Everyone, meet Trixie. 👋
Trixie is a triceratops.
She's from the Late Cretaceous period and lived 65 million years ago! That's 65,000,000 years ago!!
But guess what!? Right now, she's here at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
Trixie loved making all kinds of friends at the Dinosauria Ranger Station. Kids would stop to say hello before they travelled back in time to become Junior Paleontologists!
But the Ranger Station had been quiet for a while. Trixie was getting lonely.
"Where are all my friends?" she wondered.
That's when Trixie had the bright idea to go look for them.
She walked back through the Dinosauria gates and around the yurt, to see where her friends were hiding.
To her surprise, she didn't see anyone on the other side.
Instead, she saw a giant machine, on a looong track, that looked like it could carry her friends somewhere far away.
Trixie saw...a train!!! She climbed aboard to check it out. She'd never been on a train before.
Then suddenly she heard a loud noise. She couldn't tell what was making the sound. It wasn’t a train whistle, it was more of a honk. Trixie needed to get a better look!
She got off the train and walked toward a sign that said "Africa."
What animal was making that honking sound?
Greater flamingos!!!
"How exciting!" said Trixie.
"I wonder what else is here..." She thought as she nodded off to sleep.
All these Zoo and Garden adventures were making Trixie tired.
When naptime was over, Trixie woke up determined to find her friends.
She ate a quick snack, drank some water, and hit the path. It wasn't long before she found something super cool.
This time is was elephants!
But they didn't make any noise. They didn't even move.
Trixie learned that these elephants were sculptures, made in Nairobi, Kenya by a group called the Ark Collective. How cool!
As she continued to stroll down Main Path, she noticed beautiful flowers on both sides.
Her favorite were the bright red, round ones near an exhibit called Range of the Jaguar.
As she was looking closer at the bright flowers, a Zoo and Gardens' Horticulturist stopped by to tell Trixie they were part of a Powderpuff plant from South America. “What a fun name! Thanks for telling me.” Trixie said to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens worker, as she walked away.
There was a lot more to explore in Range of the Jaguar. In fact, Trixie was most excited to see a jaguar! She looked and listened. She waited patiently. Sure enough...she got to meet a jaguar! Could this day get any better?!
It could! Trixie’s adventure wasn’t over. She had followed signs to a place called Play Park. With a name like that, it had to be fun!
She figured her friends must be there.
Sadly, Trixie still didn’t find her friends.
But she did find penguins! Tons of them, swimming and playing, in Tuxedo Coast.
She learned that the colony here at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has 26 Magellanic penguins.
🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
Trixie still hadn’t found her friends. And she was getting tired again.
Trixie sat down to rest near a calming pond, filled with Koi fish, in the Asian Gardens.
As she watched the water, Trixie began to remember all she had seen on her adventure today...
She got to climb aboard a train.
Meet Greater flamingos.
Learn about sculptures from Kenya.
Talk to a Horticulturist about her favorite flowers.
See a jaguar.
Watch penguins swim.
She had learned so much and met all kinds of new friends!
Her other friends would come back soon, but until then she was going to keep exploring with her new friends at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. 💞
While the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and local schools are closed, let us help make your time together fun and educational, with these At-Home Activities!