Reptiles

We met our friends Kim and Toby at Little Ray's Reptile Zoo for an amazing morning of learning and new experiences. Last year Little Ray's came to Sidney's preschool and Sid was really into it so I knew she would love the chance to see the variety of animals they rescue. What surprised me was that we were allowed to hold many of the reptiles and feeds some too. No one else was there so we had the entire zoo to ourselves and could ask the zookeeper so many questions. It was 10.00 a piece to get in but all the money raised goes to support the care of all the animals they rescue. Most of the reptiles have been given up by the owners because they just got too big.

This is a soft shelled spiny turtle. It's body looks a lot like a stingray. I had never seen anything like this!

Wearing Lightning, a black rat snake

Blinky a ruffled Gecko who lost his tail is showing Sid how sticky his toes are



Petting a 7 month old baby Cayman

This monitor who was very intrigued with Sid



Feeding the bearded Gecko's, George and Spike, super worms

Albino Boa squeezing its prey (a dead mouse)

This was like a traffic accident to me. I couldn't look away but was slightly horrified, however, Sid thought it was awesome and loved watching the mouse go all the way down.

This was so cool. We got to watch her feed the "man eating" Nile Crocodiles. They really do hunt humans and in the wild kill about 3 humans a day. We were told that they are very smart and will stalk a human for 3 or 4 days to learn their routines and then strike when the human least expects it. When the zookeeper feeds these guys she has to be really careful because they try to trick her into putting the meat lower so they can leap up and get a hold of the feeders hand. These guys can leap straight up!

Sid had a little stuffed monkey attached to her jeans and she took it off and showed it to the marmosets and they were mesmerized by the toy. They were so cute and tiny but looked like they could cause a lot of trouble!

We can't wait to go back. On the way home Sid was telling me she thought that since it was a zoo that we would have to walk around outside and it had snowed so she was really happy the reptiles were all inside and nice and warm.

This week our baby turns 4. How did it happen? Every day is so special and filled with smiles. She has such a great sense of humour now and keeps us giggling all day. The other night I asked her how many toes she had and she without missing a beat she answered "All of them!". We started talking about her letter to Santa and the number one item she wants for Christmas from Santa is a Unicycle..... no I am not joking and I have no idea why she wants a unicycle so badly! While four years have already passed I keep feeling like we have just begun this journey and we can't wait to see what is around the bend. Will post birthday pics and pictures from her first big birthday party this weekend.