Back to School

Yesterday was our first day back at school this school year, and we opened the year in style--with a field trip to the zoo!

It had been several years since we had been to the zoo. We all enjoyed the beautiful day. The crowds were at a minimum. Some of the animals posed for photos, and others put on shows with their behavior.

We were introduced to one part of the zoo we had not visited before, the veterinary center. It was interesting to see the vets working with two monkeys new to the zoo. The monkeys were anesthetized so as not to be traumatized by their exams. The almost looked like floppy stuffed animals as they were carried from the exam table to the scale. But the gloved hands and careful handling by the vet proved otherwise. When their lab work is done it will likely be determined that it is safe to lift their quarantine.

It was less interesting and more depressing to read the placards on the walls about genetic control of the population in the world's zoos. Not that that is a problem in itself. For animals. But adding the knowledge that many of the world's zoologist-types also believe in controlling and limiting the human population, and in using genetics to do so, it was rather depressing.

Rick was the photographer for our day at the zoo. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Zoo Colors

Our family computer still looks like this:

The white box with the orange and black wires sticking out is the power supply. Maybe the new power supply will arrive in the mail today. Rick will not have fun putting it in when it does arrive. I'm glad he had the presence of mind to label the wires when he disconnected them.

A couple of weeks ago when the Artist's Tae Kwon Do tournament did not happen, our family took the opportunity to visit the Columbus zoo. We had wonderful weather and enjoyed spending our family time here. Most notable on this trip were the beautiful birds.

First we saw flamingos nesting on their huge mounds. A docent told us the bird demonstrating a perfect S-curve with his neck in the center of the photograph is a male sitting on a chick the hatched the day before. He must have heard us talking about him, because he stood up to re-position and we could spot the downy chick. You'll probably have to click on the photo to enlarge it enough to see the gray poof of feathers sticking it's wee head out over the edge of the mound. We walked through a laurakeet aviary too. These bright beauties were not shy at all. Some zoo visitors bought nectar to feed them and the birds lit on their arms, shoulders and heads to greedily gobble the sweet stuff. They had a charming song, but after a while it got too loud as there were so many of them. Later we went into a pheasant aviary. What lovely hats their plumes make. I didn't find any feathers on the ground or I would have been quite tempted to pick them up. This one looks like the one I saw when walking in Mammoth Cave National Park a few years ago. These birds were quiet but watchful and camera shy. This male found a shady spot to rest and I snuck up behind him. We could not leave without seeing Fluffy, the Snake. Fluffy, a python, is the largest snake in captivity. She weighs over 300 lbs. The Artist looks a little freaked out by that!