Day Nine of our Thirty Days of Rest Between Projects found Tom, Cassie, Caroline, and I driving to Portland early in the morning where we met Ben and Sarah at the Oregon Zoo. The temperature rose steadily and we were glad to be finished before the heat peaked.
I feel a certain sadness when I see caged animals. This cougar paced - around and around - as cats do. I felt a kinship with her; sometimes this world cages me, too. She was beautiful!
Seal lions swam in a pattern, flowing and floating with the smallest of motions. Reminded me of my little sister and I in our backyard pool all those years ago. Relaxed, we watched for quite awhile.
Ah, the polar bears look harmless and playful behind the glass on a hot day. The paws tell a different story.
This guy was my very favorite! Dusting himself to prevent sunburn and bugs he leisurely scooped and splayed the dry dirt onto himself as naturally as you please. See the dust in the air above his head?
Okay. Not my favorite place. It's stinky in the Bat House and I still have
Dracula movies rattling around in the
Childhood Memories portion of my brain.
Living life upside down.
Crawling around the ceiling on those triangular wings, politely skirting one another, I dunno, maybe bats aren't so scary after all.
Gerenuks are gorgeous!
Ancient dino-birds were HUGE! What a sight it would have been to see them soaring and swooping overhead. Thankfully Ben's arms don't measure up with this ancient wingspan.
Cassie and I could only say, "Ouch," when we saw this beautiful Maasai woman's ear lobes.
Though unmoving of body this giant monitor lizard stared at me, eyes following my movements. Respecting his power I snapped a photo and moved on.
My little meerkat friend!
I feel a certain sadness when I see caged animals. This cougar paced - around and around - as cats do. I felt a kinship with her; sometimes this world cages me, too. She was beautiful!
Seal lions swam in a pattern, flowing and floating with the smallest of motions. Reminded me of my little sister and I in our backyard pool all those years ago. Relaxed, we watched for quite awhile.
Ah, the polar bears look harmless and playful behind the glass on a hot day. The paws tell a different story.
This guy was my very favorite! Dusting himself to prevent sunburn and bugs he leisurely scooped and splayed the dry dirt onto himself as naturally as you please. See the dust in the air above his head?
Okay. Not my favorite place. It's stinky in the Bat House and I still have Dracula movies rattling around in the Childhood Memories portion of my brain.
Living life upside down.
Crawling around the ceiling on those triangular wings, politely skirting one another, I dunno, maybe bats aren't so scary after all.
Gerenuks are gorgeous!
Ancient dino-birds were HUGE! What a sight it would have been to see them soaring and swooping overhead. Thankfully Ben's arms don't measure up with this ancient wingspan.
Cassie and I could only say, "Ouch," when we saw this beautiful Maasai woman's ear lobes.
Though unmoving of body this giant monitor lizard stared at me, eyes following my movements. Respecting his power I snapped a photo and moved on.
My little meerkat friend!
5 comments:
I do enjoy a good zoo, just like I enjoy a good aquarium.
By "good" I do mean that there are good zoos and bad zoos, and I have seen both. I hate to see animals penned up as well. Some zoos do it better than others, though.
Yes, I do know what you mean about good and bad zoos. This is a 'good' one - lots of space, foliage, shade, food and water, as natural a habitat as a zoo can provide, I think.
I agree on the good zoo bad zoo...we have a great one here but I saw one in Wisconsin that had me in tears.
Bats are Indy's favorite thing to see. When she was first learning to talk bats was one of her first words that always came out the second she recognized us pulling into the zoo.
Such a tender free spirit is that little Indy! I hope she enjoyed these photos.
Yes, I've been to the 'had me in tears' zoos, too. Thankfully they are becoming fewer - I hope!
That last photo is CUTE!! Your trip to the zoo looks like memories in the making. Good for all of you and thank you for sharing a delightful educational post!
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