Roos-N-More

We went on a most fantastic field trip.  I am embarrassed to say we almost didn't go because I am not always very good at taking advantage of one of the advantages homeschool allows--flexibility to go on awesome field trips!  I get too caught up in checking things off.  But thanks to some extra persuasion from a friend--Thank You April!--we put the books aside and had an amazing hands-on learning day.

We drove about 45 minutes north to a tiny town called Moapa.  Nestled in what is seemingly the middle of nowhere, is a wonderful little zoo called Roos-N-More.  It is definitely the smallest zoo I have ever visited, but also the very best.  We were there for over two hours having up close and personal encounters with a huge variety of animals.  You might think 2 hours? that's not long.  But realize, we never left an area the size of a football field and were not bored for an instant.  I took bunches of pictures and I'll use those to tell the story.

These otters were the first critters we saw.  We watched them scamper about and chirp at each other while waiting for the tour to begin.  The kids have loved otters ever since the Seattle Aquarium.

First stop when the tour began was along the fence of a paddock holding a wide variety of animals.  Pictured here is the smaller camel Makenna loved feeding.  

Better shot of "Jafar".  So many of the names were funny, but I don't remember most.

Behind Jess you can see more goats, sheep a few pigs (they were noisy!) and of course Jafar.

This is our guide feeding Jafar's half-brother, who is not even full grown yet.  You can also see some llamas, a zebra and a bit of the zedonk (1/2 zebra, half donkey).

These are the camel's prehensile lips.  They can act like fingers to pick plants out of the sand.  They only have teeth on the bottom in front so they are very safe to feed.  They have soft, velvety lips.  

A few brave kids fed him apple slices this way to get a camel kiss.  The kiss Jess received got all over her face, from chin to nose, but I didn't quite capture that moment with the camera.  Isaac fed the camel this way too, but held the apple so far back that he wasn't touched.  Everyone not brave enough for a camel kiss got to feed it with their hands.  He liked being petted too.

A zebra's "mane" always sticks straight up, even when it's wet. 

Here is the anteater chowing on his slurpy.  He rubs all over his dish and gets food all over his face and hands.  

Anteaters have prehensile tails, but they aren't strong enough to support their full body weight.  The kids could pet him, but had to avoid his head.  Not a bad request considering it was covered in slurpy anyway.

So photogenic. 

Emus love playing in the water.  If the sprinklers are on they play in them all day, not because they are hot--they just love the water.  They are excellent swimmers though rarely have the need.  Go figure.  I think the girls were named Thelma and Louise.

The makers of Jurassic Park, the movie, used Emus' legs and feet as models for many of the dinosaurs.  I never looked closely before, but now it's so obvious.  One of the premises about the book was the link between dinos and birds anyway.

Dino or bird legs?  Look how scaly.  The kids didn't pet the emus--temperamental during mating season.

The camels followed us down the fence hoping for more apples while we were at the emus.  

When we walked back past the anteater, he was rolling around in his lovey.  I guess visiting all the kids wore him out.

A two-toed South American Sloth.  His hair grows the opposite way compared to cats and dogs--gravity.  In the rainforest, they become their own ecosystems, moving so slow that moss grows on them and bugs and butterflies live on them.  Being slow is also their defense against predators.   They move SO slowly that jaguars just pass them by unnoticed.  

His hair was rather course and wiry.

This is Cancan the toucan. She is still a baby and will get even more colorful.  Her feathers were super soft.  They have soft beaks, made of the same stuff as fingernails.  They can barely bite through fruit, unlike birds with hard beaks that can crack open nuts and seeds.

During this part of the tour, the kids stood in a circle and our guide would bring out one animal at a time and let the kids interact while learning about them.  I felt like we extra guests on the Letterman Show with Jack Hanna visiting and bringing all sorts of creatures.

Check out her feathered tongue.  In the wild it collects nectar in flowers like a butterfly.  Beautiful bird.  She has bright blue feet that match the color around her eyes.

This is the owner loving on an escaped otter, before he got a time-out.  It was amazing how much all the animals love her right back.  He is the zoo escape artist.  They used to have volunteers take turns watching throughout the night so he wouldn't hurt himself, before they installed an electric fence around his enclosure.  But they turned the fence off when we came, he knew it, jumped the fence and was scampering around and sneaking into the barn.  

The otter cozied up to Makenna like he was going to take a nap.

He was wiggly with Isaac and Jess.  And so noisy.  The otters make chirping sounds like birds. 

I need to take swimming lessons from these guys.

This Boa is almost 6 feet long, so far.  Come back next year and he'll maybe and another more. 

The kids were amazed at how strong its whole body felt, so muscly.  

The lemurs stayed in their cages.  They have a baby right now and are very protective.

This porcupine was HUGE!  The people started the hole so it has a human sized entrance, but the porcupines are still digging.  It is currently up to 90 feet long!  Our guide had to go in with some corn on the cob and a flashlight to coax them out.  They didn't stay out too long--ran back down after the kids started coming over the fence to get closer.  But the kids did get to pet the baby later.

The Quill Isaac found, but gave to away to a little girl.

The quill Jess found and kept.  Wow, it's over 18"!

This is a bear-cat, also known by it's official name. . . . I forgot.  It loved climbing over everyone's shoulders.  It looks so solid and heavy, but really was the more like the weight of a large house cat.

Makenna in the shoulder line.

It really uses it's tail to wrap up and balance. 

Bear-Cat

This big tortoise was a rescue animal.  It's missing its other back leg.  I should have included a child in the picture to get an idea of scale.  It's a big guy.  

Of course there had to be kangaroos.  It's called Roos-N-More, after all.  This mama has a baby in her pouch.  The pouches completely blend in and disappear from sight when not in use.  Those lucky kangaroos don't get stretch marks.  The pouches are completely water proof.  The moms can swim and the baby will stay dry and can adjust and live in a very low oxygenated environment.     

I think this is a kangaroo and a wallaroo. 

Yes, the kids got to meet a kangaroo too and feel inside her pouch--no baby on board this one, of course.

This is a fast critter. Good at climbing and jumping.  I forgot his official name too, but it's often called the South American Raccoon.  

He liked climbing over shoulders too, but in fast forward.

Here is the baby porcupine.  

 

Finally, we come to, I think, everyone's favorite animal friend of the day.  This is a spirited Capuchin Monkey.  Makenna would tap her foot and she would play swat the shoe.  She also jumped on her head and tried to take out her hair pretty.  

Jess got to tickle her monkey arms and ticklish spot on her monkey knee. 

Isaac got his back scratched

And his pocket picked.

She liked rocking.  

We were told she is more a part of the family than the zoo.  She sleeps with the people, likes to "help" in the kitchen, has a fascination with hammers and tries to use full size brooms.  

Twice she jumped onto my head when she was supposed to be playing with a younger child.  She is more comfortable with adults than little kids.  

She gave me a long cuddle and I couldn't help remembering newborn baby Jess taking lots of naps just like that.  But our Jess monkey is getting so big.  

And just like that our time was up and we had to rush back home to piano lessons.  We made it back just in time to drop a starving Isaac off.  Then the girls and I went to grab "Old McDonalds" because it was closest.  The girls quickly gulped down some food and then they took their turns at piano.  And Makenna still had dance and Isaac had football.   A rather ordinary ending to a full wonderful day.