Adult male lions are easiest to recognize, as they are one of the biggest cats out there (only second to tigers). Male lions also grow a lot bigger than the female lion.  All lions usually stay in groups called prides.

White tigers are the same as most of your tigers, the only difference is the coloring. Most tigers are yellow, but some are white, and both types are often striped. And did you know that white tigers are actually descendants from bengals?

Jaguars and leopards may look quite similar, but there are ways to tell them apart. For instance, jaguars have larger heads and blotchy spots. Leopards generally are smaller in size and their spots are more clustered.

Here are two more types of leopards. The snow leopard has thicker white fur (to help them survive the cold weather that they often inhabit) and closely placed spots. The black leopards are to leopards as white tigers are to tigers: exact same type just different coloring.

Pumas look similar to small lions, except for the fact that pumas have long dark streaks running from their nose to mouth.

Cheetahs have long, slender bodies and small heads.

Bobcats are roughly twice the size of the ordinary housecat. They have reddish yellow fur with dark brown spots.

Ever hear of tigons and ligers? Tigons are a cross between a male tiger and a female lion, and a liger is a cross between a male lion and female tiger.

We went inside, and the host brought out three animals.  The first one was a barred owl.  It was gorgeous!  Its face was snowy white, and its body was brownish.

The second animal was a mink.  Its coat was glossy and a deep shade of brown.  It was hilarious!  The mink was very riled up.  It kept jumping up and down the sides of the walls.  Back and forth.  Back and forth.  Once it even got on the wire mesh roof!  Everybody was laughing at it.

The third was a boa constrictor.  It was all black with brown circles on its back.  It had small but very distinguished white dots.  It was adorable!

After that we went on a nature walk.  We saw so many animals! Though, the sad thing was they were already sad enough being cooped up like that and my classmates were banging on the glass and screaming!  They were acting like 1st graders!  I could not believe my eyes.

The good part was that we saw black bears with sleek ebony coats.  We saw many different birds, all petite and cute in one exhibit.  In the other we saw bald eagles and red-tailed hawks.

We also saw bobcats that weren’t really as ferocious as you would think.  There were mountain lions that did not come out of their cave much.  Also there were red-tailed foxes which were so adorable!  Lastly, we saw white-tailed deer which were very cute.

I enjoyed my visit very much.  Squam Lake is an astonishing place.  By the way, if you do go there, try and go during the summer. It was freezing there!

Zoos are a great way to get up close to animals and the modern zoo also offers biologists and zoologists opportunities to research rare species.

If you are traveling through the middle America, take a day and visit one of the great zoos in Lee Ann’s report.