In the spirit of cooling weather and a quickly approaching fall season, we’ve decided to give away free tickets to the Zoo!
All you have to do is post a response to this blog with your favorite Zoo memory. It can be the first time you came as a youngster and saw a baby giraffe, or the first time you brought your child and saw how excited they were when a tiger walked by.
Or maybe it was even partyin’ it up at Feast with the Beasts last year.
We’ll announce 2 winners on Friday, September 11 for FREE Zoo admission for them and a guest. Let’s hear it!
I brought my nephew in to feed the giraffes behind-the-scenes. He loved it. That was definitely the best time I’ve had at the Houston Zoo.
We take a photo of our daughter with the cobra in front of the reptile house each time we visit the zoo.
We now have about 37 pictures ranging from me holding her while sitting next to it, to her now leaning on it’s head as she grows too quickly above it.
not in the contest.
But my favorite memory was Mac. My son and I had spent the night at the zoo with his Cub Scout Pack. It had stormed all night. Next morning was raining again. We were already wet so we wandered the zoo and took advntage of the limited number of people. Went my to see Mac. We was so much like a little human kid. Mud and puddles everywhere. He would run and dive bomb into the puddles. He would run and jump onto the mud hill. He would roll and rub in the mud. He was hilarious. As soon as he got in the mud or puddle he would get up and do it again and again and again. His mama and auntie just watched and tried to stay out of the way. I could have sworn I saw a big grin on Mac’s face!!!
Well my favorite zoo memory is actually my first visit to the Houston zoo as well as my son’s. He was all of a month old and slept the entire time we were there but I will never forget our first trip to the zoo. we took tons of pictures all of which my little Isaiah was asleep in….I was amazed by all the animals that were acutally out and active…It was quite hot that day… Ive been to the San Antonio zoo as well as the Dallas and Ft.worth zoo, it its hot out the animals are in hiding at other zoos….We spent about and hour just watching one of the monkeys play (wish Isaiah had been awake to see it). I cant remember the monkey’s name but he has a red sweater that he was swinging from….I can’t wait to go to the zoo again, Isaiah is 5months old now and fascinated with the world around him, I cant wait the share the zoo with him again, maybe this time he will stay awake!
My favorite Zoo memory is going with my mom. I came home one weekend when I was in college (about 5years ago) and my and I decided to go to the Zoo! We walked around, looking at all the animals and came upon the rhino. He was a huge beast, just enjoying his afternoon, munching on some hay. Unfortunately, he had his back-end facing the visitors and it happened to be potty-time. He let out a pretty big toot and the crowd went running for cover. Everyone except my mom. As this magnificent animal was doing his private business with no regard for anything in a 10foot radius, my mother stood there just watching. I didn’t know whether to laugh at my mother or scream at her to get out of the way of the flying debris. I think it came out as both! She stood there, baby-talking the rhino. “What a good boy!”, she said in her high-piched singsong voice. Mr. Rhino seemed satisfied and went about his business. I’ll never forget that moment – and the horrified look of the other visitors as my mom stood in what we all knew was certainly the line of fire!
My favorite memory of time spent at the Houston Zoo was last summer. Our daughter had an up-close experience with an orangutan. They came right up to the window and sat down immediately in front of our little girl. It was so sweet watching the two watch one another.
Taking my 5 and 3 year old boys to the petting zoo. The older one was running away from all the goats, the goats were running away from the younger one! Nothing but running kids (pun intended)!
my fondess memories of going to the zoo was on field trips i grade i even got to go when i attended the art institute of houston thats my fondess memory
My favorite zoo memory would have to be the first time my boyfriend took me on a date there. Some might not think a zoo to be the most romantic but this special date made us realize how much we both love animals and the outdoors. WE STILL LOVE EACHOTHER AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS AND WE STILL LOVE OUR HOUSTON ZOO!
Angie,
My boyfriend and I went for one of our first dates. It is a great date place for animal lovers!
Being an animal lover, I have always enjoyed my trips to the zoo. Growing up my favorite part of the zoo has always been the bears. I’ve always wished Houston had the proper weather and conditions and funding to be able to support a panda habitat (being pandas are my favorite), but seeing the brown bears is sufficient. I have pictures of me as a child in front of the bear habitat and now that I have a child of my own, we have visited the zoo on many occasions. My favorite memory however is back when my now 6 year old was only 2. We were in front of the bear habitat and I was trying to get her situated in her stroller so that she could actually see the bears. I was afraid she’d miss it, so I took her out of the stroller and pointed them out. Her little face lit up and she said, “Teddy momma!” I had to laugh because yes, there was the bear, aka:”teddy”, sitting in upright position just like her own teddy. Watching her little face and the excitement made me remember my own experience with Mr. Bear and it made for a very memorable and sweet moment that I will definitely cherish.
Wild Winks behind the scene, in the dark, tour with our Cub Scouts.
We moved here from Ohio in the summer of 2006. We finally discovered the zoo a few months ago. The last time we were there, we could hear Deano barking throughout the park. We also had the cougar and jaguar come right up to the glass to check us out
I think the most memorable time I had at the Houston Zoo would be when i was 5 years old or so, and we were by the Elephants. and one would just keep following me as we walked by, and towards the end of their habitat, it stared at me and I waved at it, and it winked at me. I know it might sound lame, but it was AWESOME!
I was very young and loved to see the seals and almost got in trouble for trying to go under the ropes to see them. I was scared of the hippos and yes there use to be hippos. I just love going every year to the zoo.
So, I was born and raised in Chicago and have been to our Lincoln Park and Brookfield Zoo’s. They are amazing! I moved here 13yrs ago and had never been? Well, I am working with the zoo, I’m the project specialist that is helping them recover from Ike. On my first site visit…OMG, I became a child I was jumping and running all over the place… Read More. I met Toby and a Giraffe was following me every step. Guys support the Houston Zoo it is a wonderful place for kids of all ages and I mean all ages!!!
My favorite Hoston zoo memory is really more of a family tradition… The gorilla at the zoo would put his fingers in his ears and stick out his tongue. When I was little my mom took a picture of me looking at the camera in the same pose as the gorilla. Every visit after that we would take the same picture, adding sisters and cousins as they came along in the family. I was so excited when I had my little girl and was going to carry on the tradition … but sadly the gorilla was to elderly and was “not taking visitors” anymore. But we still talk about that gorilla.
I used to teach for the Art Institute of Houston and brought my “Character Object Design / Animation” classes to the zoo to learn how to draw animals. My favorite experience was drawing a baboon that apparently was “showing off” for us. I have been many times since and never seen the baboon quite as active and fun. The students seemed to love the break and there is no other place in town that we could gain access to amazing live animals. Thanks Houston Zoo.
My favorite Houston Zoo memory is celebrating our little girl’s 3rd birthday with a big group of family and friends. It’s just the ideal spot for a hyper kiddo and a gaggle or relatives to play, run and ogle all of the amazing animal and plant life the Zoo has to offer.WE
We have our favorite places to visit and are getting into ‘Zoo habits’ — Toby and meerkats come first, no matter what. A carousel ride must happen in the middle, we might go back a couple of times to re-visit the giraffes and elephants (depending on the day’s mood) and we always end with the flamingos. This is one of our favorite places to be together in Houston – WE LOVE THE ZOO!!
Well, there was this time that I noticed a mischievous glint in Toby’s eyes as I passed by his den, so I went around the back and let him out. He stretched his legs, grabbed his baseball bat and glove, and asked that I drive him to Minute Maid Park. I said, “But what about Miles; doesn’t he love baseball, too?” Toby nodded sheepishly. So we jailbroke Miles, then we all hopped in my Jeep and headed over to Minute Maid. We high-fived Hunter Pence – he and Toby are really good friends – and we hit a few balls outta the park. Toby was getting a little homesick, so we grabbed some grapes and spinach from Whole Foods (Toby and Miles really only eat the freshest of the fresh), and pulled up a few blankets in Toby’s den to take a nap. When we woke up, we watched a bunch of crazy race car movies on HBO. It was a really lazy day, but sometimes, you really need that
I don’t have one favorite zoo memory, because I love it every time we go!
My husband teases me for being a “little kid” and loving the zoo…but he must not mind because he continues to take me. We are having our first child this fall and I can’t wait to bring her to the zoo!!
My 15 month old son and I moved to Houston in the summer of 1982. I felt very alone and out of my safety zone. I’ve always loved going to the zoo, and ventured off to find the Houston Zoo with my son. The most memorable moment of that first visit was going to the giraffes. There was a very young one out with its mom, and at that time, the high fences weren’t so high! The young giraffe leaned over the fence line to where my son was and licked my son on top of his head. My son wanted to bring the giraffe home as his new pet. We still love the Houston Zoo 27 years later!
My favorite memory was on March 23,2009 when I took my 18 year old son to Zoo. I have been taking him since he was less than a year old and for his 18th birthday him and I took off from work and school and spent the whole day at the Houston Zoo. Now we have pictures from Zoo for each year of his life.
My husband & I first met at the zoo 11 yrs ago on Mother’s Day. We literraly almost ran into each other as we were entering the old children’s petting zoo. We talked the rest of the day. He asked me to marry him in front of the giraffes. We were married a year later in a grassy area by the monkeys. We go to the zoo every year on Mother’s Day. We decorated our baby son’s room in all zoo animals and we always give each other giraffes as gifts.
Some of my very favorite zoo memories are when I was a little girl. My dad used to take me to the zoo almost every weekend. We would walk around and talk to the animals, ride the train and the paddle boats. We would have such a fun time. Those times meant alot to me because my mom & dad were/are divorced and I treasured every moment I had to spend with my dad. Even today as a mom myself, I still enjoy the zoo, this time I enjoy it with my lovely daughter.
I was 7 months pregnant with my second, my first was 16months at the time. it was memorable because the weather started to get warmer than our previous visit, and my daughter, mother-in-law, husband and i were at the elephant exhibit when my daugther said “elnephaante”
)
we all said “yes! big elephant”. she then said: “elnephannte, bigg”. again, we said: “they sure are. and what color are they?” she didn’t answer, just looked at me and then finally said “mommee bigg”
) LOL
that was memorable in so many ways ;o)
I have been going to the zoo since I was a child. I carried on that tradition with my daughter who is now 12. However, for the first time in 44 years, I went to the zoo alone last week. In the middle of the week. How wonderfully relaxing to just wander around and see the animals in mid-day! The tiger was out playing; the grizzly bear was in the pool cooling off; the cheetah was relaxing under a tree; I heard the Keeper’s Chat with the elephants; the weather was beautiful…. As many times as I have been – and we have been members for some time now – this is the first time I have truly experienced the zoo. Support this wonderful place! It is an oasis in our city.
When i was young my dad would take my brothers to the zoo. This became a pretty regular experience on Tuesdays, since that was his day off from work. We rode the zoo train and fished in Hermann park lake. In the zoo my favorite thing to do was ride the trolley inside the zoo. I would get to see everything i wanted and could make plans as to what to see when the ride ended. We would spend a great deal of time feeding the ducks at the outdoor cafe while enjoying our family outing.
My favorite memory of the zoo was a Spring field trip that my son’s class took there and I was a chaperone. We were walking along looking at the animals and we came to the bear exhibits. One of the bears was laying on his back in his rectangle shaped pool and my son yells out “Hey Mom, it looks like Dad in the bathtub!” That was about 10 years ago and I still crack up laughing when I think about it. And yes, my husband was there! He was mortified!
My Memory
Riding the Trams around the Zoo. they was Fun back in the days.
I vividly remember my first trip to the zoo back in 1968. I was almost 5 years old. My father wanted to take pictures of me in front of the Tiger exhibit. The tigers were housed in cages and I was completely terrified to back myself up to them for fear I would be eaten. The picture taken with a Polaroid Swinger, shows me, a curly blonde haired little girl,waving my hands frantically!: ) My mother may have the picture stored somewhere, but I just have to laugh now everytime I think of it. I also remember drinking from the Lion water fountain… of course this was after much discussion that it was not a real lion!
My favorite memory is hard to say really. We are at the zoo a lot. We have attended bdays there, gone with my parents when I was a child, gone on school field trips, with boyfriends and now with my own children.
My children are very into it. The best/favorite part is when the keepers are out and we can chat with them. My middle son loves to ask them questions and usually comes up with some really great ones.
Two weekends (or maybe 3?) ago we were in the small mammal house and they had the naked mole rats out. He asked question after question. The best one, “How far under ground are they normally found?”
We also took pictures with the Lion water fountain that I remember from my childhood.
I could (and have) gone on forever about memories at the zoo. It is one of my favorite places to go!
The day I realized how special it was to watch my children delight in all the wonders at the zoo as they progressed through the different stages of their own lives just as I had as I was growing up was a really cool day at the zoo!
Visiting the day before Mac was born (almost on my birthday) was so exciting because I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my second child!
Saying goodbye to Mac with my daughters was a sad but very important day to all of us.
Well my most memorial zoo memory is when I was 22 years old. I had been married for almost a year that June 6th. But I was also expecting our first son. I was pretty much about 5 months along when the unexpected happend and I misscarried. I was so destraught. This was on May 31st, 1999. When my husband asked me what I wanted to do for our anneversary 6 days later. I had no spirits to do anything but then I had told him that I had never been to the zoo and thats what I wanted to do for our anniversary. It was the best thing ever. I never felt so much peace being around all the animals. I guess I was really in amazement of all the beautiful creatures that God makes.
My favorite memory was seeing the giraffes for the first time when I was 7. I’m looking forward to attending Feast with the Beasts this year and seeing Tyra’s newborn boy!
My favorite memory of the zoo is going as a child with my Mom. We’d save bread (throw it in the freezer) and then take it to the zoo with us. The pond past the seals had fish which we would feed the bread. It was so awesome. Watching all the fish boil up in the water.
I loved when the Cheetahs and Anatolian Shepherds were together in the same enclosure. It was neat seeing the two species together and seeing them out on walks.
They’re still on exhibit together! Check out their blog here http://houstonzooblogs.org/cheetahdog/
Every year on the first day of Daylight Savings, we always recall that trip to the zoo. The three children and I were due at the airport to pick up Dad around noon that Sunday in the late 1960’s before Intercontinental was the airport. We decided to make it an occasion and go to the zoo on the way. It was too much fun and not enough time.
“Let’s go! We’re late!” “Let’go! Daddy’s waiting!” But they wanted to see the lions again. And those lizards! The funny, funny baboons and the elephants. Finally I promised—“We’ll come back.”
Dad was waiting at the curb. “You forgot to change the clock,” he announced as he slipped behind the wheel. We all laughed.
“NO! We had too much fun at the zoo. We’re going back.” We did. A long remembered zoo trip, Sunday lunch and lots of laughs through the years.
My wife was away on a business trip so I was alone with the kids on a weekend and feeling a little lonely. Any married man will know what I mean despite having two children filling the house with their presence.
I decided on the spur of the moment to take the kids to the zoo on my own. My oldest son, 10 years old at the time, helped me throughout the day with his little sister. She was only one at the time and is quite the handful. We spent the day with no real plan, just walking around wherever the little girl wanted to go. We talked most of the day, taking turns holding her hand.
When the day was finished we lost our car in the parking lot but spent the entire time looking for it just talking.
I felt like my son was a little more open to me that day and for that it’s one of my most prized zoo memories. It was just me and him catching up with each other all day.
I took a day off work to take my granddaughter to the zoo. We walked around most of the exhibits. She road the carousal, watched the seals and petted a snake. We concluded our visit in the reptile house. When looking at the various snakes we talked about the different types. Specifically we discussed the King and Coral snake. We had a great day!! The next week she correctly identified a Coral snake in her backyard and alerted her parents to its location. I was thrilled that our zoo trip had extra benefits.
My favorite memory is my kindergarten field trip oh-so-many-years ago. I was lost by the flamingos and didn’t even know it until a frantic room mom ran up to me in a frenzy. I was just enjoying the pink feathered wonders – not my fault the teacher moved on too quickly for my liking!
Feast with the Beasts last year; I got to go to a special viewing of the Cheetahs & Anatolian Shepherds while there. It was AWESOME! The food was pretty good too
My daughter was about five and walking up to the snow leopard exhibit- he had just moved in. My daughter kept running back and forth in front of the exhibit, and the snow leopard chased her back and forth. She thought this was the greatest thing. She thought he wanted to be friends and was playing with her. All I remember is her giggling and playing with her pal the snow leopard. It lasted about twenty minutes.
We vistited the zoo on May 2nd of 2009 and we saw the most amazing thing which was the Baby elephant being protected by the females in the herd. And than the baby giraffe being feed a bottle. It was so sweet and special to see. It was our newest Granddaughters first trip to the Zoo. And could havr beenmine too after seeing the Babies I saw. It was magic to me and would not trade anything for seeing those babies! Just wish ya’ll would bring back the white Tigers. My favorite and did enjoy them several years ago! Love thwe Zoo and will be being our Grandchildren back to see the newest baby giraffe.
I love the Zoo!
I have a great memory each and every time I go to the zoo! When I was a little girl my parents took me to the zoo. I was so thirsty and had a drink of water out of the lion water fountain. My mom took a picture of me on my little tip toes drinking out of the fountain. From then on every time we went to the zoo I had to have my picture taken drinking out of that lion water fountain. When I was a grumpy pre-teen I begrudgingly had my picture taken out of the lion water fountain. Now as an adult when I go to the zoo I still take a picture of myself drinking from the fountain and I email it to my mom and dad to remind them of all the fun times we had at the Houston Zoo. Dont ever get rid of that lion fountain!
So many great memories to choose from and we truly enjoyed reading each one, but after a tough process we’ve decided our two winners of free admission are:
Vicky Conner and Alicia Cardenas!
Congratulations!
Everyone else stayed tuned for another ticket giveaway on our cheetah/dog blog next week.
http://www.houstonzooblogs.org/cheetahdog
Thanks again for participating and we hope you continue to enjoy and post comments in our blogs
My favorite memory is with our youngest son.
We were looking at the giraffes, and one of them leaned over the fence near enough to touch his head with it’s nose…..the look on his face was priceless,