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Happy Saturday late night/clock change/almost Sunday!
I had a pretty perfect day today.
I got up around 7 and headed out to the Franklin Park Zoo for my Big Cats Revealed class! I took a leisurely walk to the train - stopping at Carburry's on the way for this delicious little item:
I ate in Central Square (which is pleasantly void of drunks, criminals and crazy people at 830am on a Saturday) then hopped on the RedLine.
I got to FPZ really early so I called my mom and wandered around outside the zoo. I could see Gnu and a Zebra from outside the fence.
At a little before 10 more folks started to show up (all women - about 6 of us total I think). We went inside and the class began.
MAGIC!
After a talk by our teacher-lady we went out to observe the kitties! First we visited the Amur Leopards - CRITICALLY ENDANGERED these guys are... only 20 left in the wild! :(!!!
Only Tara came out to see us. Her hubbie was off exhibit since they aren't allowed to mate this year. (We learned all about how different zoos are allowed to breed different animals only at certain times. To preserve animal bloodlines and help conservation efforts. Inneresting!) After mating season they'll get to be out at the same times.
After the leopards we went back to the classroom and had lunch. (I brought egg salad FYI.)
We talked a little more about the big cats and then we went to go see the Tigers and Lion!
We observed these guys from afar for a while. The orange lady is Anala and she has a man-friend, Luther, who is a white tiger!
Did you know that ALL white tigers are descended from ONE white tiger found in the wild in 1952! He was bred with members of his family to make more white tigers. Now most white tigers bred to be zoo and show attractions suffer from severe birth defects due to all the inbreeding. :( Luther is actually a VERY healthy specimen with no facial deformities like a lot of others. (Blah blah blah, look at me, I'm so smart.)
Eventually we tore ourselves away from the tigers to go see capt. roar-y pants, Chris, the zoo's Lion. (You can hear him roaring ALL over the park!) He is AMAZING! He's 15 and they can't breed him (he killed the lioness they introduced him to a couple of years ago) so he lives the bachelor life.
Handsome devil! He even have us a good roar while we were standing around looking at him.
After hanging out around Chris's exhibit we went to the tropical rainforest to see the Ocelot. Izzy was pretty hide-y but later we got to go 'behind the scenes' to where the female ocelot lives - when she was a baby she had a run in with her dad and lost a leg and most of her tail! She didnt want to come out and see us but we got a peek.
We left the rain forest and FINALLY got to go 'up close and personal' with the tigers!
Unfortunately, we didnt get to hug any of them but we got really really close.
Their handler (who's only qualification was that she had been volunteering/working at the zoo since she was 15!!!) told us all about them and how they had been confiscated from some illegal breeders in Texas when they were just babies. At a couple months old they were already 50lbs! The size of Cypress!) They came right over to the back gate and walked around for us and rubbed against the fence just like Scruffy would have done had he been there! I LOVE THEM. I reeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted my picture taken but I was too shy to ask any of my 'classmates'. Oh well.
Next we went to the back door to Chris's enclosure. He grumbled a bunch and ALMOST came over to say hello but ended up keeping his distance.
I wanted to smooch that big leathery nose so bad! What a funny old man.At first our teacher told us that we were going to get EVEN CLOSER and see them 'off-exhibit' in holding but it was a busy Saturday and I'm assuming they wanted to keep the kitties out where the people could see them.
Sure I would have liked to have gotten closer but it was totally magic just the way it was.
Zoos make me equally sad and delighted. I love seeing the animals (and odds are I'll never get to see them in the wild) and I appreciate all they do to try to repopulate the wild with animals we humans just loooooove to kill. But of course its heartbreaking to see these critters in pens. One of the women in my class was saying how sad it was that Chris would pretty much just hang out at the zoo until he dies, doing nuthin'. But I told her, well, it's like he's just a really wealthy guy - sitting around, doin whatever, never having to think about food or being taken care of. Life of leisure.
I'm thinking of becoming a member so I can go see my big cat friends again and again.
Other critters we saw...
A show-off.
A p-dog.
Some 'rillas.
After a long 10-4 day at the zoo I came home and ate a potpie. Then I took a nap. Now I'm up waiting for Mark who has to work til 2am. I'm watching movies and having peach sorbet.
Seriously - one kick-ass day if you ask me.
A few more pictures here.