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Zoologically

Llamas at the Natural Bridge Zoo

I've been messing around with our vacation pictures and put some of them up in a set. Not a lot of excitement there, but then we are not the most exciting people.

One of the unexpected treats of our trip to Natural Bridge was the Natural Bridge Zoo. It's not a big operation, but they have a nice mix of animals. Cute baby animals too, like a baby tiger, a jolly, bouncy baby bear, and a flirtatious, soft-nosed baby camel. I think this is the first zoo where I've seen giraffes from the right angle. Usually giraffes are kept in the deep pits (or so it seems) so that the viewing humans' heads are at about the same height as the giraffes' heads. That's just wrong. Here, we were standing on the same level as the giraffes with only a fence between us and we could get right up close. Wow! Giraffes are big and meaty-looking (hey, we're predators, we notice) when they're not foreshortened.

Another thing, I've never been in a zoo where the animals were looking at me as closely as I was looking at them. This was in part because the zoo let you feed some of the animals. But not the gibbons, who started showing off as we walked up and whooped conversationally. I whooped back, and the whoop exchange went on for a while as the gibbon brachiated around and rattled the cage every time we tried to walk away. I wonder what I was saying.

Okay, so the flamingos ignored us. I took their picture anyway and now I have a new banner graphic. Once upon a time, I had this idea that I would change my banners seasonally, but it's been kudzu all the way. The flamingos are perfect for summer. They'll probably end up being perfect for fall and winter too.