The Minnesota Zoo has started announcing some of their enrichment activities ahead of time, which means I can be warned a little bit of when it's a good time to go to the zoo. I've gotten pretty good over the years at predicting when enrichment is going to happen, but having them actually give dates and times is a big step up.
If you don't know, "enrichment" is what zoos call unusual activities designed to spice up life for the animals. They might be toys, or special food, or activities involving zoo visitors. There were two this morning that I got to, tigers and snow monkeys.
The tigers had three special toys, plus a few extra treats. The giant ball dressed up as a candy corn was a favorite. The pumpkins were hollowed out and filled with frozen blood, which is appetizing if you're a tiger. There were also some perfumed toy bats that I didn't get a good photo of.
The snow monkeys got a wider variety of toys, but weren't very interested in most of them. The main one that got some attention was a rope swing, although the rope tended to be more of interest than the swing. I did get a couple of good photos, though.
There was also a rocking horse that was more in the way than of especial interest as a toy. There was a lot of bouncing on and off of it, rather than riding, really, although this photo makes it look like a ride was in progress.
It was a fun morning, although my body wasn't happy and I had to come home early. Especially the time with the tigers, which was before school groups showed up, was good. The later parts reminded me of why I usually try to be out of there by ten.
They've announced four more of these, with the next one on November 2.