Stopping to Smell the Flowers

Today we visited Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. What a place!

Liz and her friend Karen try to go at least once a year to hike the trails, birdwatch, and look for wildflowers. Today there wasn't much in the way of birdwatching - mostly robins, red-winged blackbirds, and turkey vultures. Oh, yeah, and GEESE! Canada geese were just everywhere. We got pretty close to a few and it got a little scary. They are really big birds! We're sure that two stripey socks from Kansas would be no match for them.

Karen was disappointed at the lack of decent birdwatching - Liz was o.k. with it though. She was more interested in looking for spring wildflowers and just getting out in the trees to hike. As a group we hiked three different trails today. We really put in some miles! We think we went farther today than when we went snowshoeing!

After our first trail we went to a scenic overlook and had our first ever picnic. It's the closest we've ever been to food. Left seems to be a bit of a junky and wanted the doritos mix, while Right (who has become concerned over Liz's increasing weight - ahem) went for the carrots and broccoli. As we enjoyed the fresh breezes and listened to Liz and Karen crunching down their lunches, Karen spotted the Bald Eagle nest far across the pools at the overlook. Even though it was very far away, Liz and Karen could see an eagle sitting on the nest when they used their binoculars. We couldn't see for ourselves, but we've decided to take their word for it.

We spotted many spring wildflowers in our travels...

hepatica

trillium (not open yet, darn!)

and the biggest field of bloodroot Liz has ever seen! (This is only a very small portion!)

We also saw six snakes today! They were all garter snakes, and quite small. And we heard many birds and frogs - toads, green frog, gray tree frog, and spring peepers. We did have one exciting bird sighting. We saw the biggest woodpecker in the area - the pileated woodpecker.

We didn't actually smell any flowers today. Most of the flowers blooming now are of the non-stinky variety. Still, we did smell many other things like the soft scent of pine while we hiked through a stand of evergreens, the mild stink from the swampy wetlands, and the fresh green smell that kept reminding us of just how wonderful spring can be.

Whoa-a-o, take 'em to the zoo...

This morning Liz was singing a peculiar song as she slipped us on her feet. She was headed for an interview that would prove to be another exciting field trip for us - the zoo!

We know about animals and all, living with a precocious rabbit who seems to be constantly shedding and spreading her hair over every inch of the apartment - including us! But the animals at the zoo were a little different than the rabbit. During Liz's interview some fancy gray parrot-like bird was giving us the eye and rudely squaking whenever the impulse struck. We heard the lady doing the interview talk about how this bird had thrown up on her only a short time earlier and then Liz had to wait to take a seat because of the poop on one of the chairs (also from the bird).

We know it isn't PC but, we like animals better in cages. Behind bars we don't have to worry about stepping in poop, becoming covered with hair, or being used as nesting material.

Liz spent the morning promising us exciting adventures like climbing on the giant rope spiderweb and getting out-of-shoe peeks at the animals but, she forgot one very important thing about this week - spring break. The zoo was overrun with moms, strollers, and drooling, whining, screaming children. We prefer small children in small numbers. And since Liz was by herself, and carrying a camera, she received many suspicious looks from the mothers. (Apparently it is a crime to be single in this state.) In light of all of this, she thought it best that we stay safely tucked in the Merrells.

We did our best to stir up some adventure - beyond navigating hordes of small children and "enjoying" the best the zoo had to offer in animal odors. We saw a chance near the polar bear exhibit and Right jumped up on the railing, determined to get a better look at the bears. Liz caught on to us before Left had a chance to follow and our plot was foiled. She gave us some lecture about how no matter how deep the moat seperating the edge from the bears looked, it still wasn't safe to cross the fence. Whatever. We'll catch her napping soon and then - look out!

Our favorite animals were the meerkats and the rhinos. The meerkats were very alert and kept staring out of their glass enclosure like they had spotted something exciting. No matter how many times we looked, we couldn't see what the excitement was about. Maybe they missed the rhinos now that they were in their outside enclosure instead of inside across from the meerkats.

Liz mumbled something under her breath about the "darn glass in the way" as we left the building. She seemed to think thier excited glances were due to the warm weather and the yummy crunchy insects that such weather brings. And then she told us a naughty story about her adventures at a zoo in Wichita...

The rhinos were very exciting. They spent a lot of time challenging each other and having what we guess were the rhino version of wrestling matches. They would face each other and knock horns (what a sound!). One seemed to be in control and would stalk the other until it was backed into a corner. It just seemed like rough-housing though, nothing mean really. When their heads would slide against each other the sound of their skin meeting was like giant sheets of sand paper being rubbed together. It was easy to imagine what that skin felt like.