Wild Thing: Sea Horsies

Sea horsies!  I was lucky enough to see several sea horse exhibits over last few years.  The Monterrey Bay Aquarium, the Aquarium at the Mall of America, the Minnesota Zoo, the Oregon Cost Museum.  Lots of them, and they are an amazing creatures.  They are so tiny and so perfect. 

Silly Snow Leopards

So yeah, this post while hilarious to me, probably won't be to anyone but my sister, and I am fairly certain she doesn't even read my blog.  So yeah, oh and these photos were taken on the cell phone, so crappy they might be.

Come play with me!

So while at Como (I love that place) we wandered into the big cat area.  And naturally stopped by the snow leopards.  Where we were treated with quite the show from a rambunctious leopard and a rather stately one trying its best to ignore the other.  Which lead me to proclaim that we were witnessing the Mikko Kiouv and the Antti Miettien of snow leapards.  (Background story: It sure seems like Mikko Koivu demands that Antti be on his line all the time, and in videos, interviews etc it is alluded to that they are always together (much to Antti's utter dismay)

Maybe he won't see me

It started halariously enough, the stately (Antti) was pacing back and forth, looking adorable by the glass, when the other one (Mikko) decided he or she (honestly wasn't paying that close attention) wanted to play.  Took a run down the rocks and slipped on the snow and took a flailing leap (that sadly was not captured on camera as it was adorable).

Wait for me!

Then the Mikko leapard jump the other one, and tried to entice it to play.  Sadly, the Antti took off like a shot and went and hid in a little cave like area.  While the other paced back and forth trying to get his attention.  Then decided to play for a bit and entice the other out.  It didn't work, so naturally he had to go down and flush the other one out.  

Got Ya!

Antti leapt up on to the rocks and stood there as still as possible as if he was trying to ignore the other.  Who would stare at him, try to get him to play and then when all else failed, jumped him again.  It was hilarious and the look on the leopards face was a "just shoot me" face (the same look that the Real Antti has when ever he is sitting next to Mikko for an interview).  Eventually he shoves the other one away and escapes up the rocks.  We left the scene with poor Mikko sitting (and plotting) how to get the other to play.

Plotting

Quick be free!

Wild Thing: Polar Bears at Como

Ok, taking a hiatus on the petals series.  I adore it but feel as though it might be repeating a bit.  And I need to gather more pictures.  So I am gonna start another weekly thing.  Probably similar to the petals but with adorable little critters and the places I see them.  I am not sure how exactly it is gonna work... if it will be location based or animal based.  Or a strange mix of the two.  So hear goes nothing!!!  Lets start with something that gets me in the wintery mood.  Polar bears!!!

So sadly I have never gotten to see them in the wild.  My big brother has, he went up to Churchill Manitoba on the shores of the Hudson Bay.  There is research school/something up there.  But I was at Como the other month, there was polar bears!  This made me happy.  Yeah, I know zoos aren't always fabulous, but sometimes it is as close as one can get.  These little(a relative term) buggers were wonderfully active.

I've seen many bears in my day, trust me there will be bear post coming out of my ears.  That is a side effect of life in Yellowstone.  It was awesome to see these polar bears, not as awesome as it would be to see them in person up in the frozen north.  But hey, ya take what you can get!

Petals: Como Zoo

Lady slipper

Como Zoo is an awesome little zoo/conservatory in St. Paul.  They had a lot of monkeys there.  And at some point in the next year, polar bears.  Which is totally a post for another time.  It is awesome, but in the fall, which is the season it was when I went there last, many of the zoo critters are not there.