Zoo photos, lots of 'em!
Jun. 24th, 2007 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reymonkeyWe went to the zoo yesterday, and took fifty million photos. This is a photo post, because images speak better than words or some shit. The zoo has grown massively since I was there last, with a lot more animals and some major rearrangement. You can't reach the giraffes as well anymore, but there's still a lot of animals you're encouraged to feed. There's also this weirdass skyride thing, which we didn't go on primarily because it wasn't real trustworthy looking.
Yes Wendy, we did see the tigers, but they weren't doing a lot. There's one Wricks photo under the cut. I apologize to all others on dialup, but if we can suffer through this kind of stuff to see photos, so can you. They're really fantastic photos, I think. Lots of close up stuff.
Okay, first off and for Janewt, there was a big bird enclosure near the entrance. Flamingoes outside of it and some other birds inside the netting that didn't have their wings clipped, including sacred ibis and lots of them. The ibis were the first thing that drew all our attention. There were also hugeass rats running around, stealing out of the food bowls left out for the birds.
We were in a hurry to go see the penguins, which were at the far end, because there was a scheduled feeding. They're African penguins, and they made noises that were almost like donkeys when they were hungry. The chick that fed them answered some questions and said that the oldest penguin was 28. That is a penguin is the same age as me. That's scary.
Not far from the penguin enclosure we wandered around a little, and saw a peacock displaying. I got a couple photos, but I'm especially proud of this one because they sell a freaking postcard in the gift shop that looks just like it. This has had a very small amount trimmed off the edge, but he was close and I was zoomed in all the way.
I should add that I actually dislike peacocks, having had to fight one off and sacrifice half my sandwich at another zoo, and that was when I was in High School, not a little kid.
Then in a nice shadowy sidepath, behind a fence I kind of assumed was just to keep you from tramping into the woodsy spots, out comes this little guy. We think it was a muntjac. You can't tell from the photos, but he was literally about two feet high or less at the soulder. He was very shy and skittish, but eventually he ate from all our hands and the beautiful headshot there is his pleading for more food expression. So gentle you could barely feel him taking the food and it felt like a real priveledge to be so close to him. When we went by the same spot later in the day, when the path was noisy with kids, he was nowhere to be seen.
Went on to a kind of balcony, where you could see asian deer and this thing, which is a takin. We're pretty sure it's what the shishigami in Princess Mononoke is designed off.
There was a big pen of fallow deer, which were happy to eat sloppily out of your hand. I have lots of photos of them, including a couple stags and they were in season for antlers, but Bridgie likes this one especially and wants to put it on Courtney's journal.
This guy was one of a couple, no sign but we looked it up online and it's some kind of South American vulture.
On to some of the bigger African animals and Shad's favorite section. You used to be able to feed the giraffes up close, they could reach their heads ober and practically push you over, and I have some excellent old photos of that. They're fenced off more now, but there were baby giraffes everywhere. The section with the zebras is right next to this. There were secretary birds and all kinds of antelopey things all through this, mixed in the with zebras and giraffes.
This little thing landed on the railing of the walkway, and I can't believe I got a photo this good of it. Morri made me do it. ;)
Further over there were rhinos, which make a nice calm barrier between the hoofed 'snackmeat of the serengeti' to quote Shad, and the predators. I got one photo of a lioness, but the males were well hidden under a tree so all you could really see were their asses. There were bears from India, most of them over trying to dig under the fence towards the tiger cage. There's a big gap of fenced area between them, but whatever....
The tigers are always Wendy's favorite part, and she needs to come visit again soon so we can go see them. They weren't very active because we hit their area about one in the afternoon, and all the animals were sacked out. The white male is Rajah, and the female (who was not being photogenic) is Sikari.
There was supposed to be a snow leapord, but it was invisible. We asked in the gift shop and they said where it should be, so we went back to look, but we figure it must have been hiding inside the little shed. On the way back from that an eland posed for us:
And then there was a wild rabbit hanging out by the shed they had porcupines and boas behind glass in.
What I don't have photos of is the sloths, but I am seriously enamored of them. I've always liked sloths and there's a little dark building where they keep two of 'em with some bats. The last time we were there a couple years ago was the first time I saw them, and the first time I'd seen live sloths. There was something incredibly cool about seeing these mysterious furred shapes out there in the dark.
This time, one was next to the glass and moving. He was hanging by his back feet and scratching all over, and then he curled up and looked me over, and then tried to lick my hand through the glass. This was the coolest thing ever. I hung out there for a while, watching him watch me and try to figure out why he couldn't smell me through the glass.
So, very cool. Of course I worked today, which sucked because it was dead, but... sloth! So cool...
I'm gonna go sleep soon, because I work again tomorrow.
Yes Wendy, we did see the tigers, but they weren't doing a lot. There's one Wricks photo under the cut. I apologize to all others on dialup, but if we can suffer through this kind of stuff to see photos, so can you. They're really fantastic photos, I think. Lots of close up stuff.
Okay, first off and for Janewt, there was a big bird enclosure near the entrance. Flamingoes outside of it and some other birds inside the netting that didn't have their wings clipped, including sacred ibis and lots of them. The ibis were the first thing that drew all our attention. There were also hugeass rats running around, stealing out of the food bowls left out for the birds.
We were in a hurry to go see the penguins, which were at the far end, because there was a scheduled feeding. They're African penguins, and they made noises that were almost like donkeys when they were hungry. The chick that fed them answered some questions and said that the oldest penguin was 28. That is a penguin is the same age as me. That's scary.
Not far from the penguin enclosure we wandered around a little, and saw a peacock displaying. I got a couple photos, but I'm especially proud of this one because they sell a freaking postcard in the gift shop that looks just like it. This has had a very small amount trimmed off the edge, but he was close and I was zoomed in all the way.
I should add that I actually dislike peacocks, having had to fight one off and sacrifice half my sandwich at another zoo, and that was when I was in High School, not a little kid.
Then in a nice shadowy sidepath, behind a fence I kind of assumed was just to keep you from tramping into the woodsy spots, out comes this little guy. We think it was a muntjac. You can't tell from the photos, but he was literally about two feet high or less at the soulder. He was very shy and skittish, but eventually he ate from all our hands and the beautiful headshot there is his pleading for more food expression. So gentle you could barely feel him taking the food and it felt like a real priveledge to be so close to him. When we went by the same spot later in the day, when the path was noisy with kids, he was nowhere to be seen.
Went on to a kind of balcony, where you could see asian deer and this thing, which is a takin. We're pretty sure it's what the shishigami in Princess Mononoke is designed off.
There was a big pen of fallow deer, which were happy to eat sloppily out of your hand. I have lots of photos of them, including a couple stags and they were in season for antlers, but Bridgie likes this one especially and wants to put it on Courtney's journal.
This guy was one of a couple, no sign but we looked it up online and it's some kind of South American vulture.
On to some of the bigger African animals and Shad's favorite section. You used to be able to feed the giraffes up close, they could reach their heads ober and practically push you over, and I have some excellent old photos of that. They're fenced off more now, but there were baby giraffes everywhere. The section with the zebras is right next to this. There were secretary birds and all kinds of antelopey things all through this, mixed in the with zebras and giraffes.
This little thing landed on the railing of the walkway, and I can't believe I got a photo this good of it. Morri made me do it. ;)
Further over there were rhinos, which make a nice calm barrier between the hoofed 'snackmeat of the serengeti' to quote Shad, and the predators. I got one photo of a lioness, but the males were well hidden under a tree so all you could really see were their asses. There were bears from India, most of them over trying to dig under the fence towards the tiger cage. There's a big gap of fenced area between them, but whatever....
The tigers are always Wendy's favorite part, and she needs to come visit again soon so we can go see them. They weren't very active because we hit their area about one in the afternoon, and all the animals were sacked out. The white male is Rajah, and the female (who was not being photogenic) is Sikari.
There was supposed to be a snow leapord, but it was invisible. We asked in the gift shop and they said where it should be, so we went back to look, but we figure it must have been hiding inside the little shed. On the way back from that an eland posed for us:
And then there was a wild rabbit hanging out by the shed they had porcupines and boas behind glass in.
What I don't have photos of is the sloths, but I am seriously enamored of them. I've always liked sloths and there's a little dark building where they keep two of 'em with some bats. The last time we were there a couple years ago was the first time I saw them, and the first time I'd seen live sloths. There was something incredibly cool about seeing these mysterious furred shapes out there in the dark.
This time, one was next to the glass and moving. He was hanging by his back feet and scratching all over, and then he curled up and looked me over, and then tried to lick my hand through the glass. This was the coolest thing ever. I hung out there for a while, watching him watch me and try to figure out why he couldn't smell me through the glass.
So, very cool. Of course I worked today, which sucked because it was dead, but... sloth! So cool...
I'm gonna go sleep soon, because I work again tomorrow.
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no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 03:21 am (UTC)Also "snackmeat of the serengeti" made me giggle.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 12:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 02:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:06 pm (UTC)When I lived in WA we had deer in the yard all the time. They used to come eat my mother's tomato plants on the other side of the window, even if you were standing there banging on the other side. I guess some people fed them. Raccoons too, which I hate, and the occasional coyote. There were cougars around but I never saw one myself.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 02:31 pm (UTC)We saw wild turkeys the first time we spent the night, I think. No cougars yet. Or coyotes, but I remember one of our neighbors saying she saw 'em once.
no subject
Date: Jun. 27th, 2007 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 12:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:07 pm (UTC)Bridgie and Wendy are both big on the tigers thing. Bridgie remembers them when they were cubs and everything. I have a couple more photos of the male, but they're all pretty much the same pose. He was actually watching the bears digging across the way.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:14 pm (UTC)I found pictures of baby takins! And muntjacs.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 12:50 pm (UTC)I have my cranky old computer hooked up for brief internet-looking, and dude! Ibises!
Also, that's a great photo of the dragonfly. I love the amber shadows on the wood.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 12:57 pm (UTC)We saw flying foxes, too, in with the sloths. Some were albino. I wish we could have taken photos of them, too, but we didn't want to scare them with the camera flash.
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:06 pm (UTC)Oh wow. Albino flying foxes? I've never seen pictures of that! I know what you mean, though. At the Baltimore zoo
We're taking the computer in to the doctor this evening. Hopefully I can get back to full internetting soon!
no subject
Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:17 pm (UTC)Oh, good. We will look forward to seeing you around again!
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Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 01:09 pm (UTC)I still can't believe that photo came out. We'll blame it on Morri's magic ability with bugs.
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Date: Jun. 25th, 2007 10:08 pm (UTC)That little guy looks like a muntjac to me. :) I love that second picture of him... he looks like a dog.
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Date: Jun. 27th, 2007 03:28 pm (UTC)Yeah, it's been confirmed, and probably a young male. He gave a very doglike impression, actually. It was weird. Anything deerlike is a little funny to me because they have these big boxy bodies and then these toothpick legs. He was about ten times the size of either of our cats, but I swear his legs were no bigger around than theirs.
no subject
Date: Jun. 27th, 2007 03:44 pm (UTC)I think deer have funny faces, personally, but I think they're cute.