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.
No comments:
Post a Comment