Great Bear Wilderness Brookfield Zoo

photos from Chicago Zoological Society

As the saying goes "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!" Well perhaps not all in the same enclosure but close. This spring Brookfield Zoo will open their new Great Bear Wilderness exhibit. It will alternately house the grizzly bears and polar bears. This area will be considerably larger than the separate areas the bears are used to now. They will have both above water viewing and underwater viewing. This 27,ooo acre exhibit will have 3 separate 9000 acre habitats. Sounds pretty nice. There is said to be plenty of waterfalls, trees, and caves so all the bears can feel at home when it is there turn to vacation there. This will officially open on May 2010.

January Pet Guest of the Month, Lizzy

This is Lizzy, she is our January Pet Guest of the month here at Best Friends Pet Care. Lizzy is a beautiful Australian Shepherd that loves to spend her time here in doggie play group with the other dogs! Thanks for being a loving friend to us all Lizzy. We love you!

Fun Stuff Fridays.. Play and Spin Mystery Cat Toy

To go along with the previous post I thought I would blog about a cool cat toy this week on Fun Stuff Fridays! This is the Play and Spin Mystery Cat Toy from Kong. It is basically a sturdy plastic tree stump with material on top for scratching, a mouse inside that squeaks periodically when turned on, and a tail that sweeps back and forth. A pretty neat interactive toy. It even comes with replacement tails for when your cat's prey drive kicks in!

Cool Cat Site

This site is for all of our cat friends out there! Click on the picture above to view a really cute cat web site. Some of the things are pretty out there, like the cat doing the tango, but others are just plain cute!

Dog Camp: Hidden Treasures Day!

They were busy today in Dog Camp! Today was Hidden Treasures Day! Everyone should be tired from their search party expeditions to find all the treats!

It's A Winter Wonderland!

All that Chicago Snow sure does not stop the campers! Bring it on!

Western Fox Snake Relocation Project

This little guy might not be as cute and cuddly as the dogs and cats we see here at Best Friends Pet Care, however he still deserves the love and care. He is among the 12 Western Fox Snakes, and 2 Garter Snakes that were re-homed for the winter season. The Lake County Forest Preserve District has begun the Western Fox Snake Relocation Project this year in an effort to help the snakes find a new place to hibernate for the winter. For more information on this project you can check out the Daily Herald.

Doggie New Years Resolutions, The Beginning

Well, today was the day! Not everyone chose to make their resolutions known, Vladimir..... we are still waiting! I know Toby was not to sure about putting his out there either. It is one thing to talk about it but now they all have to commit to resolving! We will run this contest for the Campers for the next two weeks. Wish them all luck! Here are some of their resolutions...

Hairy: I promise to be more confident in my ability to walk across the camp floor. I will no longer walk against the wall.

Sadie: I promise to use the skills my mommy and daddy taught me and not jump on my friends when they come to say hello to me!

Arthur: I promise to come to the realization that I am cute and smart like a human, but I really am a dog! That means no stealing human food!

Sasha: I promise to act like the lady I really am, and stop pulling on my leash!

Mia: I promise to realize that Hairy might like me more if I stop barking at him all of the time!

Koda: I promise to be confident in the fact that my mommy loves me a lot and feeds me every day, I am not starving and I don't need to eat everything I see on the flooor!

Kallie and Murphy: We promise not to tag team people, especially our Mom. People will love us and take us to camp or on a walk more often if we remember our manners! Sit and Stay, we got it!

Stewie January Camper Of The Month

New Years Resolutions For The Dog

The new year has finally come. I am sure most of you have made your long list of resolutions for the new year. Before we know it February will be here and we will still be talking about starting them! Do you have your resolutions written up for the furry friends in the family? No begging at the table, come when called, don't chase the squirrels! Toby's was to cut back on the peanut butter raw hides! For those of you who have your dog in Best Friends Dog Camp don't forget to bring your dogs resolutions with to camp on Tuesday! We will post them on the chart and keep an eye on them for the next few weeks. We will post updates on the blog so you can see how well they are doing! Prizes will be awarded in 2 weeks for those that stuck to their resolutions! Lets see if our dogs truly are better at making promises than us humans!