Wildlife Habitat At The Flamingo
The Flamingo is the original casino on the Strip. Take your Las Vegas rental car to the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. Here you will find the cornerstone of Las Vegas. Bugsy Segal envisioned this spectacular enterprise back in 1946. Las Vegas was merely a stop off point in the barren Nevada desert. But Nevada had lenient gambling regulations. Bugsy pictured Las Vegas a haven for the rich and adventuresome. Creative Bugsy planned an indoor pool along with the elaborate casinos. His dream has developed into today’s modern version. The famous landmark neon pink Flamingo still glows on the Strip – a beacon to you in your Las Vegas rental car.
Wildlife Habitat
This exotic tropical oasis is a welcome addition to the Flamingo. It plays host to an elegant flock of pink flamingos. Looking at the brilliant pink bird you notice their curiously shaped bills, which filter the dirt and silt from their diet of shellfish and algae. See a flock over near the island perch on one leg? Does this mean that they are now feeding or sleeping or are they maintaining body heat? Because the Wildlife Habitat flamingo have bright, colorful plumage you know that they get a diet of shrimp and carotenoids. A trivia fact about flamingos is that 20 million years ago flamingos flew in Australia. These graceful, regal, tall birds would not fit well into your Las Vegas rental car.
You meander along the paths catching sight of the many birds. The birds feed in the lagoons and streams surrounding the tiny islands. Colorful parrots perch in the tropical trees watching and squawking over their domain. Listen carefully. Perhaps they are begging for food. Are they actually suggesting lucky Keno numbers or gaming odds? Looking carefully into the water and on logs – did you see something move? Yes you can see the many turtles of various sizes. Shimmery gold, yellow, white, black, exotic blue, cream and orangey red koi swim in the streams and lagoons. Their distinctive color patterns indicate the many varieties available for the landscape ponds. Here and at home special precautions need to be taken, as the colorful Koi are easy catch for their predators. No wonder raccoons, kingfishers and herons visit your yard. They see the Koi as a delicacy. Watch for them under the bridges and waterfalls looking for handouts from the strollers. They congregate near tiny rapids. Koi make great, hardy pets and will survive a trip in your Las Vegas rental car.
The amusing African penguins slip into the water and swim gracefully around the lagoon. On land they waddle like toddlers learning to walk. Ducks and swans grace the habitat’s waterways. The haughty crane and ibis observe all the wildlife and guests, too. With over 300 different birds you can photograph the gorgeous Impeyan pheasants with electric blue back and tail flame colored ring-neck and emerald green head with an iridescent raindrop crest as well as the exotic silver pheasants with their startling white backs and wings and black breasts and the curious Gambel’s quail. The Impeyan pheasants are natives of Mongolia. They really enjoy treats so consider feeding them chickweed, lettuce and even dandelions or tiny tomatoes, grapes and strawberries that you had in your Las Vegas rental car. Impeyans have an amusing courting dance with the male hissing love songs, bouncing and bending forward to almost toppling over, his wings out spread and his neck swinging back and forth like a snake. When breeding the male will attack so back off. The adorable Impeyan chicks look like miniature Sumo wrestlers wearing brown and black feathers as they waddle around. Ferns and other tropical plantings give refuge to the birds. Magnolias and pines scent the air. Store your souvenirs in your Las Vegas rental car.
