Heimblog

I awoke with a desire to go wandering in the cold sunshine. (It was supposed to be clear and sunny, and it turned out to be partly-cloudy, but there was still plenty of sun.) It was 38 degrees in the morning, though. So I wanted to walk somewhere where, if I got lost, I wouldn’t die. Also, I wanted to see some animals on my walk. I used the internet to determine… I should go to the zoo.

So I did. However, it seemed closed. Looks closed, doesn’t it?

All the ticket booths were closed and the gates were closed. But I decided to poke around anyway, and it turns out you can buy a ticket from the person in the nearby souvenir shop. So I did. It was cold, but sunny, and very, very quiet.

No people. The train wasn’t running. No concession stands. No shows. Just me, in a cold park with cold animals.

Many of the animals seemed to be somewhat more curious and/or concerned with me than I would expect, probably because I was the first visitor they’d seen that day. This guy watched me intently until I backed away from the viewing area. Then he relaxed.

The otters were very excited to see me, since there is a food dispenser nearby and nobody else was dispensin’ the food. They are pretty cute little guys.

This is when I first saw other people. It was a family and the mother insisted that this alligator was a fake. It did not move. Even when they yelled at it. It was clearly plastic. Someone pointed out that you could see the neck move very slightly as it breathed, but the mother didn’t see it. People… they ruin zoos!

As the place warmed up and the afternoon began, other people showed up. By the time I left, I had seen five family units wandering around.

It’s a very attractive zoo, but rather small, and I had soon seen everything… and some things I’d seen twice. Here are a couple of my favorites:

This bird is seemingly the only thing in a cage marked “Danger! Stay Back!” Other bird exhibits, such as the flamingos, have no barriers and you could pet them on the head if they came over towards you… in spite of the fact that flamingos are nasty bitey birds. So for this guy to warrant the security fence treatment, he must have done somebody wrong. This bird has killed before. Without remorse.

This big kitty came over to study me while I studied her. She plopped down and watched me until I left, at which point she went back to whatever she was doing.

A mopey yellow tree monitor, in the tiny little reptile house. He was basically the star of the show, as far as lizards go.

When I had seen every last animal, I headed off towards Pensacola, FL.