# 5369 Feed a giraffe

When I was at the Jacksonville Zoo a few years ago, I could have feed a giraffe and decided against it. I am not sure why I didn’t but I know I wanted to do it ever since. While looking at the NEW Zoo website, I discovered I could feed a giraffe every day between 2-5. Of course when I planned my trip to the zoo, I had to make sure I was going to be there for feeding time so I could get my chance to feed a giraffe.

For only $1, anyone could feed one of the giraffes 2 leaves. You could buy as many leaves as you wanted, I suppose. It is a great way to let kids (or anyone for that matter) get up close and personal with the zoo animals. You are on a raised platform that you walk right up to. No climbing involved. That platform puts you at head height with the giraffes.  The zookeeper even educates you about the difference between a male and female giraffe and other information.

Feeding a giraffe only takes a few seconds but you have to wait to let others go in front of you. All the kids really can’t wait to feed the giraffe that leave.  You could even pet the giraffe’s nose if there weren’t other people trying to feed the giraffe. I tried to pet the giraffe but it was preoccupied with more leaves.

It was probably the most fun thing I did at the zoo. I will have to remember next time I go to make sure I have a dollar to feed the giraffe. 

# 3883 Go to the NEW Zoo in Green Bay

I’ve been living in the Valley for 10 years and never once have been to the NEW Zoo in Green Bay which is no more than a 45 minute drive.  The hubby isn’t big on zoos and I’d rather hang out at a ball diamond and read then wander around a zoo. I know…what an exciting life I lead. I tried to go last year but it was closing early due to Boo at the Zoo and the website had that information hidden on same side page. So when I started planning this bucket list adventure day, I knew the NEW Zoo was one of the things I wanted to do…mainly to say I’ve been there.

I have been to the Milwaukee County Zoo numerous times and it is a great zoo. The NEW Zoo is a lot smaller. Honestly, it was not that exciting. I don’t know if it was because it was so hot that a lot of the animals were not very active or if it was because I am used to the Milwaukee Zoo. 

My brother said we were going to over to the Australia area and I asked if we were going to see kangaroos. No. Koalas? No. Wallabies? No.  So what was there? Emus. That was it for the Australia area. An emu or two in an enclosure with other birds. I think there was a kookaburra too.

I saw lots of birds. I fed a giraffe. The red panda was pretty cool. The bald eagle was pretty impressive. The otters were at least swimming. The penguins, despite the heat, were out. Everything else was sleeping or hiding. 

For $7, it wasn’t that bad of a zoo. If it was any more to get in, I might think it wasn’t worth it. Now if you have a season pass and can wander the zoo whenever you want, that’s a pretty good investment. If you have kids, it is a nice zoo to learn about animals. It is small enough that the little ones won’t get cranky before you finish. There is a little play area and a small restaurant. For me it was too small and there weren’t enough animals. If I want to go to a zoo, I want to be able to spend a couple hours there and see many different animals.  Despite it being a small zoo with not a lot of variety, I would visit again especially if it wasn’t so hot and the animals were more active.