Garden Zoo: Central & South America

With fewer species than the North American offerings, I do look forward to finding more compatible species from their region.  Let's begin with birds.  I have two species of Flamingo and 3 of Macaw.

Chilean Flamingo, Phoenicopterus chilensis (the paler pink) & American Flamingo, Phoenicopterus  ruber 

Lt to Rt: Blue & Yellow Macaw, Ara ararauna, Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao, and Hyacinth Macaw, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus

The only members of the Amphibian Class are in this region of animals.  The green frog is actually found in the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Blue Poison Dart Frog, Dendrobates tinctorius "aureus" and Squirrel Treefrog, Hyla squirella

The rest of the animals from this region are mammals.

 Jaguar, Panthera onca

Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyl

Llama, Llama glama

Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri oerstedii 

Southern Tamandua, Tamandua tetradactyl

Among the animals that I would like to see are the Sloth, the Capybara, Andean Bear, the Maned Wolf, the Brazilian Tapir, The Ocelot, the Bandicoot, and the Golden-maned Tamarind.

Culinary Fail....

I've shared a lot of stuff on this forum and most of it I'm pretty proud of and happy with.  But not everything I attempt is a smashing success.  This recipe came to me via FB and friend.  It seemed simple enough.  In its original form it was 1 can condensed soup, 1 container onion chip dip, one little block of grated cheese, precooked chicken and uncooked biscuits.  Perhaps you've seen it?  Because I can never leave well enough alone, I did some substitutions and additions, BUT tried to stay true to the original formula.  The biggest change was to substitute the chicken for ham and add some peppers and corn.  Because I know that veggies ALWAYS add moisture to a casserole, I made sure the corn was completely thawed and dried using some paper towels.  I also upped the cooking time from 25 to 40...and then 50 minutes.  When it got to the point where I was concerned about burning the biscuits that had risen, I removed it from the oven.

On the plate, you can see it doesn't look half bad, right?  But that depends on which half you're talking about!!  The biscuits in the middle just never cooked....  The parts that did were good, but too much of it was nasty.

Oh, well.  Live and learn. 

The fix might be to spread it out more thinly in a larger dish.  OR place the mixture in the dish and then arrange the biscuit bits on the top with a thin coat of the mixture on them.  I do believe that it can be fixed.

My Garden Zoo 2016: North America

Like previous years I have created mini-habitats in container planters and flower pots all around my deck.  In then I place mini-animal figurines in them making what I call my Garden Zoo.  One could say that I'm a little obsessive about it...  I currently have 68 container habitats with 73 different figurine species representatives including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.  As zoos go, mine is pretty impressive!  Let's start a tour.  We'll do it geographically, and we can begin with North American Habitats.  I'll number them as we go, but the numbers are just arbitrary.

There are two species of Deer.

White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus

Florida Key Deer, Odocoileus virginianus clavium

There are moose.

Moose, Alces alces

Mountain Goat, Oreamnos americanus

American Bison, Bison bison

A sixth herbivore, the American Pronghorn Antelope, is in the process of joining my zoo.

Canine members from North America include 3 species, with two more on the way to joining.  The new species are the Arctic Wolf and the Coyote.  Here are the members presently on display.

A pack of Timber Wolves, Canis lupus

 Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Arctic Fox, Vulpes lagopus

There are also three species of North American Bears in my Garden Zoo.

Polar Bear, Ursa maritimus

 Grizzly Bear, Ursa arctos horribilis

Black Bear, Ursa americanus

One sea based mammal, the California Seal Lion, is also a part of my Garden Zoo.

California Seal Lion, Zalophus californianus 

And then there are smaller mammals like:

 American Badger, Taxiea taxus 

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis 

American Marten, Martes americana 

Wolverine, Gulo gulf 

Finally, there is the Snowy Owl.

Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus 

Additionally two new habitats in containers are under development.  One for the North American River Otter and the other for the North American Beaver.  Additionally, there are other North American species awaiting a habitat that include Rattlesnakes, American Alligators, Harbor Seals, Cotton-tailed Rabbits, Jack Rabbits, Raccoons, Chipmunks, and Red Squirrels.  The zoo that grows, is the zoo that prospers.

North American Beaver, Castor canadensis

Romeo the Photographable!