Why Not the Zoo?

Pace yourself. There’s a lot

One year I signed up for IDNYC and made the trip to the Bronx Zoo so I could take advantage of the free Wildlife Conservation Society membership offered with the ID. Between the trip up there and the amount of whining about how much walking is required inside the zoo (it’s 265 acres), it was our only trip on that membership. Everyone is bigger now and Betty specifically requested to visit a zoo, so I decided we could do this again...

As soon as we were inside the zoo, we were greeted with the sounds of scream-crying tantrums. Three separate families facing everything from “I don’t want to leave” to “I don’t want walk.” I stuck hard to the idea that we were going to move slowly and we might only see two things.

I think the kids saw more of the fish in the tiger’s pond than they saw of the tiger. The biggest pay off was probably taking them through Mouse House because it was dark and usually they could find what they were supposed to be seeing running on toy wheels, which is super fun and hilarious.

The plan is to go back at least once more when exhibits re-open with the warm weather. They can’t say they’ve already seen everything before, so hopefully they won’t. —MV

Betty and Boom hunt field mice

Madeline Vega

Everyone watches to see where the tiger will settle down to sunbathe

Madeline Vega