Thoughts of a Listener: Fort Worth Zoo

Did I mention that I love the zoo? I love the zoo. I love aquariums, zoos, wilderness parks, all of it. Wildlife fascinates me, and the more I learn the more I am pointed towards aspects of God's character including creativity, humor, and intricacy.

Elephants! My fav

New lions this year to add to the pride

Because I love the zoo, one of my favorite traditions in Fort Worth has become running the annual Fort Worth Zoo Run. They have a "Party for the Planet"every year around Earth Day, which includes a run that benefits the zoo and other zoos around the country and the world. The race actually starts off by a run THROUGH the zoo, which is a blast because all of the animals get very curious and excited about thousands of people pounding past their habitats in the early morning once a year and they do and say things to let the runners know that they are excited. The portion of the race that goes through the zoo only lasts for about five minutes (if you run slow like me) and then you are stuck running the most intense hills in Fort Worth, but every year it has been worth it, and I'm looking forward to doing it again this April.

Even though these aren't hinds, I love watching them
because they always remind me of my all time favorite book,
Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.

One of the perks that you get as a runner is a free ticket to the zoo to be used any time that year. Being the procrastinator that I am, I didn't get around to going until December (delayed gratification my friends). I took the afternoon to go to the zoo by myself, which I hadn't planned on doing but it ended up feeling very peaceful and luxurious to this introvert. The weather was BEAUTIFUL (can I just say thanks again to Texas for having extremely mild winters-my saving grace these past two years in particular). The Fort Worth Zoo is ranked somewhere in the top five zoos in the country, and after visiting other zoos and then coming back to Ft. Worth, I can understand why. It is just fabulous. If you live nearby and haven't gone to the zoo yet, GO! Now!

One interesting thing about this particular visit to the zoo was that this past summer one of the Asian rhino's at the zoo had a baby. When I stopped by it's habitat that afternoon it was deserted of visitors because baby and mamma were fast asleep, and they were hidden at the back of the pen by rocks. Well, because I was alone and it was such a gorgeous day, I took the luxury of waiting it out, and I was rewarded for my 40 minute delay. First of all, some of the keepers came around to answer questions that the zoo-goers may have had, and since I was the only one around I got my own personal Q&A. I found out that this little gal was born at about 125 lbs, and in four months had gotten up to over 500 lbs. Can you believe a creature that gains 400 lbs in its first four months of life? Incredible. Once she was up and about I got to see her nurse and then start to run all around the pen, playing and testing her limits of how far she could venture away from mamma.