walked my feet off at the zoo

(Okay, not quite, and it was as much a sore knee as my feet. tough.)

I got up too early this morning, which led to me and cattitude getting a slightly early lunch and then taking the bus over to the Bronx Zoo, which we hadn't done in too long.

We started by watching the sea lions, who don't mind chilly, rainy weather--they're always wet. Nobody else was there--the last time I had the sea lion pool to myself, there had been 17 inches of snow three days earlier. The sea lions swam happily around, then two of them stood on their flippers on the edge of the pool, as if they were expecting someone. Nothing happened, and we wandered off and they went back into the water.

Our next stop was the monkey house, which we usually skip on warm days. Capuchin monkeys are bright and cheerful and there was a young one who was still learning to leap, though he knew exactly how to use his prehensile tail. I want a tail like that, but it isn't even in our evolution--the only primates with prehensile tails are a few of the New World monkeys.

A lot of the animals that are normally exhibited outdoors are in winter homes. For a few of them that means you get to see them indoors--there are two very cute baby giraffes, for example, and three adults in a fairly small space indoors (it isn't quite taller than it is wide, but close--giraffes need a lot of headroom), and at least one giraffe was behind doors in an adjoining room. Baby giraffes are delightful. One of the two was exploring and curious, and the other stayed next to its mother, at the very back of the enclosure, the whole time we were there. A lot, though, you just can't see this time of year: no tigers, no okapi, no flamingos. The zebras and several other African animals have been moved while the zoo does some kind of maintenance on their space.

The cheetahs were delightful. They usually either hide or stalk around the edge of their enclosure. Today, one was lying behind a small pile of evergreen branches, chewing on some kind of bone, and the other was wandering around. Not pacing circles, just walking around, enjoying the warmer weather. We watched them for a long time before going into the giraffe building and warming up. When we came out, the cheetah who had the chew-toy had moved closer to the giraffe building, so we watched them a little longer.

After that, we went to Jungle World, because the combination of warmth and a leopard seemed good. There are renovations going on there as well, ranging from people attaching more fake leaves to branches over the path, to an entire exhibit labeled "Closed for renovation." But they had plenty of turtles, some colorful butterflies, lots of flashy fish, more monkeys, and some birds. And plenty of warm air.

The snow leopards, who are down the path from Jungle World, were energetic: another big cat with good warm fur. From the sounds, we think one of the females is in heat. She wasn't on view, however.

The cranes are starting to dance: Cattitude described it as "He's saying 'now' and she's saying 'not yet.'" We may have to see where they are in a week or two.

By then the cold front was blowing through, and it would have been time to head home even if I'd still been feeling energetic. We had to let a couple of buses go past (school had just let out), but we got home and I had tea and he had coffee and I'm feeling a lot more alert.

walked my feet off at the zoo

(Okay, not quite, and it was as much a sore knee as my feet. tough.)

I got up too early this morning, which led to me and cattitude getting a slightly early lunch and then taking the bus over to the Bronx Zoo, which we hadn't done in too long.

We started by watching the sea lions, who don't mind chilly, rainy weather--they're always wet. Nobody else was there--the last time I had the sea lion pool to myself, there had been 17 inches of snow three days earlier. The sea lions swam happily around, then two of them stood on their flippers on the edge of the pool, as if they were expecting someone. Nothing happened, and we wandered off and they went back into the water.

Our next stop was the monkey house, which we usually skip on warm days. Capuchin monkeys are bright and cheerful and there was a young one who was still learning to leap, though he knew exactly how to use his prehensile tail. I want a tail like that, but it isn't even in our evolution--the only primates with prehensile tails are a few of the New World monkeys.

A lot of the animals that are normally exhibited outdoors are in winter homes. For a few of them that means you get to see them indoors--there are two very cute baby giraffes, for example, and three adults in a fairly small space indoors (it isn't quite taller than it is wide, but close--giraffes need a lot of headroom), and at least one giraffe was behind doors in an adjoining room. Baby giraffes are delightful. One of the two was exploring and curious, and the other stayed next to its mother, at the very back of the enclosure, the whole time we were there. A lot, though, you just can't see this time of year: no tigers, no okapi, no flamingos. The zebras and several other African animals have been moved while the zoo does some kind of maintenance on their space.

The cheetahs were delightful. They usually either hide or stalk around the edge of their enclosure. Today, one was lying behind a small pile of evergreen branches, chewing on some kind of bone, and the other was wandering around. Not pacing circles, just walking around, enjoying the warmer weather. We watched them for a long time before going into the giraffe building and warming up. When we came out, the cheetah who had the chew-toy had moved closer to the giraffe building, so we watched them a little longer.

After that, we went to Jungle World, because the combination of warmth and a leopard seemed good. There are renovations going on there as well, ranging from people attaching more fake leaves to branches over the path, to an entire exhibit labeled "Closed for renovation." But they had plenty of turtles, some colorful butterflies, lots of flashy fish, more monkeys, and some birds. And plenty of warm air.

The snow leopards, who are down the path from Jungle World, were energetic: another big cat with good warm fur. From the sounds, we think one of the females is in heat. She wasn't on view, however.

The cranes are starting to dance: Cattitude described it as "He's saying 'now' and she's saying 'not yet.'" We may have to see where they are in a week or two.

By then the cold front was blowing through, and it would have been time to head home even if I'd still been feeling energetic. We had to let a couple of buses go past (school had just let out), but we got home and I had tea and he had coffee and I'm feeling a lot more alert.