#Cleveland Metroparks

[jpegoftheweek]

Jpeg Of The Week #1,297 - Our Beautiful Metroparks, even in the dead of winter. Step right up!

[wingedjewels]

Another flavor by Tom Bognar Via Flickr: After visiting the Cardinal flowers this hummingbird visited these purple flowers.

[ultralowoxygen]

000060130002-edit by Simon Hartmann Via Flickr: 09/30/2023 10:27am 1/250 f8 vegetation 41.54205° N, 81.63112° W

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Keeping an eye on her cub by Linda Via Flickr: Ruth, taking a break but always keeping a sharp eye on her three-month-old son.

[nerdy-birdy-photography]

9th September 2024

Asian Lantern Festival at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

📸: Fujifilm X-T30ii

[fallauween]

Autumn Valley by ET Photographic

[rie-k-photo]

Huntington Beach Sunrise by EDrost88 https://www.flickr.com/photos/62091376@N03/46834420474

[white-elordas-nerdy-lifestyle]

3rd September 2024

Little Red Hood out on an adventure at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

[lowat-golden-tower]

Went to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo with my sister since it's free for Cuyahoga residents and all on Mondays. Saw sooo many good animals but this guy!!!

This red panda is a fucking mood.

[jpegoftheweek]

Jpeg Of The Week #1,278 - Fall color, 2024, in the Cleveland Metroparks, funny story about the last shot on the bottom. I Used my wallet to prop up my phone for a self timer selfie, (STS) and then, well it's not really that funny, but the wallet was still there an hour later! 😃

[silentbob4569]

A picture I took

[statisticalcats2]

Me talking to the mental projections of Mogo Zoo and Zookeeper Chad in my head as I watch the latest video update on Jameela's hand-rearing/surrogacy journey like "wasn't that moment cute where the zookeeper in the GORILLA VEST handed Jameela over to the other zookeeper in the GORILLA VEST"

[goosehaver]

thinking abt him....

[laquintaindependence]

Hotels near Cleveland Metroparks Zoo | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hotel

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[rarund]

Sony A7ii with Sony 24-105 f/4 - Side falls at Tinker Falls, Bedford Reservation, Cleveland Metroparks. July 2019.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Very, very fresh bison calf.

Months and months ago I promised y'all photos of the bison birth I was lucky enough to observe at the Cleveland Zoo last spring. As requested, they'll be under a cut, because unlike this lovely photo from the zoo announcement post, my photos are... goopy.

His name is Tighee, a name which the zoo said is "the name of a Shoshone chief."

We walked up just as things started to get going, and the story is below the cut...

This is Blue, a female bison who arrived at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in fall of 2022 already pregnant. When we got to the habitat, there were a ton of people gathered around, and it wasn't quite clear what was going on.

Then we noticed her full udder and the extra pair of feet.

She was dead-center in the (pretty large) habitat, which was nice - though there was a crowd, she had some good distance from everyone for most of it. The calf came pretty quickly, all things considered (something especially helpful when you're holding a heavy camera up on full manual zoom without a tripod). Because she was at a distance, my friend and I spent a bunch of time showing people near us photos on my camera screen so they could get a good view.

I was honestly really surprised at the number of people who asked why the zoo staff weren't in there with her, helping her give birth. So we explained to folk that zoo staff don't normally go in with bison on a normal day because they're so big and dangerous, and that during a birth (a time of potential stress for the whole herd, the rest of whom were off to the side of that habitat) it would be especially risky to do so. But you could see people in the zoo's uniform colors clustered around the fence, keeping a close eye on her.

And then there was a calf! For folk who haven't seen what a whole amniotic sac looks like, I'm including the next couple photos.

This one is still mid-birth, as you can see. The hooves come out first, with the calf's head laying parallel to them.

Blue immediately moves to break the amniotic sac and clear the calf's airways of mucus. Om nom nom.

We have open eyes and an awake baby! The amniotic sac is full of fluid that helps protect the baby while it's in the uterus, which means once it's broken, the baby is goopy. One of mom's first jobs is to lick all of it away to dry the calf off.

A first attempt at using legs!

Nope, being born was too hard and legs don't work yet. Time to rest and recover from the effort of thinking about standing up.

The first inquisitive member of the herd, another young female, comes to check out the newest addition.

More attempts at legs! Getting better but still not coordinated enough yet.

They're starting to help the baby stand up. In a non-captive setting it would be important for him to be able to walk pretty quickly after being born, and he has to stand up to be able to nurse!

Everyone comes to check him out, now.

We have legs! They work! He hadn't quite figured out where to nurse from yet, though.

And that's your bison birth for the day!