Novenber 8, Detroit zoo, windup

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When we left the cousins, we headed back toward the entrance/exit.







By this time I was tired, and my documentation faltered.

I don't know what kind of deer these are. They were in with bactrian camels and takin(?) (both from western Asia), so I tentatively conclude the deer are also from that part of the world.





This may be the largest chrysanthemum plant I have ever seen.





Totally loving this guy's curls. The hat (or ... is it a toupee?), the cravat, the sleeves......... Makes me want to knit a sweater with some sort of extravagant sleeves......







I neglected to capture the sign for this next critter, but what I remember said "goat antelope."

Did you know that "goat antelope" is an official taxonomic group? I didn't. I also didn't know that there are "tribes" in the hierarchy between "subfamily" and "genus." I don't remember that, from my high school biology days........

Looking at wikipedia, I think this may be a takin. (as I recall it, the name did begin with T)





There aren't many places in the USA where the secondary languages on a sign will include Arabic. There is a large middle-eastern population in the Detroit area. A larger concentration than anywhere outside of the middle east, I believe.





The Detroit Zoo is an institution with a long history. I surely hope it can do right by the animals it has, and hope that it can continue to convert space-in-use-by-visitors into space that can better house other animals than humans. We have more than enough of the planet already. I hope we can share more with those less powerful than we.



It seemed to us that some opportunities to make money were lost, on the 8th.

There was exactly one place inside the zoo to get food, and the lines were very long. All of the smaller "get your ice cream here!" sorts of places were shuttered. We had expected to buy food, but didn't, as waiting in a long line for fried grease just didn't appeal. We would have bought ice cream bars in a flash............ If we could have gotten them in a flash, that is, or at least in five minutes or less.

I wonder if having independent contractors selling food from carts would work better (especially when it is not high season) than having zoo employees selling food. I suspect that independent contractors might be more flexible and nimble, so that when the day is nice, they can load up on hot dogs and buns (or ice cream bars!) and be ready to vend on short notice.................

Aside from food, there were no postcards for sale in the gift shop. Maybe postcards don't sell well. I don't know. *I* always buy them............ When there are any......

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