Wednesday, August 13, 2014

I am reminded of a line of Emily Dickinson*...

Things I learned at the zoo, today...
  • Capuchin monkeys can be shy.
  • Spider monkeys are not. 
  •  The burro is the worst mooch in the petting zoo.  And the smartest: she scares the kids with her great big teeth, so they won't feed her--therefore, she tips her head way back and opens her mouth for the treat to be dropped in.  And she will follow people who've fed her around and do that to make them laugh...and get more treats.
  • The imp's hair is about the same color as the crackers they sell for guests to feed to the giraffes...which got his head licked pretty solidly.  I'm just sad it happened too fast to get pictures.
  • Wolves are actually quite easy to freak out.  Three zookeepers were in his enclosure, building him a den, and he was running circles around them, watching them, terrified.
  • Snakes will wake up and move to see the imp better, just as the bearded dragons in PetSmart will do.
  • The zoo will occasionally drain the hippo's pool...which makes for a sad hippo.
  • Tigers are also very much not shy.  And the one that was the most not shy was also male.  See post title.
 See: A Dying Tiger Moaned for a Drink.  You'll know which line I was talking about.

2 comments:

  1. So he took a licking and kept on ticking, right? :-) Sounds like a good day!

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    Replies
    1. Yep. Really kicked over his giggle box, too, for several minutes. It was an awesome day, even if I'm still paying for it with sore muscles. One kid (the short one) weighs 36 lbs, and she needed picked up for most displays so that she could see the animals. The imp only needed picked up once--he's 42 lbs (and almost four feet tall, so he kinda pokes out in every direction, and is almost as awkward to pick up as he is heavy). Thank God.

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