You WILL Want One!

I had the today off and I received an offer I couldn't refuse. My cousin *REDACTED*, who was NOT "Big Leo" in the hilarious "Midnight Gardeners" prank during high school (he seems to recall using the code name "The Bishop"), called me to tell me that he was taking the kids and a school chum of theirs to The Bronx Zoo- they have the whole week off for Passover and Easter. How could a nerdy fellow like myself pass up an offer of a zoo trip with some awesome company? Of course, not all trips to the zoo end up well, but my track record has been stellar in this regard.

The day being pleasant, but somewhat chilly, the zoo was not crowded at all. There were no lines to any of the added attractions, and my cousin's family membership got us complimentary admission to all of the added attractions. The animals did not fail to deliver the goods- the African hunting dogs were especially active- they seemed to be sorting out their hierarchy by the amount of "playing" they were engaged in. Most other times I've seen them, they've been pretty lethargic. The snow leopards and their melanistic southeast Asian relatives also gave a nice little show- in both instances, one of the cats was grooming a companion. It's funny to consider how little difference there is between the great cats and their domesticated counterparts. That being said, I thank my lucky stars that Ginger isn't approximately my size.

Because most of the animals were at "mid-range", I didn't even bother taking many photographs- they would not have turned out that well. The one animal I snapped a pic of was a tiny African pygmy goose, which was adjacent to the glass of its enclosure and not shy at all:





Isn't that a pretty little birdie? It looks like a painted toy. I don't know how hard they are to keep, but I think I want one. I'm pretty sure you now want one too.