zoo day

I love going to the zoo with my children, we spend the day walking and talking and running and laughing.  I wonder sometimes if it has anything to do with the animals.  I know that some people don't like zoos because they see that the animals are in un-natural settings and people aren't really seeing wild-life as it should be seen and they worry about the well-being of the animals.  I can see that they might have a bit of an argument there.  I however love the zoo.  I cannot afford to take my children to Africa, Australia, the Arctic, and all the other places around the world to see wonderful animals.  I also cannot explain to them what all these animals look like and eat and how they live without the zoo.  The zoo also provides a wonderful environment for me to talk to my children about being considerate of the wild animals all over the world and how we should take care of the planet.  If all they saw were the animals in our yard I don't think they would worry much about taking care of the environment.  The stray cat in the shed and the crazy squirrel by the gate don't mean much to them.  The birds are all slightly annoying because they poop on the sidewalk and dive-bomb our heads.  The rest of the wild-life eat our strawberries so we don't like them.  Without the zoo and the wonderful people who work there, and are very kind to my children, we would not really want to do anything environmentally friendly in our house.  As it is, today we discussed recycling and reducing shipping.  We talked about habitat preservation and reusing building materials.  We also discussed the history of the wolf and the bald eagle.  I'd say it was a good day, full of teaching moments, thanks zoo.