Year of the Rat at the zoo...

Note: this post is image intensive

The boyfriend had an old friend from SoCal come and visit us to meet some friends and spend a day with us 2 weeks ago. During this time of the Lunar New Year festivities in San Francisco, the zoo held a special day of events mainly for children. There was chinese food and beer offered and lots of arts and crafts along with stage performances of acrobats, jugglers and lion dancers. The weather was a bit unkind to us that day as brisk winds and cloudy skies kept us from warming up as we walked around. The zoo was pretty full of families, tourists and teenagers.  But I did managed to get a few good photos despite the crowds.

"Long-necked sentry guard activated"

We first visited the the African animals section we missed last time. The zoo had been open for about an hour but the cold temperature kept these savannah critters sluggish and sleepy during our visit. We got to see one of the baby giraffes poke his head out from a grassy area that he had made his bed in. Giraffes are such striking looking creatures and they were interesting in that they showed as much interest in us and we in them. Starring straight at us with their heavily lashed eyes as they chewed their breakfast.

"Salads keep my girlish figure trim."

"Where's my Sunday paper, woman?"

Our next stop were the primates (specifically the gorillas), who every time I visited in the past  were always pissed and throwing poo at asshats who think it's funny to yell at them. This morning the majority of the gorillas stayed in or near their bed area for the exception of the newest addition a young female who you can see eating breakfast two pictures above.

"Zzzzz...."

The red-ruffed lemurs were also snoozing it up in their treehouse playground (not seen the pic are the large radiating heaters keeping the lemurs warm). It may not look like it but the platforms the lemurs were on were very close to the viewing area we were on. When they did manage enough energy to lift their furry little heads they had bright, atomic yellow eyes that pierced straight through to your very soul.

"None shall pass..."

Just letting you know that the Big Cat area has been gated off from visitors while they make the necessary changes to the exhibits so that the Christmas day incident would not be repeated. The construction has the big cats going a little batty as we could hear them roaring in their smaller cages in the cat house. This also means that the animals that are located across from the big cats don't get any visitors. We peeked around some fencing and saw that at least they got to walk around their large viewing environment.

"Ready dude? Ready dude!"

The penguins were walking about their man-made island probably waiting for their appointed feeding time. They were the most active critters we had encountered so far that day as some had formed individual discussion groups and were getting into some intense debates (accented with lots of squawking and flailing of flippers). And some formed some swimming teams to scout out the perimeter of their exhibit to stare right back at the visitors who were making a hoopla about their cuteness.

"Please to be getting my good side."

This double-wattled cassowary has proven to be elusive on past visits as on sunny days he can be found in the far corner of his pen hiding behind the bushes. But the dark skies and cool weather brought him out in front of all the visitors, being very inquisitive and as photogenic as something with 2 wattles can be.

"Looky here Carl, the food givers."

The 2 beautiful carp seen above were very comfortable with coming to the surface of their pond and pleading visitors with their fishy eyes that they are in need of feed pellets. Unfortunately, the feed dispenser was empty so all I could offer was a my finger tips (I don't recommend doing that).

"Is that cheeseburger ovar thar?"

While visiting the prairie dogs again, I managed to get some shots of this dapper little fellow that had no fear of the giant visitors that loomed over him. He was transfixed on something outside of their environment that I could never figure out. The entire time he felt comfortable enough to ignore his surroundings, groom himself and eat some grass all while staring at something. There must have been some delicious looking pizza crust or popcorn on the ground.

Officiating over cutest tennis match ever.

The meerkats weren't very active that day but this guy was doing a great job of being a dutiful watch out for the rest of his little tribe. He's working hard on a Sunday.

*Insert obligatory ass joke here*

This little donkey loves snacks and a sign also informed us that he loves little fingers just as much. So with this bit of information it was entertaining to watch visitors try to hold their hands still with the treat and avoid having their fingers chomped on like pink fritos. The donkeys turned out to actually to be very sweet and avoided my hands for the most part. They didn't mind it so much when I petted them between the ears; it actually felt like petting a large broom.

*bleat* Why hello thar...

This little black goat wanted to try out my camera, he almost grabbed the wrist strap off of my wrist. Nimble little buggers...

"I am so cute and cuddly, hug me."

The last thing we got to see was the opening of the Animal Resource Center that afternoon. They gave us the opportunity to pet some of the more tame animals that the zoo interns work with everyday and do wildlife talks with at local schools. The second the doors opened the ARC was flooded with screaming children and their parents toting giant strollers that can hold 4 at time. If you look you'll see the same 2 pink sleeves appear in my photos as there were some children who's parents have given up in trying to control their compulsive animal rubbing (which is what they did). 

" I don't want to be rubbed anymore, kthxbai."

The ferret was a wonderful little critter that was very inquisitive and licked my hand like a puppy. I managed to take this pic after the little kids ran off to molest a rabbit.

"I don't run very fast actually, thx."

This little hedgehog was that days all around favorite, the boyfriend would love to have one. Like the ferret, the hedgehog is not a legal pet to own in the state of California (and Hawaii) due to bullshit paranoid legislature by policy makers that believe they would destroy the the delicate balance of California's wildlife.

Never mind the fact that the domesticated ferret and hedgehog would have as much chance of surviving the wilds as your more wild dwarf hamster. And unlike the more popular exotic pet the prairie dog, they have been found to not transmit diseases to their handlers. Despite their prickly appearance, the hedgehog felt softer than I had anticipated.

We managed to fit in more animals that day than the last time we visited. It will probably be a while till we visit again. Next time, we hope that the big cats will be in their exhibits. And if were lucky there will be some new kittens from the lions by this fall.

Su