At the Zoo

We went to the Milwaukee County Zoo yesterday. A nice, sunny 80 degree day and while we did not see all the animals we saw our fair share. My favorites were: gorilla (Cassius -- 430 lbs), orangatang (Tommy -- and one hairy guy), zebras, sea lion show (how fun to be a trainer), penguins (Empirer and rock hoppers), elephants (Brittany was putting on a show with her trainer -- she paints and the paintings are for sale). The male rhino was huge and his horn was very long. In the rhino's case his horn size matches his penis size because this guy was unbelievably huge on both ends!

Simon and Garfunkel sang "At the Zoo" and the tune and lyrics are catchy:

"The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages,
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.
Zebras are reactionaries,
Antelopes are missionaries,
Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently."

Interesting personification of the animals. I doubt I think giraffes are insincere. Are lions hardline bargainers, flamingoes divas??

I enjoy going to the zoo as long as I don't think about large animals being locked into small environments. While understanding that many of these creatures are endangered and that by breeding them in captivity allows the species to survive and knowing that trainers work to keep them mentally stimulated makes the unnatural living circumstances palatable to me, how sad that animals are reduced to surviving by our good graces.