Our local zoo hosts quite a few events throughout the year. Most are really fancy and are not events that The Sister and I can afford, even though the money does go to the zoo and the animals. An example would be Taco's and Tequila which is $30-$40 a person. However, they do some $5 events that we can attend and Renaissance Fest was one of them. It's only $1 more than the normal entrance fee for an adult (non senior or military). This one was not as much fun as their Starry Nights, or even The Birthday Bash (where I paid ten extra dollars for the behind the scenes tour), but it was well worth the extra dollar and we got to see a new exhibit. So, this altar to well... I'm not sure. The Dead? St. Francis of Assisi? Both? is new and now in the Capybara, Anteater, and Alpaca exhibit in South America. It's a statue of St. Francis, but it's very Dia de los Muertos with the flowers and candles, specifically the calaveras. So, while I don't technically know what the zoo staff are trying to say, it was still pretty cool. And these pink flowers? I'd just never noticed them before. They're bushes that line the walk up to the zoo's entrance and they're really pretty. They also have a new animal in South America, a black panther, which we did see, but he was lounging close to the glass and there was a LARP table with people milling about in front, so we didn't get a photo. Solar Mississippi is a LARPing group (Live Action Role Play) and they had sword fighting with the kids and stations set up for the scavenger hunt so that kids who did everything would later be knighted at a ceremony. Our zoo now has a brand new, as of December, Australian exhibit. I promise that I don't hate Australia, nor would I act like this upon being in the country. It's just that I'm rubbish with posing for photos as I don't know what to do and this was the third one with The Sister saying, "Do something"... so this is what came to mind; a goofy and ugly face, which makes me laugh. In December our zoo acquired several Bennett's Wallabies, which are pretty small. I knew they were grouping them with Emu's and KuneKune Pigs, but I did not realize that you could enter the enclosure until we were there. They have a double gate system, so that you come into a small area, close the gate behind you and then enter through another gate into the exhibit, so as not to let any of the animals escape. And you must stay on the path and not step off of it. It's a U-shaped path and I'm already on the section leading out by this time, so you can see part of the path in the photo. Now as much as I like animals, I have some weird peculiarities about some of them. I'm nervous about some of them and I don't know why. It's not like I've ever been attacked by them or anything. But, I am nervous of large birds like emus and ostriches. I'm nervous of horses. I'm nervous of kangaroos. I'm nervous at the thought of being surrounded by hundreds of penguins. That last one seems weird and remote, but you'll see photos of scientists in Antarctica and they're surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of penguins. I like penguins... a lot. But I wouldn't want to be surrounded by them. I think the horses are because they are so large and have those large teeth & hooves. Though I will visit them at the county fair in the autumn and pet their noses and I know to be quiet and still and nice. I've also had several opportunities of riding horses and went to a girl scout camp where I kept a horse for a week. I like horses and I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to them. Also I'm apparently not that nervous around them, because I've never had them react to it like they do when someone's afraid. So, that's good. Kangaroos because well, they are really big and can go back on their tails and kick you to death. Oh, I'm also nervous about Koala Bears... and I don't know why at all. But, I adore Wombats. The point being is that these are wallabies are tiny and not at all large like their relatives the kangaroo, because if they were, I would not be going into this enclosure (though if they were kangaroos, I don't think the zoo would let people into the enclosure). But, I still had some reservations about the emus. I really, really, really, really don't like emu's or ostriches. I don't want people to kill them, I just don't want to meet up with them. Ever. But, I decided that if people and children (if accompanied by an adult) could wander around inside this enclosure, then the emu probably wouldn't attack me, so I went for it. And nothing happened. I didn't expect a wallaby to hop up to me, and while it was not a very hot day at the zoo pretty much all of the animals were sleeping and lounging. The emu did walk over to the wallaby's and one wallaby hopped over to the others sleeping, but it was still really cool being about to go inside. It's why I like petting zoos. I mean I don't like them if the animals are treated badly, but I always liked being able to go into the enclosures with the animals. I LOVE KuneKune pigs. I'm not a pig person (except food wise, because I do really like pork), but the first time I saw one was at our zoo and it was just so fluffy and fat and cute. Then learning that it's from New Zealand and that it's name is KuneKune AND that it means fat and round in Maori (which I've known for a few years now, though it's on the above sign) was just too much for me. It's like Agnes with fluffy unicorns in the Despicable Me movies. They do have tusks though they are small and you might think I'd be nervous about them, but I feel that all they could do is run up to me and slightly head-butt my leg and it would be adorably funny. Hence, why they don't make me nervous. They have two KuneKune pigs, but only one is in the Australian exhibit, this guy right here. The other one is still over in Africa where they both used to live. Incidentally, they had them both right behind the tiger exhibit from Asia with a sign saying that it's part of the tigers' enrichment program to feel like they are still in the wild because the smell of the pigs kind of makes them go crazy. That's so mean for the pigs and the tigers. The tigers don't really go crazy, they would just hang around near that back fence sometimes. They lost one tiger recently, so there's only one and yesterday he was sleeping in the grass just like everyone else. Archery time, woo! So, I've always been into archery. I remember watching that Nicholas Cage film The Weatherman and thinking that the girl was a lot like me because she wanted to learn archery. Then I was horrified that she wanted to learn so she could kill animals. Eh... I've tried practicing on random occasions but everyone always has those horrid compound bows for hunting, where no one but burley men and really trained up women can even pull the string back an inch or more. So, renaissance fest, medieval, archery? They'll definitely have a normal bow, I thought and I was not disappointed. So, the arrows had foam tips, for the safety of well, everyone. That's safer than the traditional blunted metal tip for archery practice. You were supposed to make it through a 4" hoop that a lady was holding. I did not make it into the hoop, but my arrows slammed into the back wall with a lot of force. I'd be good at this. And apparently my concentration faces are quite scary! I'm not even happy, I'm just concentrating. What the hell?! I know there's no real need to even learn archery unless you plan on killing; either animals or men. But, you never know. What if I have to be the next Katniss in some post-apocalyptic society? What if this is how to defend myself. Perhaps I could join up with a Ren Faire with all my mad skills in archery? And here is our short jaunt through Asia ending here in Tibet with the Tiger. Kitty! Whom, no I didn't take a photo of. Our zoo is pretty cool. They didn't used to be, even in my childhood, much less before. Things were terrible for the animals, it was really sad. But since the late 90's they really have tried to make a great home for animals. And they generally take in rescues so to speak. Older or injured animals that other zoos don't want or were rescued from people who shouldn't have them.
It's the home for castaway animals in a sense and they actually do a really great job trying to give them a fulfilling life that's close to what they would have in the wild. They also do Animal Encounters with certain animals who don't necessarily mind being around us smelly humans. So obviously they'll never have the tiger, the leopard, or the alligator on a leash milling amongst the crowds. One that they have on Animal Encounters is a Red Tailed Hawk. I didn't take a picture of her, but The Sister did. She was hit by a car and couldn't be returned to the wild because she's blind in one eye and is always missing a wing. I did, however, take a photo of one of their Chinchilla's. They have two, this one and an albino one. I'd never been able to pet them when they have them out before, because after too many people, the chinchilla's get really fussy and ornery and do not want to deal with humans anymore that day. But, I did get to pet this one and that's the first time I've even been that close to or touched one. It was an exciting day. The other excitement was the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Even had we been allowed to hold it, which is not a thing, I still would have said no. But, we were allowed to pet it. The Sister stayed well away, as evidenced by her legs back there (in the skirt). I did pet it though and it was a fascinating experience that I can now claim.
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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