Somedays I feel like my kiddo belongs in a zoo. Of course, that means we need a visit to Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo. By the time we visit the animals and get some energy out, I no longer think he belongs in the zoo. Winter may seem like a strange time to visit the zoo but it’s actually the perfect time. The Grizzly Bears, Mistaya and Koda, are hibernating and the dingos (I LOVE the dingos) don’t love being outside in winter but I always find that the rest of the animals are out wandering around and you get to see them more. The other great part about going to the zoo in winter is an obvious one: it’s admission by donation from November 1 to March 31

Photo by Erin McCrea.

Photo by Erin McCrea.

We love going in to see the meerkats. There is nothing better than watching them with the song Hakuna Matata in your head. Seriously though, it’s so fun watching those meerkats running around and playing. They are really amazing to watch. We actually stopped by to visit them twice on our visit because my son enjoys them so much.

Photo by Erin McCrea.

We got to see the eagles flying around just at feeding time. We haven’t seen them moving around much on other visits but we always have fun trying to see where they are.

 

Canada Lynx – Photo by Erin McCrea

We stopped to see the Arctic Fox. It was taking a stroll and we’ve never seen them quite so close. It wasn’t interested in us and my son seemed to chase it away just by talking. The Canada Lynx on the other hand was fun to watch and looked right at us. I think the Canada Lynx was my favourite this time. There were two of them but only one came over to talk.

Monkeys – Photo by Erin McCrea.

We originally headed over to the monkeys so we could see the exhibit inside. My son loves the bugs, snakes and lizards. It wasn’t open when we went so we will look forward to it on our next visit. He forgave the building for being closed because watching the monkeys is always fun. We stopped to see the goats as well. We chose to go on a day there was no school but there was also a blowing snow advisory. We made it before the snow but the wind was there. We didn’t visit all the parts of the zoo we normally would have. The great thing about the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is all the walking paths and all the animals. We decided to head to a playground instead of walking around more places but next time we visit we are definitely walking by the butterfly exhibit to see how it’s progressing.

A zoo tradition – Photo by Erin McCrea

Bird Wall – Photo by Erin McCrea

Bird Wall – Photo by my son

We can never resist stopping at the wall. I should compare all the photos we’ve taken some time because we started when the kiddo was pretty small. Our zoo tradition makes me very happy. This was the first year I got a photo taken as well.

Photo by Erin McCrea

Our next stop was the playground. The zoo area has a magnificent park and we visit frequently but some days we like to head to the playground outside the zoo in the park area. It tends to be a bit less busy and has so many fun things to do. My son had lots of time to play before we got cold and headed home.

As always, our trip to the zoo was fun. My son was in great spirits and we both managed to brave the cold. We’re from Saskatchewan, we know how to stay warm in cold weather. It’s nice to have a safe place to visit in the winter.

Forestry Farm Park and Zoo

Dates: All year long
Website: www.saskatoon.ca/parks-recreation-attractions/events-attractions/saskatoon-forestry-farm-park-zoo