A trip to Rolling Hill's Zoo

Saturday post long run we decided to go to the Rolling Hill's Zoo in Salina, KS.  Well, I take that back. Andrew suddenly wanted to go to see the animals, and there was NO way I was going into Manhattan with it being move in day for freshman.  We decided to head west and have fun at Rolling Hills instead.  I was a little worried about my legs getting tired, but I put on compression socks for the drive down and back, and we rode the tram when we got tired.

 If you haven't been to this zoo, you are missing out.  They have nice, big widespread exhibits that are all connected through wide walk paths.  There is a tram that goes around the zoo and has multiple stops, so you can get on and off at any exhibit.  You do have to purchase a separate ticket for the tram but kids ride free.

 They also have a cafeteria that is kind of pricey but the food was AMAZING!  We had ice cream and hot dogs and fries and it was super tasty.

Andrew loved the big fish pond and fed those huge fish several times plus the canadian geese.  We even got to see a Blue Heron come in and hang out in the exhibit.

 The reptile house was a huge hit as well.  Many of the snakes were being fed or hungry.  This python came down from his perch and slid over to the glass and then proceeded to rub his face on the glass next to andrew's hand. I figured he wanted to eat andrew, but maybe he had good motives.  They also had a very large semi aquatic tank that had everything in it.  They must have just dumped little lizards in, because the snakes in the tank were picking them off for dinner.  We got to see several snakes line up the kill and then take it.

 They also had a really cool playground.  We had to bribe him with ice cream to get him away from it.

He loved the "mingos".  They would come up to the fence for a visit.  He still doesn't have a ton of patience when it comes to waiting for an animal to "do" something, so if an animal was sleeping or just hanging out, he didn't want to linger long.  The mingos and the bat exhibit were probably his favorite.  The bat exhibit was in the big museum that we thought was super cool, but he deemed scary.  We ended up  having to power walk through it since he was slightly freaking out.  

All the exhibits are stuffed animals in realistic poses with sound piped in, but it scared him as soon as we walked in and a lion roared.    It is part of the admission, so if you go, take you time and walk through.  

Overall, this zoo is so worth the drive.  It is perfect for a day adventure.  The prices are typical of what you would see at a zoo, but well worth the price.  We hadn't been in years and they had several nice updates.  They even have times when you can watch a zoo handler feed the animals or do enrichment with them, which would be cool to see.  We will be back for sure when the weather cools off.  It was a bit warm yesterday, and I think that we caught most of the animals napping due to the heat.