zoo – Richard & Joy Nuckolls

Polyface Farms

Richard — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:13:08 +0000

Cows

The cows are the stars of the show at Polyface Farms. The are manure machines, each putting out 50 lbs. of brown stuff a day. For three seasons of the year, they move from pasture to pasture, eating the grass and depositing fertilizer.

Chickens

The chickens follow the cows in the pasture. The spread the cow patties and grow healthy on a diet of grass and bugs. During the winter, they are kept in multi-use shelters.

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Seaworld

Richard — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:45:58 +0000

Hanging with the Manta

The Manta is a different ride. Instead of sitting in your seat you hang from it. It is rather uncomfortable but gives a unique feeling of battering your way through the air with the top of your head while staring at your feet. Loops and barrel rolls are mandatory of course.

Dolphins

The dolphins are wonderful to behold in the Seaworld shows. We watched the dolphin show twice.

Animals

The animals are the stars of the show. Besides dolphins, killer whales and sea lions have their own shows.

Dolphin Feeding

Seaworld has a large pool for the dolphin feeding time. A select few paying guests can suit up and wade out to feed the dolphins up close. The rest of us crowd the wall of the pool and hope for a friendly dolphin to come within reach. Joy got to run her hand over a dolphins skin this way.

Cow of the Sea

There is no ride at Seaworld based around the manatee, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t wonderful creatures. I really enjoy seeing them when we visit wildlife parks. I wish we had some manatees here in Virginia to control the growth of weed in the rivers.

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Brookfield Zoo

Richard — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:26:34 +0000

Penguins

The Brookfield Zoo has a great penguin habitat, and they are busy breeding more penguins.

Feeding Time

One of our main reasons for the trip to Chicago was to take part in the Poolside with Penguins program. Joy got to take part in the prep work and feeding of the Humboldt penguins. She even got to pet one! She describes the feathers as sort of plasticy. There was a distinct odor to the birds as well.

Pictures

My job in the Poolside with Penguins program was to try to get better pictures than the pro. I succeeded.

Bears

We got to the bear habitat at feeding time. The bears like fruit and the water.

Water World

The dolphin and seal habitats are very cool. The view into the dolphin tank is cast in blue: the still dolphin is nearly invisible.

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Tulsa Zoo

Richard — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 01:51:48 +0000

Rhinoceros Pens

I think the Rhino pens must have been redone recently. I can not remember being able to walk up so closely to the animals before. To be so close to these huge rhinos makes the heart beat faster. You could hear the loud thumps as they stomped their feet.

King of Beasts

I was fortunate one evening in October to catch the King roaring for his dinner. I was volunteering at a Halloween theme night reading stories for the Library. The night was cold and the lion was hungry. Truly a magnificent sound. The video is probably available for viewing in the TCCL media department.

Siberian Tiger

The zoo has a great habitat for lions, tigers, and bears. Of course, the felines normally are quite languid, lounging in the shade or sleeping in their caves. On this cool day just before Christmas the Siberian tigers were out enjoying the day.

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