zoo-nique

We had a great visit this weekend with my brother, Ellie's Uncle Mike. Yesterday was our town's version of Mardi Gras - we went as owls - and today we went to the zoo (not as owls, although Ellie did initially ask to wear her monkey costume). I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence, early spring hormones, or in part due to the chilly weather, but we saw a lot of interesting animal behavior.

- A male giraffe in a solo pen (rutting, maybe?) was galloping around and around his enclosure. I've never seen a giraffe run in real life before. It was beautiful, graceful. The photo doesn't do it a fraction of justice. 

- A male peacock was trying to attack himself in the mirrored door to the small monkey house: flapping his wings, jumping up and down, squawking, pecking at his reflection. Normally they just wander around looking bored.

- Two of the gibbons in the small monkey house got into a fight while we were inside. We were halfway around the loop when the most tremendous cacaphony broke out. I picked up Ellie as we walked over; she looked a little unnerved by the noise, and I was worried that they might be physically fighting, but they were just screaming at each other with remarkable vocalizations.



This is the bear facing away from us.



- The otters were playing both in and out of the water; one doesn't often see them scampering around the enclosure. They'd play in the water, run across the logs and stones, and end up on the glass roof above the viewing area - which I'd never even noticed before - playing a game with a stick, then jumping back into the water.

- One of the grizzlies was in his pool, which is bound on one side by the viewing area's thick glass wall. He was swimming around right in front of us, very active.

- One of the tigers was closer than I'd ever seen them, pacing back and forth along his fence where it most closely borders the path.

Good times indeed.



This is the bear facing towards us.
A very large bear. Facing very much towards us.