Today we went to the zoo. E, as expected, loved every minute of it, postponing his nap by four hours and his demands for a bottle for an hour. I usually enjoy these sorts of things and today was no different, except it was free for locals Monday, meaning the park was crowded and some of the things I would have liked to have done (the butterfly house and part of the fish exhibit) we ended up avoiding because it was too crowded for my tastes. I may have been OK normally, but I didn't want to wait in a line that didn't seem to be moving just to watch a bunch of butterflies flutter around and it was too warm and muggy in the Primates, Cats and Fish house for me to breathe in the crowd that crammed the circular hall of fish. Besides, after multiple visits to the Chattanooga Aquarium, and the massive Georgia Aquarium with it's whale sharks and bowmouth guitarfish, no hall of fish in some zoo is going to really impress me anyway.
On a brief aside, that last hall seems an odd combination, I think, especially considering everything else in the park is grouped by habitat or region. They had everything from gorillas, baboons and lemurs, to snow leopards and red pandas, to sturgeon and clownfish and a few insects, arachnids, and amphibians thrown in for good measure. This was basically the house for things they didn't have room in the rest of the zoo for.
We apparently picked a good day to visit (other than the crowds) because most of the animals (except the red pandas, koalas and tree kangaroo) were wide awake and moving around. We even saw three sloths and all three were practically racing by their standards. One of them was even on the ground when we walked up before climbing back into the faux vines of the enclosure it shared with a prehensile-tailed porcupine, which means the thing had just taken a dump. They only come down out of the trees to relieve themselves.
The coolest thing of the day for me were the red river hogs of Africa. I'd seen these things precisely once and that on TV (The Life of Mammals, perhaps) and I'd always thought they looked a bit like the wizards of the porcine world. Click the link. They really do look interesting. I really wanted to see the New Guinea singing dogs too, but they didn't seem to be in their habitat today.
11 comments:
I went to the GA Aquarium last weekend. It is awesome. I still want to visit Zoo Atlanta sometime soon, though. By sometime soon, I mean when it cools down a little. Maybe September.
That is one weird-looking animal. What's with the long hair hanging off its ears?
Are you guys coming through Knoxville on the way back? Do it! We're bored and need some company.
Julie: You've lived in the metro area for most of your life and haven't been to the zoo? Are you a closet animal hater?
Courtney: I honestly have no clue if the tufts serve any purpose other than making it look badass, and I don't know about Knoxville. It's looking like we'll be taking the old boring route home with stops in Columbus and Cincinnati (I want to see Bodies the Exhibit) I thought you guys were talking about going to Boston.
That is one cool looking pig. Bet it tastes good, too.
We're here in K-town if you guys want to stop in on your way back. You're welcome to spend the night even. We'll go drink some more beer.
Why take the boring route when you can stop in for some Knoxy goodness?
Mickey, Knoxville is on the boring route back home that we always take.
Actually, I should have directed that at Courtney and not Mickey.
I've been to the zoo. Just not in the last 5-10 years.
So you're coming, then?
Julie, that's entirely different. It sounded like in your first comment that you'd never been before.
And it's nice to have Courtney and Mickey back. For the past week it's just been Julie commenting, and while she seemed to be commenting every day instead of in clusters bimonthly (thanks for trying to pick up the slack, by the way) it was getting a little lonely in here.
Courtney: We'll have to see. I have to be back in Atlanta by Sunday evening because I'm spending next week working in the brewery at 5 Seasons in Alpharetta and I don't know when we're leaving Cleveland yet. If you'll call my phone so I can store your number, I'll give you a call when I find out enough to let you know.
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