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adrian_turtleI went to the zoo yesterday, with Julian Singer. Various logistical problems had kept us from going earlier, so we planned to go yesterday in spite of the rain. It was raining quite heavily at times, but I had my good waterproof hat with the wide brim*, and Julian didn't seem to mind getting wet, and we had a good time.
In a little building near the Zebra Entrance, zookeepers were raising young birds. (Not the main bird house.) The little owl seemed fascinated by us, and vice versa. We also saw a great sign on the door between the rooms: "KEEP OWL OUT OF DUCK ROOM."
We also went to see the giraffes, as one does. There was a sign beside the enclosure, about giraffes having the highest blood pressure of any mammal, because they need to pump blood all the way up there. Some of the Zoo Teens elaborated on this, explaining that if a giraffe kept its head down too long when drinking, its head would explode. (Or maybe their heads would explode if they held them up too long. No wonder the poor things are so skittish.)
I am no sort of expert on zoo design, so I put the question to my friends. How many different Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Exhibits do you think are really called for in a small-to-medium-sized zoo? Aren't charismatic megafauna the point of a zoo? Julian and I thought they were seriously oversupplied with cockroaches and deficient in otters, but they may think it's better to have the otters at the aquarium.
*When we went into the barn to look at some of the tamer animals, a child asked if I was a farmer. (Or possibly asked if we were farmers. I don't remember. Julian?) "No. We're just visiting the zoo, like you are." I thought she might have regarded my dripping hat as a farmer cue, despite my thoroughly un-farmer-like short purple skirt and flimsy shoes. In retrospect, we might have looked like people who worked there just because we were grownups not attached to a child.
In a little building near the Zebra Entrance, zookeepers were raising young birds. (Not the main bird house.) The little owl seemed fascinated by us, and vice versa. We also saw a great sign on the door between the rooms: "KEEP OWL OUT OF DUCK ROOM."
We also went to see the giraffes, as one does. There was a sign beside the enclosure, about giraffes having the highest blood pressure of any mammal, because they need to pump blood all the way up there. Some of the Zoo Teens elaborated on this, explaining that if a giraffe kept its head down too long when drinking, its head would explode. (Or maybe their heads would explode if they held them up too long. No wonder the poor things are so skittish.)
I am no sort of expert on zoo design, so I put the question to my friends. How many different Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Exhibits do you think are really called for in a small-to-medium-sized zoo? Aren't charismatic megafauna the point of a zoo? Julian and I thought they were seriously oversupplied with cockroaches and deficient in otters, but they may think it's better to have the otters at the aquarium.
*When we went into the barn to look at some of the tamer animals, a child asked if I was a farmer. (Or possibly asked if we were farmers. I don't remember. Julian?) "No. We're just visiting the zoo, like you are." I thought she might have regarded my dripping hat as a farmer cue, despite my thoroughly un-farmer-like short purple skirt and flimsy shoes. In retrospect, we might have looked like people who worked there just because we were grownups not attached to a child.
