I had a great opportunity on Saturday to visit our local zoo. They were celebrating Enrichment EGGstravaganza, which means that some lucky animals got to have some tasty treats wrapped up in a healthy package that looked like a Papier-mâché ball. And since that is French for "chewed paper", very appropriate. 

I was privileged enough to have a "ride along" with the gracious Melinda Arnold the Public Relations Manager for the zoo to each of the exhibits I visited. Which of course made my visit so much easier to snag pictures of these wonderful creatures. Heck, I even got to go behind the scenes a couple of times when it was safe. It was perfect weather for most of the day, partly sunny with a nice temperature in the 60's. We did have a threat of rain that finally showed up mid-afternoon. But that didn't dampen the spirits of all the excited kids and parents. The park seemed packed!

I've posted another article in the past about the zoo that goes into much more detail of each exhibit so if you want to know more about it check out: Day Trip to Dickerson Park Zoo. But for this article I've got lots of fun photos to show you of the animals celebrating Easter "their way"!

© 2012 by Rottlady

We started out with the Warthog and I was impressed how fast and furious it found and devoured it's egg! Whole hog if I may.

© 2012 by Rottlady

I found the Black & White Colobus sunning itself.

The day was also designated as the "March of the Tortoises" when the Aldabra tortoises move from their winter enclosure to the summer yard. This was the first to show up.

© 2012 by Rottlady

This guy wasn't wasting anytime to get to the yummy grass.

© 2012 by Rottlady

Another one, a female showed up and lead the way. Can you guess what he has on his mind?
I can tell you it wasn't grass...ha!

© 2012 by Rottlady

The lions were loving the attention.

© 2012 by Rottlady

She's making sure she hasn't missed anything.

© 2012 by Rottlady

I had to visit the Giraffe while I was there and this one was licking up the crackers!

The Elephants were the most fun for me because I got to go in back where the fence didn't impede the picture taking so much.
I've got the most pictures of them for that reason.

© 2012 by Rottlady

The eggs didn't last long.

© 2012 by Rottlady

So they substituted melons. The elephants didn't seem to mind.

© 2012 by Rottlady

I felt like I was going to get run over by this one, she came really close to the barrier!
But was as sweet as can be.

© 2012 by Rottlady

The bobcat was fun to watch roaming around for eggs.

© 2012 by Rottlady

The otters were really hard to capture as they were moving so fast!

© 2012 by Rottlady

The Maned wolf was a delicate eater and she really liked the fishy smell of her egg.
I actually was inside the exhibit with Melanie on this one, but the wolf stayed clear across the pen from us.

© 2012 by Rottlady

This peacock had free reign of the zoo, and I saw him displaying a couple of times, but each time he was behind something. So I settled for a head shot.

If you want to know more,click this link: Dickerson Park Zoo, It's located in Springfield Missouri on the north side of town very close to I-44 and Hwy 13 intersection.