BOO! At the Zoo! Where Animals Take You for a Haunt!

Zoo events!

We all get a lil festive here and there, and zoos are no different! When it comes to events, you can have some zoos decorate their zoos and exhibits for both people AND animals. Yes, even the animals get curious at the things that keepers be doin, which-if I believe correctly-is all part of the enrichment!

Oakland Zoo likes to have this kind of fun with their events, and Boo at the Zoo is no different. For starters, the sign itself:

Now you see that?

My initial focus when I entered the zoo was the giant skeleton that was there (see skeleton head on the left). WHAT I DIDN’T NOTICE is how the normal Oakland Zoo sign was just ever-so-slightly edited for the occasion. So ALREADY, the zoo’s getting me with their antics.

Well Played.

But already the festivities are in effect. After you go through the gates, you get a map and some CANDY! Or rather a candy bar, which was a peanut butter bar and really tasty.

You’re also greeted with the gentleman on the right! He’s there to treat you well and talk to you about the Flamingos behind him.

Okay, that’s not really true, but the decorations are a lot of fun!

The map was also nice too; there’s a small scavenger hunt that prompts you to explore the map in order to find the letters to solve the scavenger hunt. With each letter being at every exhibit, it’s a sound idea to visit the entirety of the zoo!

However, there was more. New for this Halloween is a Hay Maze in the area near the tortoises (yes, they have tortoises, and they BIG!). I did take a video of making my way through, but that would be spoilers! It would be prudent to take a look at it yourself!

I wasn’t kidding when I said that they did a lot of decorating of habitats, some in places I wasn’t expecting them to. One such decoration was a platoon of toy soldiers that had been felled by an army of mantella frogs. Incidentally, a group of those frogs is called an army, so one could really see which side could command & conquer!

Another group of decorations took place in the bug room. There was a mini-game in there dedicated to finding a glitched bug in the habitat, and scoping out the factoids near each bug habitat would point you in the right direction of what it is. Now, on top of this being a mini-game, the factoids also contain what video game these bugs would likely play. Given what some of the games were, I gotta say that someone at the Oakland Zoo is a gamer, and I gotta say, I see you!

But there was one such decoration that actually made bust out laughing so hard I had to get it…on the way down.

THIS SKELE HERE!

THIS POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL!!

HOW DID YOU EVEN GET ON THERE?!

DO YOU NEED HELP GETTING DOWN!?

WHY ARE YOU HANGING OUTSIDE THE GONDOLA?

It caught me so off guard the first time that I couldn’t take a picture, having to wait until my return trip to snag it. But I gotta tell ya, it was 100% worth it. Easily one of the best Halloween decorations set at the Zoo.

And it’s still going on for a few more days at the writing of this article!

If you’re down for a Halloween dip amongst animals, I encourage you to visit your local zoo, or if you’re in the bay, consider an Oakland Zoo field trip!

It’ll be a beary spooky good time!

Choco (10/28/23