Guest Comment

“Just discovered your blog tonight and we love it. Took my 12-yr old daughter, Sierra, to the zoo yesterday as part of our spring break plans. The primate house is always our favorite place. We spend most of our time there. The orangutans are her favorite exhibit there and they always entertain her.”

-Crista M.

Are you MAD about MARMOSETS?

Want to help protect where they live in the wild? Have we got an event for you! On Saturday April 4th from 10am-2pm in front of Monkey Pavilion, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo AAZK Chapter will be hosting a fundraiser in honor of the Atlantic Brazilian Rainforest preservation project, REGUA (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu).

This event will include yummy baked goods, refreshing ice cold lemonade and two chances to win a special “Marmoset Moment” following the 12pm and 2pm drawings.

All proceeds raised will go towards purchasing, restoring and protecting this highly threatened and valuable rainforest. Swing on by and join in the fun.

Old Colorado City CARES

On Saturday 3/28 (tomorrow) from 1-3pm, visit the ZOOmobile and outreach animals at the Colorado City Creamery in Old Colorado City! With any purchase at Colorado City Creamery, you’ll get one free Mountaineer Sky Ride ticket per family! Tickets are limited, so get yours before they run out!

10% of your purchase will go directly to support the animals at the Zoo. Thank you to our friends at Colorado City Creamery for supporting local charities like Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

Be sure to stop by the Colorado City Creamery on Saturday to purchase a tasty treat!

Greenback Cutthroat Trout arrive!

Last week, the Grizzly Falls pool in Rocky Mountain Wild shimmered and glimmered as the Colorado Division of Wildlife released a shipment of Greenback Cutthroat Trout into the water.

The Greenback Cutthroat Trout once swam in large numbers throughout streams in the South Platte and Arkansas Rivers above an altitude of 5000 feet. A number of factors including pollution, irrigation diversion, over-fishing and the introduction of non-native trout species such as rainbow and brown trout into the main rivers and brook trout into the small headwater streams all contributed to the greenback’s rapid disappearance. By 1937, scientists thought greenbacks were extinct.

In 1969, these trout were rediscovered in a few miles of very small streams where they had been isolated from contact with non-native trout. Greenback Cutthroat Trout were classified as endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Although there has been much success in reestablishing Greenback Cutthroat Trout, they are still considered to be a species at risk. Recovery efforts in the wild will continue.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo invites you to Rocky Mountain Wild to view this beautiful, native species!

Preschool Discovery Programs

What a great way to introduce a youngster to the amazing animal kingdom. Your child and their favorite adult learn about a variety of topics through stories, crafts and experiences with our animal friends.

I LIKE TO MOVE IT!

Come swim, swing and stride with us as we talk about animal mobility. We’ll learn how different animals get around and how their movements help them survive! Classes are available from 10-11 am on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays beginning April 8.

For more information or to register, call 633-9925 ext. 127 or visit www.cmzoo.org.

Conservation Awareness Quiz
From allaboutfrogs.org

How environmentally aware is your family? Take this quiz to find out.

1. If you recycle newspaper, used computer paper, and junk mail, add 10 pts.
2. If you picked up litter in the past week, add 5 pts. If you littered in any way. Subtract 20 pts.
3. If you planted one or more trees in the past year, add 10 pts.
4. If you drove your car (or had someone drive you) to destination fewer that two blocks away in the last week, subtract 20 pts.
5. If you have taken your children to a natural setting, such as the woods, a stream or a mountain trail in the last month, add 10 pts.
6. If you recycle aluminum cans and aluminum foil, add 10 pts.
7. If you burn or bag your leaves or grass clippings, subtract 10 pts. If you compost, mulch, or leave you leaves or grass alone to decompose, add 5 pts.
8. If you have a compost pile, add 10 pts.
9. If you have a family vegetable garden, add 5 pts.
10. If you have forgotten to turn off a light, television, or radio in an empty room today, subtract 10 pts.
11. If you have purchased a product packaged in a foam container in the past week (that includes food from some fast food restaurants), subtract 5 pts.
12. If you use both sides of a piece of paper before throwing it away, add 5 pts.
13. If you recycle glass and plastic, add 10 pts.
14. If you have volunteered your time for an environmental cause in the past year (such as paper drive, trash pick-up, etc.), add 10 pts.

How did your family score?

90 points or above: Indeed you are a friendly family of the Earth!
80 to 89 points: You are a concerned family and doing OK.
70 to 79 points: Your family needs to make a plan and try harder.
Below 69: Uh Oh! Your family is contributing to the problem.

We can all take simple steps every day to become more eco-friendly. Visit our website to learn how. As you take your first steps toward conservation, keep in mind that even small changes in the things you do everyday can make a big impact on the environment.

Amazing Elephants

Photo Credit: Joel Sartore

Cameras have revealed how elephants are able to get a drink of fresh water when faced with a stagnant waterhole.

A BBC team discovered that the tusked giants use their trunks to delicately siphon off clean water that has settled at the top of a dirty pool.

The Natural History Unit says this is the first time this behavior has been seen.

The footage forms part of Nature's Great Events: The Great Flood, which follows the annual flooding of Botswana's Okavango Delta.

Spring Break fun at Mountaineer Sky Ride

Get ready for Dinosaur Days at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Mountaineer Sky Ride!



Experience a whole new species of fun this Spring Break! See a swooping pteranadon fossil - on loan from the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center! Meet a real paleontologist! Talk with Zoo docents and touch the Zoo’s amazing biofacts! Meet our outreach animals! Experience “dinosaur science” with Cool Science! Excavate “bones” and other artifacts in our giant “fossil dig site”!

These are just some of the activities scheduled at the Mountaineer Sky Ride Summit this Spring Break week. All the fun is included with your Sky Ride admissions ticket. For more information and a full schedule of events from Saturday March 21 through Sunday March 29, visit our website.

"Save Green" & "Go Green" at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today!

Save some green while going green at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo this beautiful St. Patrick’s Day!

Support gorilla conservation efforts and recycle your cell phone at the Zoo to receive $2 off admission. Cell phones can be dropped off at the Zoo's admissions office. Each recycled phone goes to ECO-CELL, the premiere cell phone recycling program for environmentally minded fundraisers.

Guest Photos

“Julie, age 4, communicates with a new friend, Asha.”

To submit your photos, email them to blogkeeper@cmzoo.org.

Spring Forward

Take a moment to enjoy photos of guests and members “springing forward” with us last Sunday! Thank you all for supporting Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in our amphibian conservation efforts!


Playing the "Frog Jump" game

"The Brave Little Tree Frog" presented by the Cheyenne Mountain "Zoopeteers"

Fox 21's Joe Cole reading to the kids

Our fantastic docent volunteers

Sidewalk chalk artists

If you weren’t able to join us, here are some simple things you can do to protect frogs:

1. If you use bug spray, make sure it does not contain DEET which is extremely harmful to amphibians.

2. Avoid using toxic household chemicals found in some detergents, sanitizers and sprays in excess or near water sources.

3. Keep litter and waste out of street gutters and storm drains which filter directly into lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands.

4. Avoid dumping oil, antifreeze or other household chemicals down sink drains or into the toilet. Contact your local Solid Waste Management Office to find out how to dispose of these materials properly.

Just these simple actions will help preserve frog health and our environment! For more on how you too can help our world’s amphibians visit Year of the Frog website.

Perspective

It’s brisk this February morning as I head up the path. I have traveled this path before but something is different…I can hear the ripple of a stream meeting a gentle pond. Ah, I can see it now, a beautiful combination of nature: work and rest together harboring life.

I continue my way up the path – wait – what is that? I can see it up ahead…hold on…let me take a couple more steps to be sure…

Wow – A MOOSE about 50 feet ahead in the trees! He’s moving his antlers against the tree. He doesn’t see me but I’m sure he is very aware of his surroundings. It seems he is enjoying the opportunity for play that nature has provided him.



What is that pounding I hear behind me? I’m not at home, there is no solicitor knocking at my door, interrupting my morning. I take my eyes off the moose for only a second to search the scene. I discover a woodpecker giving his best to the Aspen tree in front of me. He seems to mock me, trying to give my location away to the moose. I’ll stand still and silent. Am I discovered? A touch of fear enters my body. The moose decides to tolerate me for now and continues to amuse himself with the tree.

I’ve been watching for several minutes when I hear a “screeching” somewhere off in the distance. I can’t put my finger on it but I know I’ve heard this sound before. It sounds like majesty.

There it is! A bald eagle upon the hill! I took me awhile to spot it – ironically it would take only seconds for this fierce hunter to find me. My senses are in overload at this point – a surreal feeling.

A new emotion enters now, but my senses tell me it’s ok. I feel peace and look around to try to understand the source – every vision creates my serenity, and it’s calming.

I’m not deep in the mountains…

I’m at work, at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and I invite you to experience Rocky Mountain Wild, where you too can get closer.

-By Jamie Breitigan, Commissary Manager - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Spring Forward this Sunday!

Remember to set your clocks forward one hour on Sunday! Then hop on over to the Zoo between the hours of 10:00 am and 4:00 pm to celebrate our amphibian friends!

Visit the Lodge at Moose Lake for special frog and amphibian-based activities and games for the whole family: See what kind of frog YOU would be by playing the "Frog Jump" game. How adept are you at "Metamorphosis Matching"? Visit the Awareness Table to find out and to see how an amphibian grows. Visit the Loft to see the Zoo’s real frogs and amphibians and talk with education department members about the world’s amphibian crisis…and what you can do to help.

It’ll be a hoppin’ good time!

Cheyenne Mountian Zoo on You Tube!

Working to globally extend our mission and vision, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo can now be found on You Tube! Access our channel and “Get Closer” to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

Check out our first video!

Congratulations Megan!

Who has one of the coolest jobs in the entire world? Our very own Megan (Ryder) Sanders, Animal Behavior Programs Manager! She’s featured in the February issue of AZA’s CONNECT Magazine! Read all about her important role here at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (click to enlarge):