Memorial Day

Get Out and Jungle

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!  The zoo certainly is one of the most fun places to go. Read on to see why. Then go see for yourself!!!  

 

The weather here in NE Ohio has been absolutely amazing this past week.  Sunny skies, flowers in bloom, fresh air – all good for our post Covid activities. I started to think about all the cool places to go, and of course topping my list was our Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  It’s a nationally renowned zoo, in an amazing setting – so fun to go strolling and visiting the animals. Jackie and I have visited on numerous occasions with our girls over the years, we are now looking forward to taking our grandchildren!  I looked on Wikipedia, and found a whole bunch of cool information on the history and development over the years (it’s kind of long, but great trivia).  For those who live nearby, be sure to visit, and for my out-of-town friends, it’s worth the trip (and also good for you to go to the zoo in your cities). Fun additional tidbit, this incredible zoo is free to residents of Cuyahoga County on Monday’s!  Enjoy, and be sure to talk to the animals I certainly have!

Fun Music Link while reading.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is a 183-acre zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The Zoo is divided into several areas: Australian Adventure; African Savanna; Northern Wilderness Trek, The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, Waterfowl Lake, The RainForest, and the newly added Asian Highlands. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has one of the largest collections of primates in North America, The Zoo is a part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.

The Zoo, originally named the Cleveland Zoological Park, first opened in 1882 at Wade Park where the Cleveland Museum of Art now stands, after Jeptha H. Wade donated 73-acres of land and 14 American deer to the City of Cleveland.  During its early years, the Zoo only held animals of local origin.

In 1907, the city of Cleveland moved the Zoo to its current location in Old Brooklyn, and the Zoo acquired its first elephant.  Today the Zoo’s official website states that it currently has 3,000 animal residents representing more than 600 different species.

Aside from walking, Zoo patrons may opt to ride the two “ZooTram” lines which shuttle visitors between the Welcome Plaza (near African Elephant Crossing) and the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building; and between the Welcome Plaza (near the food court) and the Northern Trek.

The RainForest, opened in 1992, is one of the most popular exhibits at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. It is contained in a large, two-story building with over 2 acres of floor space, making it one of the largest indoor tropical environments in the world. The RainForest boasts more than 10,000 plants and over 600 animals from the tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The opening of the RainForest also introduced the Metroparks Zoo’s first permanent reptile collection since the flooding in 1959.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s newer exhibit, African Elephant Crossing, opened on May 5, 2011. Spread over five acres of lightly wooded grasslands, African Elephant Crossing features two large yards for roaming, ponds for swimming, expanded sleeping quarters and a heated outdoor range. The naturalistic habitat is capable of housing up to 10 elephants at a time, including at least one bull and eventually calves. African Elephant Crossing is also home to meerkats, naked mole rats, an African rock python and a spectacular collection of colorful birds.

Willy, the first adult male elephant in Cleveland since 1962, has one tusk and is also the largest animal ever on exhibit at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo at 11-feet tall at the shoulder and 13,000 pounds.

The major animal of the Rainforest is the Bornean orangutan, of which the zoo has four: male Tiram and females Kera Wak, Kayla, and Merah. Merah is the most recent Orangutan baby at the zoo, born in 2014 to Tiram and Kera Wak.

Animals contained in the RainForest include: Straw colored fruit bats, Rodrigues flying foxes, giant anteaters, capybaras, scarlet ibis, prehensile-tailed porcupines, White faced whistling ducks, two-toed sloths, Asian water monitors, Ocelots, Clouded leopards, Ringed teals, green and black poison arrow frogs, macaws, Mouse deer, a reticulated python, green vine snakes, Roseate spoonbills, batagur turtles, Asian small-clawed otters, François’ langurs, extremely rare fishing cats, and several gharials as well as invertebrates, amphibians, turtles, and a Dwarf crocodile.

As part of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s focus on conservation, the Zoo constructed the Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine in September 2004. The center hosts medical, laboratory and surgical suites, in addition to a ward and quarantine area. Its veterinary hospital is equipped with the first CT scanner for use in a zoo hospital.

In 2011, the Zoo opened its new elephant exhibit, African Elephant Crossing. At a total cost of $25 million, the state of the art habitat quadrupled the elephants’ living space, allowing the zoo to increase its number of African elephants from three, to a herd of eight to ten. The exhibit features two large ranges—the Savanna and the Mopani—spread out over several acres. The ranges include deep ponds so that the elephants can swim, as well as expanded sleeping quarters. Periodically throughout the day, the elephants are shepherded across the pathway between the ranges, allowing visitors an up-close view of the animals. In addition to expanding the number of African elephants, the African Elephant Crossing exhibit introduced meerkats, naked mole rats, an African rock python and several species of birds.

The African Savanna area is located near the park entrance. Visitors can observe African lions, flamingos, giraffes, zebras, bontebok, a variety of African birds, black rhinos, Slender horned gazelles, and colobus monkeys. the African elephant crossing contains elephants and meerkats. In 2018, a baby rhino, named Lulu, was born to parents Forrest and Kibbibi.  On August 20 of the same year, another baby rhino, named Nia, was born to parents Forrest and Inge.
The Australian Adventure area is an 8-acre (3.2 ha) exhibit designed to resemble the Australian outback. It is home to wallaroos, kangaroos, Emu and wallabies that roam freely throughout Wallaby Walkabout.

Located in Koala Junction, Gum Leaf Hideout is home to the zoo’s collection of bettongs, koalas, Matschie’s tree-kangaroos, and short-beaked echidnas.

Modeled after a traditional 19th-century sheep station, the Reinberger Homestead offers Zoo visitors a look into Australian home life. The area contains animatronics of a koala and Kookaburra, who speak about the culture.

Designed to replicate the Australian outback, Wallaby Walkabout features winding paths that visitors share with kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos during the months of April through October.  The landscape includes vegetation intended to be consumed by the animals. Families can also take a train ride through the exhibit.

The artificial, 55 foot tall Baobab known as the Yagga Tree is the star of Australian Adventure. It contains exhibits for a prehensile-tailed skink, a cane toad, and a sugar glider, as well as another animatronic, this time a crocodile named Wooly Bill.

The Wilderness Trek area is home to cold climate animals such as Siberian tigers, grizzly bears, Tufted deer, Reindeer, the endangered Persian onager, and Red crowned cranes which remain active outdoors year-round. The California sea lion/harbor seal exhibits feature large pools for visitors to observe the animals at play. The Metroparks Zoo also contains one of the largest collections of bear species in North America, including grizzly bears, Andean bears, Malayan sun bears, North American black bears, and sloth bears.  On January 14, 2019 a female sloth bear named Shive gave birth to a female cub named Shala. Shala was the first sloth bear cub born at the zoo in 30 years

Wolf Wilderness gives visitors a comprehensive look into the environment and wildlife of a northern temperate forest. Wolf Wilderness is one of the principal North American habitats at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The exhibit consists of the Wolf Lodge, a large woodland enclosure for the wolves, a 65,000-gallon pond, and panoramic viewing rooms.

The first exhibit room is dedicated to the six Mexican gray wolves contained in a vast, wooded area directly behind the Wolf Lodge. Zoo patrons can observe the wolves through a large viewing room with floor-to-ceiling windows, which look out into the habitat. Although visitors can also view the wolves from this room, the principal exhibits are the Canadian beaver habitat, the 65,000-US-gallon (250,000 l; 54,000 imp gal) freshwater pond, and the Zoo’s collection of bald eagles.[32] The Canadian beaver habitat features an artificial beaver dam with cross-sectional windows that grant visitors a chance to view the beavers’ nest within.

Asian Highlands opened June 12, 2018. This exhibit features expanded habitats for snow leopards, Amur leopards, and red pandas, and also includes takins on April 22, 2018 three snow leopard cubs were born.

Opened originally as the Primate & Cat Building in 1975, the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building houses one of the largest collections of primate species in North America,[38] including western lowland gorillas, New World monkeys, aye-ayes, and several species of lemur. However, the building does not house the Zoo’s entire primate population; numerous primate species can also be found in the Rain Forest.

In 1985, the Cleveland Aquarium permanently closed and donated its collection of exotic fishes and invertebrates to the Metroparks Zoo.  A section of the Primate & Cat building was renovated to accommodate the new Aquatics section, which currently features 35 salt- and freshwater exhibits include piranhas, a giant Pacific octopus, electric eels, fish and hundreds of living coral.

The zoo’s slowest resident, the Aldabra giant tortoise, can be found in the enclosure directly across from its fastest resident, the cheetah. Several of the tortoises are over one-hundred years old.

The marshy shallows of Waterfowl Lake are home to Chilean flamingos, Black swan, and Canvasback ducks, trumpeter swans. During the summer months, Müller’s gibbons and lemurs populate the lake’s islands, and use ropes suspended above the water to navigate between them. Visitors can observe predatory birds such as Andean condors and Steller’s sea eagles in-flight within towering, outdoor flight cages on the lake’s eastern shore. The nearby Public Greenhouse contains hundreds of tropical plant species in addition to a seasonal butterfly exhibit.  Waterfowl Lake is also the site of Wade Hall, one of the oldest zoo buildings in North America. Today, the hall serves as a Victorian ice cream parlor for Pierre’s Ice Cream Company.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is one of five city zoos in Ohio. The ‘Buckeye State’ has been referred to as a “Zoo State”, as only California rivals Ohio in the sheer number of options zoogoers have for visiting reputable zoos.

A 2014 “Top Ten” ranking of the nation’s zoos by USA Today (based on data provided by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums) recognized the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for being nominated for the USA Today award. Three other Ohio zoos were nominated and won awards for the ‘Best US Zoo’ contest: the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and the Toledo Zoo.

Arguably the most famous animal resident in the Cleveland Metropark Zoo’s history, Timmy attained greater fame as a very prolific sire at the Bronx Zoo. Although, he was known as the “dud stud” at the Cleveland zoo, he proved to be quite virile after he arrived at the Bronx Zoo on loan. Timmy was managed indoors in human care for 25 years before being sent on breeding loan to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s main campus and headquarters at the Bronx Zoo.

The move was highly controversial. The consideration of separating Timmy from his companion Kate, was met with much protest by animal rights activists and was the subject of a federal court case.

However, Timmy went on to sire more than 13 offspring in New York, many of whom were conceived in the Bronx Zoo’s state-of-the-art Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit, which opened after his arrival in New York City.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s annual fall event, “Boo at the Zoo”, takes place in October. Visitors can observe the various cold weather animals that still roam outside, and are encouraged to wear costumes to the park.[50] The Boo at the Zoo event is a safe Halloween option that offers animal shows, live performances, and other fall-related activities.

In Spring 2015, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opened a new reception event center, Stillwater Place. Offering scenic views of nearby Waterfowl Lake and a capacity of up to 300 guests, Stillwater Place is open year-round and caters to many occasions, such as weddings, birthdays, reunions and more.

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.

As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

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Road Trip!

Back when there were 15 stars & stripes on our glorious flag, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Captain Meriwether Lewis & Second Lieutenant William Clark on an expedition that would change our country forever.  Wouldn’t it be great to have seen the country back in those times? Some of the paintings above give a flavor of the beauty and how tough the going really was. And thanks to that expedition, I can use a car to take my family to see our beautiful US of A.  :))  Really interesting read.

 

Ever go for a walk, a run, or jump in the car and head off, not really knowing what’s ahead, or where you’ll end up?  I do, and really love the “unknown”. Back in the very early days of our Nation, it was called an expedition.  No, not the car – the old-fashioned kind, where incredibly brave men (and women) packed up their stuff, gathered up some wagons, boats, grub and strong animals and started exploring.  No maps, no GPS – just a direction – talk about a PIA (Pain in the @%$) Job!  On the surface, it seems pretty reasonable, right … “hey guys, just go in this direction and see where it takes you”.  As a kid, I used to love exploring the neighborhoods on my bike – go down a new street, find a different way home, cut through some woods or just peddle around looking for some of my buds.  Not much risk involved really. Dad and Mom on the other hand would take the family (all of us!) on incredible driving road trips, eventually a few of my siblings have actually been to all 50 states! But when the President of the United States says he’s looking for “the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce”, and commissions your team to go … well, I guess you go.  Today marks the day when The Corps of Discovery departed from Camp Dubois (Camp Wood) at 4 pm on May 14, 1804. Under William Clark’s command, they traveled up the Missouri River in their keelboat and two pirogues to St. Charles, Missouri, where Meriwether Lewis joined them six days later. The expedition set out the next afternoon, May 21, where as many as 45 members, including the officers, enlisted military personnel, civilian volunteers, and support team headed West.  Here is just some of the history provided on Wikipedia – it’s fascinating!  I left in a lot of the links, as the story has so many “legs” to it. Enjoy.  And get on your bike this weekend and go exploring!

The Lewis and Clark Expedition from August 31, 1803, to September 25, 1806, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select group of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The expedition made its way westward, and crossed the Continental Divide of the Americas before reaching the Pacific Coast.

President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, to find a practical route across the western half of the continent, and to establish an American presence in this territory before European powers attempted to establish claims in the region. The campaign’s secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area’s plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local Native American tribes.

For years, Thomas Jefferson read accounts about the ventures of various explorers in the western frontier, and consequently had a long-held interest in further exploring this mostly unknown region of the continent. In the 1780s, while Minister to France, Jefferson met John Ledyard in Paris and they discussed a possible trip to the Pacific Northwest. Jefferson had also read Captain James Cook‘s A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (London, 1784), an account of Cook’s third voyage, and Le Page du Pratz’s The History of Louisiana (London, 1763), all of which greatly influenced his decision to send an expedition.

Two years into his presidency, Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition through the Louisiana territory to the Pacific Ocean. He did not attempt to make a secret of the Lewis and Clark expedition from Spanish, French, and British officials, but rather claimed different reasons for the venture. He used a secret message to ask for funding due to poor relations with the opposition Federalist Party in Congress (wow, what a surprise – funding battles in Washington). Congress subsequently appropriated $2,324 for supplies and food, (that’s it? – obviously a Kowalski was not on the food list) the appropriation of which was left in Lewis’s charge.

In 1803, Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery and named Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who then invited William Clark to co-lead the expedition with him. Lewis demonstrated remarkable skills and potential as a frontiersman, and Jefferson made efforts to prepare him for the long journey ahead as the expedition was gaining approval and funding.

Jefferson explained his choice of Lewis: (I love this description) “It was impossible to find a character who to a complete science in botany, natural history, mineralogy & astronomy, joined the firmness of constitution & character, prudence, habits adapted to the woods & a familiarity with the Indian manners and character, requisite for this undertaking. All the latter qualifications Capt. Lewis has.”

keelboat used for the first year of the journey was built near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1803 at Lewis’s specifications. The boat was completed on August 31 and was immediately loaded with equipment and provisions. Lewis and his crew set sail that afternoon, traveling down the Ohio River to meet up with Clark near Louisville, Kentucky in October 1803 at the Falls of the Ohio. Their goals were to explore the vast territory acquired by the Louisiana Purchase and to establish trade and US sovereignty over the Native Americans along the Missouri River. Jefferson also wanted to establish a US claim of “discovery” to the Pacific Northwest and Oregon territory by documenting an American presence there before European nations could claim the land.

Jefferson’s instructions to the expedition stated: “The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, & such principle stream of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.

The US mint prepared special silver medals with a portrait of Jefferson and inscribed with a message of friendship and peace, called Indian Peace Medals. The soldiers were to distribute them to the tribes that they met. The expedition also prepared advanced weapons to display their military firepower. Among these was an Austrian-made .46 caliber Girandoni air rifle, a repeating rifle with a 20-round tubular magazine that was powerful enough to kill a deer. The expedition was prepared with flintlock firearms, knives, blacksmithing supplies, and cartography equipment and also carried flags, gift bundles, medicine, and other items that they would need for their journey.

The route of Lewis and Clark’s expedition took them up the Missouri River to its headwaters, then on to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River, and it may have been influenced by the purported transcontinental journey of Moncacht-Apé . Jefferson had a copy of Le Page’s book in his library detailing Moncacht-Apé’s itinerary, and Lewis carried a copy with him during the expedition. Le Page’s description of Moncacht-Apé’s route across the continent neglects to mention the need to cross the Rocky Mountains, (oops, a small detail) and it might be the source of Lewis and Clark’s mistaken belief that they could easily carry boats from the Missouri’s headwaters to the westward-flowing Columbia.

From St. Charles, the expedition followed the Missouri through what is now Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, Sergeant Charles Floyd died, among the first to sign up with the Corps of Discovery and was the only member to die during the expedition. He was buried at a bluff by the river, now named after him, in what is now Sioux CityIowa..

During the final week of August, Lewis and Clark reached the edge of the Great Plains During the expedition, the group established relations with about two dozen Indian nations, without whose help the expedition would have risked starvation during the harsh winters or become hopelessly lost in the vast ranges of the Rocky Mountains.

After the expedition had set up camp, nearby Indians came to visit in fair numbers, some staying all night. For several days, Lewis and Clark met in council with Mandan chiefs. Here they met a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau, and his young Shoshone wife Sacagawea. Charbonneau at this time began to serve as the expedition’s translator. Peace was established between the expedition and the Mandan chiefs with the sharing of a Mandan ceremonial pipe.

By April 25, Captain Lewis wrote his progress report of the expedition’s activities and observations of the Native American nations they have encountered to date: A Statistical view of the Indian nations inhabiting the Territory of Louisiana, which outlined the names of various tribes, their locations, trading practices, and water routes used, among other things. President Jefferson would later present this report to Congress.

They followed the Missouri to its headwaters, and over the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass. In canoes, they descended the mountains by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls, and past what is now Portland, Oregon, at the meeting of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Lewis and Clark used William Robert Broughton’s 1792 notes and maps to orient themselves once they reached the lower Columbia River. The sighting of Mount Hood confirmed that the expedition had almost reached the Pacific Ocean.

The expedition sighted the Pacific Ocean for the first time on November 7, 1805, arriving two weeks later, where the expedition faced its second bitter winter camped on the north side of the Columbia River, in a storm-wracked area. Lack of food was a major factor. The elk, the party’s main source of food, had retreated from their usual haunts into the mountains, and the party was now too poor to purchase enough food from neighboring tribes.

On the south side of the Columbia River, 2 miles upstream on the west side of the Netul River (now Lewis and Clark River), they constructed Fort Clatsop. They did this not just for shelter and protection, but also to officially establish the American presence there, with the American flag flying over the fort. During the winter at Fort Clatsop, Lewis committed himself to writing and was determined to remain at the fort until April 1 but was still anxious to move out at the earliest opportunity. By March 22, the stormy weather had subsided and the following morning, on March 23, 1806, the journey home began.

They made their way to Camp Chopunnish in Idaho, along the north bank of the Clearwater River, where the members of the expedition collected 65 horses in preparation to cross the Bitterroot Mountains, lying between modern-day Idaho and western Montana. However, the range was still covered in snow, which prevented the expedition from making the crossing.

As the expedition encountered the various Native American tribes during the course of their journey, they observed and recorded information regarding their lifestyles, customs and the social codes they lived by, as directed by President Jefferson. By western standards, the Native American way of life seemed harsh and unforgiving as witnessed by members of the expedition.

One of the primary customs that distinguished Native American cultures from those of the West was that it was customary for the men to take on two or more wives if they were able to provide for them and often took on a wife or wives who were members of the immediate family circle. Sacagawea, sometimes called Sakajawea or Sakagawea was a Shoshone Native American woman who arrived with her husband Toussaint Charbonneau on the expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

On February 11, 1805, a few weeks after her first contact with the expedition, Sacagawea went into labor which was slow and painful, so the Frenchman Charbonneau suggested she be given a potion of rattlesnake’s rattle to aid in her delivery (yum – Lewis luckily happened to have some snake’s rattle with him). A short time after administering the potion, she delivered a healthy boy who was given the name Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Sacagawea was not the guide for the Expedition, but was important to them as an interpreter and in other ways, as she played an important role in diplomatic relations by talking to chiefs, easing tensions, and giving the impression of a peaceful mission.

The Corps met their objective of reaching the Pacific, mapping and establishing their presence for a legal claim to the land. They established diplomatic relations and trade with at least two dozen indigenous nations. They did not find a continuous waterway to the Pacific Ocean but located an Indian trail that led from the upper end of the Missouri River to the Columbia River which ran to the Pacific Ocean. They gained information about the natural habitat, flora and fauna, bringing back various plant, seed and mineral specimens. They mapped the topography of the land, designating the location of mountain ranges, rivers, and the many Native American tribes during their journey. They also learned and recorded much about the language and customs of the Indian tribes they encountered, and brought back many of their artifacts, including bows, clothing and ceremonial robes.

Detailed timeline

 

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DO YOU LIKE CONTESTS?
Me, too.

As you may know the Kowalski Heat Treating logo finds its way
into the visuals of my Friday posts.
I.  Love.  My.  Logo.
One week there could be three logos.
The next week there could be 15 logos.
And sometimes the logo is very small or just a partial logo showing.
But there are always logos in some of the pictures.
So, I challenge you, my beloved readers, to count them and send me a
quick email with the total number of logos in the Friday post.
On the following Tuesday I’ll pick a winner from the correct answers
and send that lucky person some great KHT swag.
So, start counting and good luck!  
Oh, and the logos at the very top header don’t count.
Got it? Good.  :-))))
Have fun!!

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Mother’s Day

 

I THANK YOU FROM DEEP IN MY HEART

FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE FOR ME

AND I BLESS THE LORD FOR GIVING ME

THE BEST MOTHER THERE COULD BE!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

WE LOVE YOU!!

Thanks to Town&Country Magazine for publishing these great quotes.

See all 30 HERE.