Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Taron, Ella and I were taking a drive around town and exploring Skyline Parkway when we ended up near Spirit Mountain, the ski resort at the other end of town. That reminded me of something I had heard recently; that the Lake Superior Zoo was located at the base of the ski resort.

"You kids want to go to the zoo?"
Pretty much a rhetorical question.

I found out that a year pass was only $55, so I made the investment -- two family visits would more than pay that off.

We started inside, where a sweet lady introduced us to Kermit the snake. Taron actually worked up the courage to pet it! She said they took all the animals out for exercise occasionally, and I asked (jokingly) if they took the cockroaches out to play... and she replied that they did! I guess cockroaches need their exercise too...

Here is the video evidence of Taron petting the snake:



Next we peeked in on the tigers, but they were just lounging around... So, we trekked over to the petting zoo. Luckily I had a quarter for the pellet vending machine, making both human and goat kids happy. Another video:



We also saw lions, kangaroos, a polar bear, and too many others to list, but we discovered more than just animals. I think the playground was actually Taron's favorite part, his face beamed as he slid down a giant snake's back, and rode on the shell of a larger-than-life turtle.




And, of course, since the zoo is in Duluth, there is a waterfall... those things are everywhere in this town! My kids never seem to get tired of throwing rocks in the water though. Here is the upper half:

And here is a video of the raging waters, if you watch it you may want to turn your sound down though, the water is LOUD!



We headed "under" the water for some of the exhibits; the kids loved watching the seal flip around but were a bit disappointed that the polar bear refused to take a swim. Oh well, that's what season passes are for!