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Catoctin Zoo Photos and Videos

On 11/9/07, we visited Thurmont, Maryland. After lunch, we went to the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo. The temperature was about 42 to 45 degrees F. There was a light rain all day so it is a bit dark and cloudy in some pictures. We were the only visitors there. Unlike most zoos, for many of the animals, you could actually touch the animals if you wanted to. You are not supposed to though and some do bite. I confess I petted the fallow deer and angora goats but the ostrich looked a little too hungry! Here are some photos from our visit.

Fallow deer
Fallow deer - buck near the fence
Fallow deer
The head of a fallow deer buck

Bar-headed goose - this bird was gorgeous.
Ducks - mostly mallards
Bar-headed goose
Two very noisy white Chinese geese and some mallards
Bar-headed goose
Geese and ducks

Video! - 1168 KB, mpg movie of the ducks and geese. At the end, you can hear the white Chinese geese honk.

Jungle Fowl - wild chickens
Some bird - I forget the name but it began with a T.
Sheep - I forget the name of this wild sheep
Muflon sheep
Female ostrich and muflon sheep
Female ostrich - she was eating leaves off the ground
White timber wolf - the wolf was my favorite animal. He was absolutely gorgeous. He kept running around but at least not in the same pattern as some of the animals who were pacing.

Video! - 1046 KB, mpg movie of the white Timber wolf running around.

A stream - I took this photo because it was absolutely covered in water lettuce (like my pond before I tossed it out). The alligator pond was also covered in water lettuce. We saw the alligator on the bottom of the shallow pond in a gap in the water lettuce. I do not know why they had not moved him for the winter yet as he will not survive in there. Not only do they not tolerate cold but, if they did, the pond was too shallow.

Two rheas - I was surprised how tiny they are
Two rheas - a regular one and an albino one
The albino rhea - He looks sick but hopefully that is just because he is wet
Three rheas
Lioness
Two jaguars - It was getting really dark so I hope you can see them. A regular jaguar is at the bottom left of the photo. A black jaguar (panther) is at the upper middle of the photo (I can see him at home but not on my work computer). They were pacing.
Male golden pheasant
Male Swinhoe's pheasant
Black swan

Then, we found the small building that housed the lemurs for the winter. Just seeing them made the entire visit worth it. There was glass between them and us but they were right there, dozens of them!
Ringtailed lemurs
Black and white lemurs
Ringtailed lemur - close-up on the face of one
Black and white lemurs

A one-legged goose
Two African porcupines
Four Angora goats
Deer - I forget the name of these unique, small deer but I think they were from Africa
Two African-crowned cranes
Two African-crowned cranes - one was caught in mid flap!
Two African-crowned cranes

There are photos from the National Zoo on 9/14/07 here.

You can also see photos from the Maryland Zoo that I took on 6/7/06 here.