As another way of celebrating our first anniversary, Jennifer and I are compiling our fave posts of the past year. As many of you longtime readers know, I joined Tree Hugging Family in February. So, while I haven’t been here the entire year, I’ve at least been a Tree Hugging Family reader for that long.
It’s been a wonderful experience.  I have the dedicated community here to thank for that. And, of course, my fun green co-blogger Jennifer who got this blog off to such a great start and keeps it going that way.
Here are my 12 favorite posts of the …read more

There’s an animal called zoo memberships?
Yes, several. And memberships help support them all. Zoos catch a lot of flack from some groups, but good zoos are helping to preserve endangered species through Species Survival Plans within zoos. Some zoos also perform important research and do field work as well.
Plus, there are many reasons spring is a good season to buy a zoo membership:
• Enjoy the outdoors and get exercise while the weather is moderate.
• See the zoo babies!
• Gaze upon the butterflies. (Many zoos have butterfly exhibits open only during the spring months.)
• Have somewhere close by …read more

I held off on posting about the bonobo for a few weeks so it would not look like I’m petting my favorite animal too much, but alas, I can’t hold off another week.
No, it’s not a chimpanzee. It’s a bonobo!
Although bonobos have been called pygmy chimpanzees, their behavior is very different from chimps. They are more peaceful and are led by the females, instead of males. Bonobos really like, uh, making love for the sake of making love. That’s really unique in the animal kingdom. They also use this peaceful activity for conflict resolution. They’ve even been called …read more