scene from Zootopia?)


Warthogs. Faces only a mother could love.


This little guy clearly wanted me to go away.


I liked this Schmidt's Spotnose Guenon's blue eye shadow. It does look as though it has a zit or a wart on the end of its nose.


Sometimes there's no greater pleasure than sitting still with the sun shining on your belly-- especially if you're a meerkat.


And while the meerkat basked in the sun, this opportunistic grackle flew in to steal its lunch.


Upon hearing loud squawking from one of the bird enclosures, I turned to see this merlin unhappily counting the sparrows that had taken sanctuary inside. Oftentimes, the wild visitors are just as interesting as the residents.


We never know what we're going to see when we visit the Wildlife World Zoo. I hope you enjoyed tagging along!

12 comments:

  1. Great photos of such interesting animals. That llama needs a haircut. I don't think a comb or brush would do the trick.
    That camel must have been having a bad day.Yes, only a mama warthog could love that offspring's face. And that jaguar is gorgeous.

    Thank you for this virtual trip, the way some of us travel these days. So great that you and Denis can actually go to that zoo.

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    1. I don't know if you noticed, but almost all the places Denis and I go are outdoors. I don't know about him, but I need to bask in the sun for a bit, and then there's less chance of being confined with others' germs. I'm an only child. I don't believe in sharing. (Germs, anyway!)

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  2. Oh, thank you for taking us along on this trip, Cathy! The photographs are stunning, and I can only imagine how fabulous it must have been to see them live. What a lovely time you must have had, and I appreciate the virtual tour!

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    1. It's a good thing we've been able to enjoy these outings because it looks as though they may be curtailed for a while.

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  3. Hello Cathy
    Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.

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    1. You're welcome, Judy. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

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  4. I have to say that is a gorgeous picture you got of the vulture. I don't usually think of vultures as being gorgeous. The pictures are all fabulous. Thanks for taking us along!

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    1. Yes, that king vulture is the only photogenic vulture I've ever seen.

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  5. Thank you for the virtual visit! It's a nice counterpoint to the winter weather we're living through this week.

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    1. Ah yes, I've been reading about that. This is the time of year lots of folks would rather be in southern Arizona.

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  6. I've thought about that camel's hair and realized that even Vidal Sasoon wouldn't have been able to deal with it.

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    1. Vidal would probably have taken one look and had heart palpitations.

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