I lived in Seattle for about 3 years, and have visited the Seattle area dozens of times. This was only the second time I had been to this zoo/game park.
The Northwest Trek Game Park is actually south of Seattle, in an area called Eatonville and a suburb of Tacoma.
This is a smaller zoo, with only animals of the northwest. However, they do have some nice displays so lets get started.
As might be expected in a zoo of the Northwest, first up were bald eagles.
Most of the bald eagles, after closer inspection, looked to be injured birds. I believe the Northwest Trek Game Park also acts as a rehabilitation center.
Just past the bald eagles was a golden eagle.
Having grown-up in Colorado I have a soft spot for golden eagles. As a boy I would hike through the back country of Colorado and kept my eyes pealed for golden eagles, though I also liked seeing turkey vultures. Back then, golden eagles, as well as bald eagles, were recovering from the use of the pesticide DDT.
The golden eagle is very important in many Native American cultures. In fact, there are tribal aviaries in the west, so there are sufficient feathers for ceremonies. I hope to visit one of the tribal aviaries someday.
We continue with birds in the form of snowy owls.
I think snowy owls are the most attractive of the owls. They are one of the few owls that hunt both day and night. They kind of have to hunt during the day in the summer, since they are often north of the Arctic Circle so have daylight all day.
For the mammals we start with some smaller mammals, like the raccoon.
The raccoon seemed a bit shy initially then came out to investigate things.
The beaver on the other hand, was content to relax in his house.
I have only seen a few American porcupines in zoos. I actually see the African porcupine more often in zoos. Also, when I see American porcupines in zoos, they are usually huddled in a corner somewhere, almost as difficult to see as a sloth. This one was much more active.
In this same area was North American river otters.
I truly enjoy watching river otters play in the water. However, the temperature was only about 65 degrees that day, so I was in no hurry to go back to where I was staying and hit the pool. Brrr.
There are 13 different kinds of otters in the world. Many (10) look very similar, at first glance, like the the North American river otter. The sea otter and giant otter look quite different than other otters.
A real treat for me in this same area was an American badger.
American Badger
I have not seen many American or other badgers in zoos. When I have seen them, they are often laying in the shade or in their borrows. These, there were actually two but I didn’t a good photo of them together, were quite active.
I am sometimes surprised how rarely I see any of the weasel family, except otters, in zoos. This is a group of mammals I find very interesting.
Sill looking at smaller mammals, next up is a red fox.
The reason the red foxes coat doesn’t look nice and shiny is because it is spring and the red fox is shedding its winter coat. For many furry mammals that live in the northern areas that are colder, the best time to check them out is just before winter. For example, I am guessing this fox would look a lot different in November or December.
Red fox occur in both North America and Europe. The North American red fox is a bit larger and a bit more aggressive.
The Northwest Trek Game Park did have some larger mammals as well. For example, these grizzly bears.
The grizzly bear habitat was the largest one I’ve seen for a bear. The bears had lots of room and things to mess with, like fallen trees. When I first walked up the bears were lying down and I thought the exhibit was empty. Hard to believe I missed the bears initially.
After the bears are the wolves.
The white wolves here were similar to the ones at the Woodland Park Zoo, which is in northern Seattle. I was curious if they were part of a breeding program.
These wolves started howling twice while I was there. It was very eerie on a cool, cloudy day.
After the wolves were some wild cats. First a Canadian lynx.
The lynx is hard to see, so I’ve circled it for you. This is often how I see Canadian lynx or other small cats.
The cougar was much more obvious. I still needed to look for it. I pointed the lynx and cougar out to other zoo visitors.
I don’t normally include such a poor photo, but they had a wolverine and I saw it fully.
Unfortunately, I did not get a good photo. However, I have included a photo of a wolverine from the Henson Robinson Zoo in Springfield Illinois which I will likely write-up sometime in the future.
I included the wolverine because I was excited that the Northwest Trek facility had three members of the weasel family: North American otter, American badger and, my favorite, the wolverine. At most zoos I’m lucky to see one member of the weasel family.
That is it for the walk through part of the zoo/game park. There was also a drive-through portion but I did not get good photos because it was a no stop tour. I have included the few herbivores I saw: elk, American bison, white-tailed deer, and mountain goat in the animal list.
However, that is it for this adventure. Though a relatively small zoo, the habitats for the animals are very nice and large. I hope to go back and get a better photo of the wolverine.
So this is the Zoo Guy to all the Zoo Folk, with the hopes you can visit a zoo soon, maybe the Northwest Trek Game Park, in Eatonville (South Tacoma), Washington.
