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Three weeks ago we were in Omaha and visited the Henry Doorly Zoo. If you haven't been there we strongly suggest you go. It is an amazing zoo. Unlike the zoo in Denver, it has several indoor attractions, which make it a great place to visit year round. We spent the majority of our visit in the Desert Dome/Kingdoms of the Night exhibit. A friend of mine is the curator of amphibians and reptiles at the zoo and he was nice enough to offer to show us around. We got a first class behind the scenes view of the zoo. We started out in a small room at the Desert Dome. You can actually see the room that we started out in when you walk up to the building. In this room we held/pet/touched snakes, turtles, alligators, and lizards. I actually held a baby alligator. They are squirmy little things. Cooper touched several of the animals but was definitely taken with the turtle, and grabbed it. Chris and I had our first panic attack of the day, as Cooper decided to throw the turtle back into it's cage. Chris was quick enough to catch the little fella and get it back home safely. After petting a few lizards it was on to the snakes. Just in case you don't know this little fact about Chris, he is terrified of snakes. So when the first snake came out of its enclosure and was handed to Chris I grabbed the camera. He didn't just hold one snake but 2. I was so proud of him, facing his fear and all. Right up to the point where the snake ended up around my neck. Now I am not a snake lover either. And I really am not sure how all this happened but Chris returned the favor and grabbed the camera to capture the moment. My face pretty much says it all. After all the fun with the snakes we moved onto the interior of the Dome. This is actually a view of an exhibit 2 stories above where the public sees it. It is an exhibit of raccoons and alligators. I won't go into the dynamics of this exhibit but lets just say that it is definitely a wild kingdom in there. Then it was up one more level to an area that is used to keep animals that aren't on exhibit. There we saw Chameleons. More turtles. And my favorite.... People Honestly, this was a really cool view of the Dome. We could see everything from up above and not have to deal with the crowds of people moving around. Then it was off to see some frogs. I never realized how different frogs feel from one to another. This was how Cooper typically touched the animals, one finger high above the animal, moving in slowly to feel behind the head. All the while watching it intently making sure it doesn't move. Next it was on to Kingdoms of the Night. I should explain now that my friend is in charge of all the amphibians and reptiles in the Desert Dome and his significant other is in charge of everything else (think fur and feathers). And at this point we moved away from the slimy slithery stuff and on to the cute and warm stuff. We started out by petting an opposum, seeing a coatimundi, and seeing a wallaby with a little joey in her pouch. Then we went through some of the exhibits to see some Foosa (ok people it is confession time. Chris and I didn't know that a Foosa was an animal. We thought this was just a name made up in the animated movie Madagascar and that Foosa were actually Hyenas. We were wrong. 10 years of higher education between the 2 of us and we did not know this.) After seeing a few more animals in there exhibits we went to go pet some Aardvarks. These guys are amazing. They are super friendly. They feel like a pig with very short wiry fur. And they are solid. They also had a tiny mouth and the last inch of their nose is really flexible like and elephant. This is one of those experiences I will never forget. Not everyone can say they have pet an Aardvark.Next up a few Armadillos. Sorry this is a really bad photo but if you have been to the Zoo this is the little guy in the big display at in the Kingdoms of the Night, that looks like he is floating all over the bottom of the exhibit because you can't see his feet. Chris thinks they look like tiny Winnebagos zooming around. This is actually a 3 banded Armadillo. We also saw a 7 banded one too. They are totally different. We saw one last frog before heading to lunch and I have to say this is my favorite photo of the day. This frog is as big as Cooper's head is. Cooper isn't too sure of this guy and consequently this is as close as we could get him for the photo. I think his eyes say it all. After lunch it was on to the big guys. These alligators have been trained to come in to eat when they hear a cow bell. Then they are trained to follow the stick and open their mouth when it is tapped on the ground. It was amazing to see these prehistoric animals follow commands better than our dog. At one point in time there were 8 alligators in this area. Chris, Cooper and I were behind a fence so we never were in a position that there wasn't something between us and them. Still I have to say that being that close made me a little nervous. It was really refreshing to see alligators treated with respect instead of being wrestled, manhandled, and paraded around by some Crocodile Dundee wannabe. Chris was really interested in all of the awesome research and endangered species work that goes on at the zoo. We took a quick tour through the new Butterfly Pavilion and saw these amazing moths. Then it was on to the aquarium. I don't know why I didn't take any photos while we were in there but this was totally amazing also. We actually walked across the top of the biggest aquarium and watched the sharks swimming below us with their fins breaking the water ala jaws (DUUUUUH DUM, DUUUUUUH DUM, DUH DUM, DUH DUM). Chris was very interested in all the treatment of the water and everything they do in the aquarium. The final part of our tour of the zoo was a golf cart ride around the perimeter of the zoo. Neither Chris nor I have been out to the far part of the zoo. It is so large you kind of get caught up in all the indoor exhibits and never wander out to the elephants, rhinos and whatnot. So this was a perfect ending for our day. And the only way to see a zoo. Thanks again to our friends for taking the time to show us the zoo. We had a very memorable day.
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