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Showing posts from May, 2009

Cottoncandy Tummy-aches Are the Best Tummy-aches! or My Trips to the Houston Zoo

After two failed attempts to go to the Houston Zoo on the weekend with Nick (it was perfect weather both times so everyone wanted to be there and there was absolutely no place to park!) I finally made it there with my mom last week. Of course, the parking situation didn't seem much better - school buses were taking up half the parking lot and cars the rest. It only dawned on us why this was when we got up to the entrance, after miles of walking, and saw the huge Earth Day banner. Oh, yeah! The place that we parked had a 3 hour time limit, so we had to get moving. (And I had to get cottoncandy! I'm not a huge fan of sweets but pure sugar in cloud-like form is still heavenly to me. And I eat it like there's no tomorrow! Hence the tummy-ache.) We managed to see quite a bit. Wake Up, Toby! The "world's cutest animal" is always napping! (Because Red Pandas , also known as firefoxes, are crepuscular, or most active at dawn and dusk.) I went again with Nick a few d...

The Waugh Bridge Bat Colony

photo by Dale Martin How neat is that? Houston plays host to its own urban bat colony! I had discovered it upon moving back to Houston's inner loop, after 4 years in New York. Exiting Waugh from Memorial Drive, I noticed a sign for the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony. I got home and googled it and found out the colony of 250,000-300,000 insect-eating Mexican free-tailed bats took up residence under the bridge in 1993. Unlike most other Texas bat colonies that migrate to warmer climates in winter, these little critters stay here year round. Though it's said they don't come out if the temperature goes below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I will be writing more on this topic in upcoming posts, but meanwhile you can read more at the following sites: The Waugh Bat Monitor Buffalo Bayou Partnership Houston Parks and Recreation