A trip to the zoo

It has been many a moon since I've had the opportunity to take a walk though the Oregon Zoo. The last time was years ago with Dave Glick and his Sisters Elementary School class for an overnight tour. However, a couple of weeks back, I had the opportunity to go through the zoo again with Eric and Trisha Liddell of Sisters and their three children, Josh, Brooke and Samantha.

We began our walk through the Great Northwest exhibits and as we stepped into the Cascade Crest area is was almost like being in the Olympics again, watching mountain goats casually stepping from rock-to-rock in their high mountain home.

From the moment you tread into the life-like exhibits, the one overwhelming factor that makes the Oregon Zoo unique are the myriad educational tools available no matter where you are standing.

As you walk down a wooded path in the Great Northwest exhibit area, you're drawn to the sounds of a gentle stream leading to a waterfall. Along the path, you see a bald eagle perched among the tall Douglas fir trees.

When Eric asked his son Josh what he thought about the eagle exhibit, he replied, "I liked the head because it was white." "What else?" Eric inquired. "It's feet were so cool and I liked the feathers...Oh remember when we walked into their cage...they could like fly over to us. I liked going in their cage!"

Farther down the path, you enter a lava tube tunnel and experience a unique view of swimming schools of Coho salmon. Eagle Canyon provides a perfect look into a typical Northwest watershed, offering both sky high and underwater perspectives.

Bald eagles are tied to fish and waterfowl, and this story is told in the zoo while we are also reminded of how salmon play an integral part in the ecology of the Northwest, bringing nutrients upstream from the ocean and providing food for predators such as bears, eagles and humans.

Everywhere you look throughout the zoo, the message is the same: We are part of wildlife's world and we share in their needs for Life as we fulfillours.

As the Liddells walked in among the sea lions, Josh, Eric and Trisha's six-year-old son, said, "The polar bears were big and white and cool." "The sea lion was so big." "I liked the baby turtles because they were so tiny and cute, and the shell and head on the bigger turtles."

Meandering along, we found ourselves in front of the building that Dave and the children used for sleeping quarters when we came to the zoo for the night studies years ago. It is now used as a frog and amphibian exhibit. In retrospect, that seems appropriate; I seem to recall Dave snoring all night long like a bullfrog.

Josh said, "I liked the frogs because one looked like moss and one looked like a smooth brown rock and one was cool because it has black and yellow stripes." "And I liked the frog statue." "Some of the frogs were so big."

Entering the world of primates, you feel like you are walking through the fragile Southeast Asian habitats that wild orangutans and white-cheeked gibbons call home, and you can take the opportunity to learn about orangutan conservation.

It's possible to view the orangutans at multiple locations, beginning at a replica of a field researcher's house. Just beyond the windows of the house is a covered porch, which is in the animal exhibit, and though the windows resemble everyday house windows, they are made of thick, orangutan-proof laminated glass.

It was here that the Liddell children, along with several other youngsters spent time interacting with the huge orangutans. Primates of two species and societies, only a few inches of each other - but separated by laminated glass and a cultural and biological abyss that may never be crossed.

As four-year-old Brooke eased down close to the glass, curiosity got the best of both she and Kutai, the Oregon Zoo's only male orangutan. Brooke had no idea that Kutai is a very intelligent and creative orangutan and sometimes presents challenges to his keepers who joke that they have to make all the exhibits "Kutai proof" because he loves to dismantle objects and make his own toys and tools.

After Brooke and Kautai shared those few moments together, she said, "I liked the monkey with the red hair but he looked sad."

Our day at the zoo ended all too soon, at closing time all of us realized we would need at least two more days to take it all in.