Fauna for the Flora

 If the last post was all about flora, this post is all about fauna.  

As most everyone knows, Annika loves animals.  This spring we took her back to the Farm at Gardner Village where she got to hold baby lambs.  I confess, I was positively smitten.  One nuzzled into my neck after giving me some lamb kisses and fell sound asleep.  I could have snuggled forever.  I can understand why Papa Kay says that the lambs were his favorite animal on the farm growing up.

Brooklyn liked the animals as well.  I was impressed that she was brave enough to pet the feisty alpacas.

Here's Annika a couple of weeks later at the Hogle Zoo.

Eli and Talia joined us for the trip as well.  Oh, and I guess the flora followed us there too.

Seeing eye to eye with the seals.

Since our zoo pass was expiring shortly, I pulled a Papa Kay and splurged on a large dippin' dots for everyone to share.  We normally don't indulge for fear of setting bad precedent.

This mama gorilla and I share a special bond.  I gave her a wave through the window and she looked right at me, then wandered all the way across the yard to sit right by my window.  It felt like she was bringing me her baby to admire.  (The shade may have also had something to do with it.)

As for Dad, well, he was just chilling and showing off his hairy arms.

Our next zoo trip was the last for this Hogle pass.  No better time to feed the giraffes!  Annika and Eli were a bit grossed out by the slimy tongue.

Bye bye elephant!  I'm sure we will meet again soon.

While you might expect to find a baby zebra at the zoo, I was shocked to meet this one at Clark Historic Farm in Grantsville, Utah.  I'm pretty certain he's a temporary visitor.  I was amazed by how soft the zebra's fur.  I expected it to be kind of coarse, but it felt more like a puppy than a pony.

We also met a red wallaby...

...and this cute fellow, which happens to be a wallaroo--sort of a cross between a kangaroo and a wallaby.

Bonding with a capybara.

This camel was a riot.  It seemed quite content to chew on anything, including its own sign.

While this photo of momma pig and her piglets may not seem that fascinating,  they were actually my favorite animals.  Once the piglets got momma to lay down, they were the most energetic nursers I've ever seen.  Poor momma just lay there, wishing she could nap in peace.

With that, this mama's gonna get some zzzs as well.  Sweet dreams to people and creatures alike.