Madison Zoo

Thursday we headed into Madison for a trip to the zoo. I was excited to get out of the house for the day, but not really excited for the zoo. All I had heard was that it was a free zoo and I kept thinking about the one that is in the next town over from us. That is also a free zoo and it has some ducks, deer, llamas, a bear and a couple of wolves. It was fun for us, but I thought if Madison is like that will it be worth the drive into town. Boy was I mistaken. This zoo fits the saying of Dorthy in the Wizard of Oz, "Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!" The first animals we saw were two big shaggy buffalo. Connor thought they were great, but Angela thought they were stinky. She said that they need to shower every day. Then we saw a black bear, a grizzly bear and a polar bear. The black bear and the grizzly bear did not stay visible very long, but the polar bear seemed to want to sit and pose for the camera. After that we got to see some river otters, exotic birds, flamingos and a giraffe. Then there was the tiger! He kept pacing in front of the glass and the kids thought he was great. Every time he'd walk away I would try to move us along, but then he'd come back and they would both go rushing back to the glass to watch him. It took us quite a while to leave him. And I do mean a him. Angela says to me, "I can tell Mom, he's a boy!" She was right, it was quite obvious that he was. Next we went and looked at the rhinoceros. There were two of them and they both seemed a bit worn out. They were laying in the dirt sort of lethargic like. Every once and a while one would lift his head as if to say "What, we're taking a break here, okay?" Connor kept yelling "Hello" to them, but to his disappointment they didn't do anything. Next was a pot bellied pig (that the kids talked to with great snorts), a foreign type of cow, some camels, monkeys, two alligators and some prairie dogs. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and then spent some time playing in the large play toy for the kids. We did not get the chance to use the carousel or the train because the kids wanted to spend their money on ice cream instead of the rides. I also understand that we missed seeing the lions, penguins and a few other animals. This was due to the fact that we had already been there a couple of hours and we were all quite tired. At least it is a free zoo, that is worth the drive, so we will be back again.