Moo Deng this, Moo Deng that. Texas has its own celebrity pygmy hippo now, not to mention many live video streams of animals that aren’t asleep when we’re all awake. I write this as I stare into the night vision Moo Deng live stream, where a spider has taken up residence on the camera lens at two in the morning Thai time. Someone has written in the chat, “WHERE THE HIPPO.” Where the hippo indeed!
Regardless of your feelings on last week’s election, it’s likely you’re looking for a way to decompress and get away from the news cycle for a bit. That’s why we’ve compiled these Texas-based critter cams, set up in zoos and backyards and sanctuaries and more. So pause your doomscrolling and take some time to meditate on the natural world and the simplicity of animals.
Backyard Critters in Austin
Our Award: Most Diverse Animal Interactions (such as viral clip of a titmouse pulling fur from a sleeping fox)
Dan Ballard and Jane Hunter set up an impressive 68 cameras in their backyard in southwest Austin, and their coterie of fans leave comments logging highlights, including this raccoon on a swing grabbing at a skunk’s tail and a gang of raccoons scaring off a buck. There’s a birdbath, a wasp’s nest, and more, and in the spring, you’ll see all manner of baby animals being born and reared on the couple’s five acres.
Meerkats at the El Paso Zoo
Our Award: Most Entertaining
It’s not quite the image quality of Meerkat Manor, but this zoo cam is unique in that there seems to always be some action. These critters love running in circles, digging, summiting boulders, sunning themselves, scampering through pipe tunnels, and, of course, standing on their hind legs and looking curious.
Giraffes at the Houston Zoo
Our Award: Cutest Baby
The Houston Zoo has a number of cams, and this one is probably the best—it’s set up on the feeding platform, so you can get up close and personal with the insides of giraffes’ mouths. You also might spot the baby giraffe, Tino, who was born in April, or a giraffe confronting its own shadow. Occasionally an errant ostrich will loiter among the herd, but the giraffes pay it no mind.
Bats at Bat World Sanctuary
Our Award: Most Comprehensive Habitat View
Bat World Sanctuary, in the North Texas town of Weatherford, provides not one but six bat cams for your viewing pleasure. During the day, you can watch these nocturnal critters doing what they do best—hanging upside down—as well as landing on various dangling fruits and playing with enrichment toys. The site notes that most of the bats usually become active around 6–7 p.m. during the winter and 7–8 p.m. during the summer. I am currently viewing two fruit bats face-deep in a pair of bananas. The sanctuary hosts flying foxes—including African, Egyptian, Jamaican, and short-tailed fruit bats—and microbats. One Indian flying fox, Captain, has his own area—the Captain’s Corner—though he’s often joined by female flying foxes. Apparently elderly bats like to roost in hammocks.
Flamingos at the Houston Zoo
Our Award: Most Aesthetically Pleasing
For a peaceful tropical scene, check out the Chilean flamingos strutting about by the water at the Houston Zoo. The flamingos are currently off camera, but I’m zenning out watching the hundreds of lens flares coming from the afternoon sun filtering through the upper netting. Blissful.
Underwater Wonders at the Dallas World Aquarium
Our Award: Most Meditative
For a mesmerizing escape, watch the thriving ecosystem the aquarium calls Ceylon, which includes angelfish, clownfish, corals, swaying anemones, and more. It’s almost like having a real home aquarium—without any of the scummy chores involved.
Dogs at Demi’s Dog House
Our Award: Highest Serotonin Release
If you prefer to watch domesticated animals, guess what? You can get a peek at other people’s dogs in the playrooms at Demi’s Dog House, a boutique doggy day care in Houston. I’m currently watching thirteen pups of all sizes happily follow their caretaker around the room.
Hippos at the San Antonio Zoo
Watch Timothy, age nine, and his grandmother, Uma, age fifty, lounge in the pool in their enclosure—and perhaps catch a glimpse of Kevin, the mallard duck who decided he lives there now. If you’re lucky, you’ll see li’l Tim performing dolphinesque leaps or celebrating the gift of romaine. And perhaps you can set up a multisensory experience by purchasing a Timothy poop–scented candle. You are now one with the hippos. The news does not exist.
Athena the Owl at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Our Award: Highest-Quality Image
We’d be loath to omit—though it’s not her season at the moment—Athena the great horned owl, who returns almost every year to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, in Austin, to lay her eggs in the sotol planter above the entrance to the courtyard. The camera is close and the image is clear, and if you check in often enough, you might catch Athena’s owlets hatching, toddling around as tiny little fluff balls, and then eventually fledging.
If you want some owl content while you await Athena’s return, check out this eastern screech owl cam from someone’s backyard nest box in Grapevine. Serena the screecher mostly slumbers but will sometimes turn toward the camera as if she knows you are watching. Oh, to be perceived!
