In which the zoo is visited and nyuks are had by all

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Having some lovely weather last week, the missus and I decided to take a trip to the zoo while the kids were in school. Yeah, that's right. Without the kids. Doesn't matter, because they don't like the zoo anyway.

The highlight of our visit was the poor jaguar, who thought my wife's purse was either the coolest thing ever or prey just out of reach. (She's obviously and rightfully very proud of her Coach purse.)

We attracted a small crowd that was kept pretty entertained for a good three minutes. We finally left because my phone was full and I couldn't shoot any more video.

There was also a peacock that didn't seem to have much issue with having dozens of people folk gawking at it:

(Look, I'm no Spielberg, but that's a damn fine video.)

I dubbed thee the S.S. Minnow. Expectations were mixed.

We rented a paddle boat, since we'd never done it before (rented a paddle boat, that is). They tell you you get thirty minutes, but they trust you to just come back on time. We got paranoid so we didn't venture too far from the dock. Plus, the steering mechanism was less than effective, and it was like trying to navigate the Titanic around an iceberg. We finally stopped in the middle of the lake, peeled an orange, and vegged out. I think our total time was about twenty-two minutes, but I'm not sure. Time has no meaning when you're drifting in the middle of a lake. We also nearly got stuck in some submerged branches, largely because we could barely steer around them. Fortunately we were distracted by some turtles sunning themselves on a log, which I neglected to get a picture of.

Okay, enough blathering, here's the photo gallery:

Some kind of monkey thing.	Another monkey thing.
One more monkey thing. Look, it's not like we were reading any of the signs or something.	Tapir. Conveniently, it's schnozz does indeed taper.
Caimen. I would scream if he "came in" my house. Geddit?	I tried to get a photo of the bats, but they move too fast for my camera, so this'll have to do.
A rare and exotic bird. I think.	Another bird, but redder and exotic-er.
A fish sculpture that's more interesting than the fish in the tank.	Except for these guys.
Jaguar poop. I swear to God.	A bald eagle doing what bald eagles do best and looking bad-ass.
There's more than corn in Indiana, but you'd be hard-pressed to know that when they plant this corn-looking stuff for decoration.	Another something with a funny name I can't remember, but up close they kinda looked like mutated giraffes without the necks.
A peacock looking as majestic as it's able given it's called a "peacock."	Okay, I guess this is pretty much the same as the video. Suck it, here it is anyway.
In case you ever wondered what a peacock butt looks like, this is it.	Mr. (or Mrs.) Giraffe, thank you very much.
Apparently life is dull for the zebra. This guy stood there like this for a good fifteen minutes.	"Well, not much else to do but wait for the buzzards."
Scenic vista from the decks of the S.S. Minnow.	I did wonder if I'd dropped my keys in there, if they would've attacked if I'd gone in to get them.
It's like Where's Waldo?, except you're looking for a rhinoceros.	Fortunately, I found her for you.
In case you ever wondered what a rhinoceros butt looks like, this is it.	Donna, the oldest living hippo in captivity, which is probably much better to be than the oldest dead hippo in captivity. I presume she's survived so long by generally being difficult to see.