Today we enjoyed yet another lovely day at the zoo with Liz. We've been so thankful for the rare cool days when she decides it isn't too hot for real socks! You wouldn't believe the pathetic little things she puts on her feet when it's hot. They don't even deserve the name sock! How can something with only a foot, and no ankle at all, be considered a sock? They're footies - and about as exciting as, well, something really boring!
Sorry, anyway. Today at lunch we were sitting behind the animal stage as usual and decided it was time we introduced ourselves to Minnow - the African grey parrot who's a bit of a diva (what's the male version of diva?) because he has the only speaking part in the show.
We thought Minnow was having a good day - Liz had already fed him about 20 blueberries from her lunch - so we crawled out of the sneakers and stretched up to say hello. Well! Before we barely got our toes out of the shoes his wings went up and he became very agitated. Helen warned that he would gladly take our toes off if given the chance, so we had to say our hellos from a safe distance.
Since we were already out of the shoes, and it was such a beautiful day, we decided to rest ourselves on the cooler that Bodacious (Boa constrictor) is kept in (and which doubles as a lunch table). Barely two minutes had passed when we had some excitement - Code One - Animal Escape! Junior, the thick-tailed bushbaby, was out of his cage and on us in a flash!
Bushbabies are well known for their ability to jump distances of eight feet or more when traveling in the branches of trees. Apparently, in his haste to escape, we had to double for branches.
The situation didn't last too long and, with the aid of a bit of Liz's granola bar, Helen was able to wrangle Junior back into his cage and settle everyone down before the second show began. It was a close call though. We only hope that if there is ever an animal escape again while we are at the zoo, that it isn't Annie who gets out...
You can just imagine the kind of fun she would have with us if she did.
