Ituri's Not So Epic Roadtrip

Back in December, I packed up the minivan and headed out on a road trip. Now this road trip was a bit different than most, such as those taken on by the intrepid snowleopard. This road trip was really just about visiting our family, and then dragging them to as many zoos and aquariums as they’d put up with while we were there.

So our first stop took us back home to Boise, Idaho, where we spent the Christmas holiday. While I was there I took in as many trips to Zoo Boise as I could get away with. Winter is a slow time for small, northern zoos such as Zoo Boise and it was nice to get to stroll the grounds in near solitude. As far as news goes, the zoos last mandarin sika deer has passed away, leaving them with no Cervids. Demolition and construction is ongoing for the sloth bear exhibit. It appears that the space available will be much better used. They have regraded the exhibit to taper slowly to the moat, making the entire exhibit a smooth hillside rather than a deep pit and a flat plateau. Viewing will be through glass at one end, and from above at the other end. Here is a link to the concept art. http://socialgoodnetwork.com/uploads/projects/a9bb62733d24898154cc147baea3c596.jpg In general the zoo is looking sharp, with lots of fresh paint and new pavement.

My second hope for Boise was a visit to the brand new Idaho Aquarium. Unfortunately, this hope was not fulfilled as I had a hard time justifying the $9.00 admission fee for what I was told had the collection and exhibitry of a really nice pet store. Perhaps I’ll catch this one in the summer.

Next up was the long drive to Phoenix to be there by New Years. We travelled through Vegas, and made a pit stop at the Silverton Casino, which has a large Bass Pro Shop attached. The Silverton Casino itself has a large, cylindrical saltwater aquarium with various fish, sharks and rays. The Bass Pro Shop has several freshwater aquariums with catfish, sturgeon, trout and bass, plus a waterfowl exhibit with cinnamon teal, hooded merganser and northern pintail. All in all it was a nice, free diversion after hours on the road. We hit the road again and after crossing into Arizona were delighted at the sight of a small herd of desert bighorn on a hill to the side of the interstate.

In Phoenix, the first order of business (for me anyway) was the Phoenix Zoo. The Phoenix Zoo is in the midst of a major capital campaign and redevelopment scheme. Already completed are the Land of the Dragons exhibit and the Orang Hutan: People of the Forest exhibit. Under construction now is a new event/education complex up the hill from the Komodo dragon exhibit. The Phoenix Zoo is busily readying its grounds to host the AZA Annual Meeting this coming year. Landscaping is being done, areas are being paved or repaved and much of the zoo is looking much more intentional than it once did. While some have posted their disappointment about the new orangutan exhibit, my opinion was quite different. First, many of the complaints that earlier ZooChatters have had have been rectified, with the indoor day rooms containing a tangled mass of ropes and nets for the arboreal apes to enjoy. The terrestrial yard contains real vegetation in the animal area (behind hot grass). The primary complaint about this exhibit has been that it is not an immersion exhibit. This is true; however the entire complex is quite impressive. There are four on display spaces that the orangutans have full access to, two outdoor and two indoor. Having indoor space for the orangutans in Phoenix is as important as it is in areas of cooler weather, as the summer heat extremes are too intense for these dwellers of dense, shaded rainforest. There is also an air-conditioned visitor space with viewing into each of the four animal spaces. Animal holding is found below ground, and includes hospital facilities so the orangs never have to leave the complex to get the full care they need. There are faux bamboo climbing structures in both the outdoor yards, but are less prevalent in the unmeshed one. The orangs have the choice as to whether they want the climbing opportunities presented by the meshed enclosure or the open sky and hillside of the open air enclosure. I found that during my visit, the orangs were using each space equally, often moving from one to the other. There is little landscaping inside the orangutan space other than turf grass because orangs are notoriously hard on plants. Though there is some within reach just outside the netted yard so the orangs can access the plants without totally destroying them.

Elsewhere on zoo grounds flocks of pink-backed and Dalmatian pelicans now roam the Main Lake and Children’s Zoo Lakes respectively, adding a nice touch to these large open spaces. The Wallaby Walkabout exhibit is no more. It is under construction, and according to a keeper I spoke with, being modified to house some form of hoof stock. Also new in the Arizona Trail walk-through aviary was a pair of blue-winged teal, and a pair of snowy egrets. Though, regrettably the aviary still lacks any signage. Also relatively new to the zoo is a small group of Mexican red brocket deer, housed in the wetlands habitat with American white pelican, Sandhill crane, Chilean flamingo, and coscoroba swan. Unfortunately, these shy and retiring animals like to hang out beneath the visitor viewing bridge, making seeing them difficult if not impossible. My first view of this species in years consisted of a tiny patch of reddish fur seen between two planks. I spent two separate days at the Phoenix Zoo and was able to see all of it quite well. As always I quite enjoyed my time there.

The next stop was the Arizona SeaLife Aquarium. I know many on this forum have their opinions of the SeaLife chain of aquariums. I went to this aquarium with my young children, and quite enjoyed watching them enjoy this place. The aquarium is designed with children in mind, containing lots of pop up bubbles and little nooks and crannies for exploration. For a serious-minded aquarium goer, I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for this cookie-cutter chain of establishments. I think it also helps that we only have a handful of these establishments in the United States. The major disappointment for me however, came with the large ocean tank being closed for renovations. They are bringing in a green sea turtle and needed to “turtle proof” this large tank. Honestly, the attention to detail is lacking in this place, and it is not an aquarium to be taken seriously, but as a diversion for a family outing, it’s quite a bit of fun.

The next and final attraction for the trip was the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona. What an amazing place this is. I’d been away so long I had forgotten how wonderful it is. Being something of a desert rat, I’m in my element in the towering saguaros of the Sonoran Desert. We got a bit of a late start getting down to Tucson, so arrived at the museum around lunch time. We stopped to picnic just outside the museum, where I watched wild Gila woodpeckers, Harris’ antelope squirrels and a phainopepla while we ate. Construction has begun on the Gulf of California Gallery which is located behind the gift shop where the Fish and Amphibian Hall once was. It will be a modest endeavor, but will no doubt exhibit the exemplary attention to detail that the ASDM is famous for. The amphibian displays are being relocated to the Reptile Invertebrate Hall. The Dry Cave in the Earth Science Center has been updated, and now includes an interesting display on bats (no live animals) and giant ground sloths. The Mountain Woodlands once again has a black bear on display, alongside the Coue’s white-tailed deer, Merriam’s turkeys, Mexican wolves, pumas, thick-billed parrots and American kestrel. Joining this group is a new Steller’s Jay, occupying an aviary recently vacated by a western screech owl. The Desert Grasslands display was looking a bit worn, with some signage fading and some scuffed paint. The old prairie dog display now is home to a set of weird metal sculptures of vultures. There is talk of netting this display over and making it a home for real turkey vultures and crested caracara. Then, as we were leaving the Desert Grasslands, disaster struck. My three year old daughter decided to go off-roading and landed amidst a prickly pear cactus! She was a brave little trooper while we hauled her up to first aid where a park ranger delicately plucked spines from her arms and stomach. This could have been the end of our Desert Museum adventure, but fortunately, my little daughter wanted to keep viewing the museum, so we rushed to try to see as much of the rest of it as we could before closing. We practically ran through Life on the Rocks and the Desert Loop Trail. Life on the Rocks looks like a wonderful exhibit, and I really wished I had had more time to view it. The invisinet formerly used in the peccary exhibit on the Desert Loop Trail has been replaced with something more substantial but still relatively non-intrusive to the viewer. Cat Canyon was looking rough, the North American porcupine occupying the former margay enclosure has destroyed the lush tropical deciduous forest landscape that was there previously. The gray fox was lying on a shelf in the former jaguarundi exhibit with a red heat lamp on it, on top of a blanket. Not the most natural scene. Hopefully jaguarundi will be returning to the Desert Museum as the AZA Felid TAG plans to phase this species in with imports from South America in the near future. The rest of the family then headed to the entrance while I sprinted through the remainder of the exhibits, only to find them all locked up already.

Also included on the trip were some non-zoo birding stops at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, in Gilbert Arizona. Some of the avian highlights included neotropic cormorants, northern cardinal, verdins, snowy, great and cattle egrets, ruddy ducks, black phoebe and both Costa’s and Anna’s hummingbirds.

It was a magnificent adventure, a nice break from the northern winter, and wonderful times with family.

 

Excellent reviews Ituri!

 

I appreciate reading your reviews of establishments that you are quite familiar with, and next time I see you I'm going to point your bearings towards the east! Thanks for the write-ups Ituri.

 

Thanks for the tour Ituri. Your reviews are very informative and fun to read with your good humor.

Would you recommend a tour of the Bass Pro Shop if one is in Las Vegas? It sounds like it might be fun.

 

Thanks all. Snowleopard, someday perhaps. I still need to do a comprehensive pacific northwest trip as well.

David, if you can tolerate the site of a full body taxidermy male cape giraffe on the floor of a sporting goods store then yes I recommend it. We always use it as a pit stop when passing through Vegas. The kids enjoy the break and there is interesting things to see.

 

That is good to hear there is a bear, once again, on display at the ASDM. It's been more than a year since I was there and the exhibit was empty with a sign saying they were no longer on display. The reason for the heat lamp and blanket for the fox is because his is elderly and they are trying to keep him comfortable. It'd be interesting if they brought in a jaguarundi again. I believe their website still claims to have one even though it's been several years since it was there.

That is totally cool you got to see wild bighorn sheep. The last time I drove from Phoenix to Las Vegas I saw signs for them all over the place, but never did see any.

 

really enjoyed reading that very good review. thanks for posting it. what is a phainopepla?

 

They have had one for a while now, at least a year I think (maybe more). The two older ones went to an off-exhibit retirement enclosure and the main exhibit was modified to join the two small night houses into one larger night house. So they are set up to only exhibit one bear now.

 

Basically a black cardinal.

 

@ Ituri - Too bad you missed Reid Park while you were here - you could have watched three lion cubs romping around with mom.

 

Thanks Chlidonias, it is actually even less a cardinal than a bay cat is a house cat. It's more like describing a fossa as basically a largish house cat! All my years living down there that species managed to elude me. It was really an exciting find for me!

 

just checked the google link. a nice crested desert/scrubland songbird which does look superficially like a cardinal to my untrained eye. my first thoughts when I read the name was that it was some kind of reptile. made me realise that i know very little about american birds other than the raptors or wildfowl.
thanks for the info.

 

It's been more than a year since I was there. Probably closer to 2. The sign said, I believe, they had 4 but they went to a retirement area. Hahaha. I'm still glad, though, they have one to exhibit.