I got bugged at the Victoria Bug Zoo

On our Victoria Bucket list was the Victoria Bug Zoo.  This is a small zoo dedicated to bugs. But you likely guessed that. But unlike most zoos that don't let you pet the tigers, this one is different as that you can hold some of the large leggy creatures inside of it.  Below I am holding a leaf insect.

Geordie is holding some kind of demon bug from hell.  The creature alien from the first Men and Black movie was based on that creature.  And yes it is terrifying. I held it after this tiny blond girl was completely fearless like a boss.  I couldn't let myself be outdone by that.  Geordie was braver and is all getting into it.

One of the prettiest is this Mantis who specializes in hiding among the petals of a certain orchid.  It took forever to spot her. She is a graceful lovely thing just like the plant that is her home.

Giraffe Sanctuary

The city of Nairobi has a giraffe sanctuary which I had been telling Kathryn about for ages. I was mildly worried that it wouldn't live up to the hype, but it still delivered in spades when we got there. The first trick that was new to me was the 'french kiss' where you put a food pellet in you mouth and they'll nibble it away from you as seen below.
Since each food pellet is tiny and giraffes are sizeable beasts, they are quite happy to eat little pellets all day, so we had time to play around and have them eat of Kathryns hat as well.
Being at head height with these wonderful animals is truly a joy and it was wonderful that we could fit it in during our last few hours in the country. After seeing these guys so many times in the wild it was great to get up close and personal.

Big Cats of Bandon

On our recent holiday through BC, Washington and Oregon our southernmost destination was the town of Bandon whose claim to fame is a walk-through safari with extensive petting zoo. They work very actively with big cat preservation with zoos and the like and as a result frequently have young cats that are too young to be moved and to cute not to be patted.

There'll be more pictures from this place later, but for now we'll just leave it at the 'big' cats.
Kathryn is patting a baby leopard named Bently who weighs a little less than our cat and is still small enough for lap sitting. If you ask her nicely about it she may tell you more about this leopard :PNext was a lion cub named Bella who is a little too big for laps but still quite a charmer.And last but not least was a Siberian Lynx named Kesa who is almost big enough to move to her next home but was still present for our attention.

Vancouver Zoo

After yesterdays remarks about the lack of megafauna in our area, I felt I should show that there are still a nice selection of large and exotic animals to be found in the area. Though the zoo here is on the remote eastern outskirts of the city and not very accessible, we did get out there last summer with some friends to have a look around. Above are some neat cattle we had never heard of before which look quite a bit like Tim Curry from 'Legend' (mercifully the animal kingdom doesn't have any cattle that look like him from 'Rocky Horror')One of our favorite creatures we never knew existed, the Mara (in the back), is a Patagonian rodent that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo. We've seen them in Toronto and Prague as well and they never fail to delight. And a cabybara never hurt either.And just to prove that they have anything typical to zoos, here's a giraffe right before feeding time.