Doin' the Zoo
Jul. 28th, 2002 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weaselmomAny day I get to go to the zoo for free is a good day in my book. S's company had its picnic at Woodland Park today with free admission to the zoo and butterfly exhibit. We showed up, snarfed free food, and bailed on the event itself. It was a perfect day, cool and cloudy with a bit of occasional mistiness just to refresh us. I was very excited because the zoo has a new fisher habitat thanks to the Northwest Trek breeding program. We got to see only one of the zoo's fishers and that was after making four trips back to the Northwest Trail before we caught the sweet thing out of its den. It's much easier to see the fishers at NWTrek, but I was happy to get a fix. We also really enjoyed the river otter habitat, watching them corkscrew lazily in their pond, trailing quicksilver bubbles.
We finally saw the "baby" elephant, Hansa, who is more than a year old. We were fortunate enough to be right in front of the pool when the keepers brought Hansa, her mother, and a big African elephant out for a bath. As children will, Hansa pooped in the water, but the keepers seemed used to it and were quite adroit with their long-handled net.
The butterfly exhibit was pleasant but I think the one at Seattle Center is better. Here, the butterflies were quite lethargic in the overcast afternoon whereas I believe Seattle Center has artificial sunlight. A few years ago at the latter exhibit, several butterflies landed on S and me. He had a very large one riding around on his head but managed to keep up an air of dignity.
There are times you don't really want to experience interaction with animals. In the Night and Day exhibit, S located several fruit bats in the tropical gloom either hanging or traveling upside down. Directly in front of us, one bat turned itself right-side up and directed a healthy stream of urine at our faces. Glass-fronted enclosures are good.
My biggest disappointment anytime I'm at the zoo is the overwhelming ignorance of most of the attendees. I know this is kind of a snotty attitude, but I get so angry seeing adults (who should know better) tapping on the glass in spite of signs saying it upsets the animals, or yelling in a habitat, or leaving both sets of doors open when entering or leaving the aviaries. Harry Potter is not so very far from the truth. And most of the little kids would rather play in the bushes or on the rocks than look at animals for even a moment. But then I think that maybe some of the experience will rub off on the little savages and a few of them might actually grow up to give a crap about nature.
I'm not really as cynical as I sound right now. It's just that I'm packing a headache, so I think it's time to go hide under the blankets and see if sleep will fix it.
We finally saw the "baby" elephant, Hansa, who is more than a year old. We were fortunate enough to be right in front of the pool when the keepers brought Hansa, her mother, and a big African elephant out for a bath. As children will, Hansa pooped in the water, but the keepers seemed used to it and were quite adroit with their long-handled net.
The butterfly exhibit was pleasant but I think the one at Seattle Center is better. Here, the butterflies were quite lethargic in the overcast afternoon whereas I believe Seattle Center has artificial sunlight. A few years ago at the latter exhibit, several butterflies landed on S and me. He had a very large one riding around on his head but managed to keep up an air of dignity.
There are times you don't really want to experience interaction with animals. In the Night and Day exhibit, S located several fruit bats in the tropical gloom either hanging or traveling upside down. Directly in front of us, one bat turned itself right-side up and directed a healthy stream of urine at our faces. Glass-fronted enclosures are good.
My biggest disappointment anytime I'm at the zoo is the overwhelming ignorance of most of the attendees. I know this is kind of a snotty attitude, but I get so angry seeing adults (who should know better) tapping on the glass in spite of signs saying it upsets the animals, or yelling in a habitat, or leaving both sets of doors open when entering or leaving the aviaries. Harry Potter is not so very far from the truth. And most of the little kids would rather play in the bushes or on the rocks than look at animals for even a moment. But then I think that maybe some of the experience will rub off on the little savages and a few of them might actually grow up to give a crap about nature.
I'm not really as cynical as I sound right now. It's just that I'm packing a headache, so I think it's time to go hide under the blankets and see if sleep will fix it.
