Attend Boo at The LA Zoo For a Limited Time Only

Why enjoy spooktacular fun just one weekend in October? The L.A. Zoo invites you to join them the whole month of October, starting October 1st and continuing through Wednesday, October 31st, to feed your imagination with exciting crafts and entertainment, learn about the zoo inhabitants through close encounters and special animal feedings and go trick-or-treating. SoCalFieldTrips was there last Saturday to report on the ghoulish activities that await you!

New this year is the Boo Bird show featuring some of the larger creepy flying residents of the zoo, such as owls and vultures. It was amazing to see these large birds fly over us. The show runs twice a day everyday, except on Tuesdays, at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

This year the maze turned into a spooky stroll with Halloween-themed activities and photo ops along the way. The kids had fun playing the Boo Bean Bag toss and taking pictures with the (not-so) fearsome snake.

After the stroll, we enjoyed talking to the master pumpkin carver who was making pretty fall leaves on the outside of a pumpkin. Did you know that pumpkins do not rot if you don’t carve the inside? So, you can enjoy carved pumpkins all month along if you just remove the thick layer on the outside. However, if you do carve them, one trick to keeping them fresh is to store them in your fridge during the day and display them at night.

One of the fun part of Boo at the Zoo is the fearsome animal feedings! Throughout the month of October, some of the residents will get to enjoy seasonal treats, pumpkins for the plant-loving animals such as the black bear, the elephants or the orangutans and carcasses and bones for the carnivores like lions, komodo dragons and jaguars.

Once again, the interactive “Swazzle’s Monster Menagerie” Puppet show dazzled us. This show is great for all ages. The audience is asked to help create a monster from various animal parts for a lonely scientist puppet but fear not, the result was monstrously cute!

As always, a day at the L.A. Zoo is not complete without seeing our favorite animals and the creepy crawlies at the LAIR. Boo at the Zoo is celebrating Reptile Awareness Day all month long where you will discover fun educational facts about reptiles as you crawl along. Slither over to the LAIR to meet the Gaboon Viper that has the longest fangs of any snake and the highest venom yield. Dracula will be jealous!

The Rainforest of the Americas is great place to see piranhas. It’s home to playful otters as well. The kids had fun throwing their plush in the air and see the otters trying to catch it. It was just as amusing for the animals as it was for the kids. The Central American Tapir was in a playful mood and kept licking the window.

You might not know that the LA Zoo led the charge in saving California condors from extinction and restoring them to their natural habitat. So before you leave, don’t forget to visit the Condor Rescue Zone that my kids love. They have rocks you can climb on and a pretend clinic where you can become an animal doctor for a day and operate on a plush condor. You can even hear its heartbeat!

On Saturday, October 20 and 27, and Sunday, October 21 and 28, the Halloween bash will include roaming characters and trick-or-treat stations throughout the grounds. And for an even more complete experience, why not spend that night at the zoo? On Saturday, October 27 you can enjoy a creepy but fun family night at the zoo. The evening includes a guided nighttime tour of the zoo, interactive activities, an early morning tour, an animal presentation but also dinner, s’mores and breakfast. Tickets are $100 per person and the program is available to all families.