November 8, Detroit Zoo, part 2

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The peafowl are loose in the zoo, walking along on the same pathways used by people.

Even without their full complement of tail feathers, the males have an amazing set of colors and patterns.





I mentioned that an awful lot of animals were sleeping. I didn't take pics of most of them. "See that brown blob, right there? It's a grizzly bear!"

This is an elk. From his impressive antler you can tell he is not just a random brown blob.......... Isn't this an odd time of year for elk to be somnolent? I would think the whole breeding-season thing would have him on his toes. Or ... perhaps he's been neutered and just Does Not Care......... Does anyone know -- do neutered deer-type creatures grow antlers? Inquiring minds............





The prairie dogs were the first confined critters we saw who were awake and alert and moving around.





They have a place where kids can pop up in the middle of the prairie dogs. A cute idea -- the kids were clearly not anything like as alert as the other critters.....





Collared peccary. I hadn't realized these guys were quite this hairy.







American bison. It was a hazy day, and they were pretty far from us. I didn't even see the one in the back when I took this pic.....





My digital cameras have always been squirrelly about focusing on water or wet things. I know they prefer nice sharp lines of contrast, when they ponder what to choose to focus on.

The reflections on top of the water were not nearly as noticeable to my eye as they are here. I saw the fish, and didn't really notice the reflections. I'm not sure to what extent that was my brain choosing the focus.......





Another sleepy critter.





Now here's someone awake and lively. I don't think of anteaters as particularly active, but they surely were on the 8th. Go figure.

I wonder if it was nearly feeding time.........





They looked sleek and healthy. They really have dramatic markings, don't they? Wonder what function the markings serve.......

I also wonder about their tails. Huge and ... vertical -- the flesh and bone was in the middle, with very stiff hair going both up and down. For some reason it seems to me that they "ought" to be more horizontal (hair going out the sides), or even more cylindrical, but they are flat and vertical. I wonder why!





I also wonder how their feet work. They make their living ripping up termite mounds and eating the termites. Notice here the great nasty claws. Clearly it is walking on its knuckles..... (extreme crop of above, hence lousy quality)





We saw three of them in the enclosure. You can see two tails in the cave-like area behind this one.



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