The 5th was a bright sunny blue day. We decided to make an excursion to the Toledo Zoo.
It was too windy to be as perfect a day as the one I spent at the Denver Zoo, but the temp was near 40 (F). Not bad for the dead of winter!
We didn't expect to be able to see many of the animals outdoors. Not the hippos outdoors in their large hippoquarium. Not the great apes outdoors in their larger play areas. It was too cold for those who came here from much warmer climes.
But the number of animals off display for unknown reasons was very disappointing. I understand no hippos, but ... no polar bears? No snow leopards? (I learned after the 5th that one of the polar bears is taking care of a brand new baby. That's a good excuse to be off exhibit. But where was the other?)
This, I am sorry to say, was the refrain for the day.
Even the aquarium was closed! I get a constant stream of email, encouraging visits to the zoo, but somehow they never mention that at least half of it is closed! (Including the newly-renovated and entirely-indoors! aquarium!)
The wolves were out. Sleeping. No pics.
The eagles were out. They are rescues; too badly injured to be able to return to the wild and hunt for themselves.
As I move through the topics in my Theropods to Birds class I came across this Wikipedia page on the diversity of bird feet. Somewhere along the line, birds lost a toe (the original model for four-legged creatures on our planet has five toes on each appendage). Eagle feet are good for grasping (perches, and prey), with great nasty claws that help them hold on to prey.
We went across the bridge over Anthony Wayne Trail to the original part of the zoo. What's up with this? The polar bears were off exhibit. The snow leopards were off exhibit. But it was ok for the flamingos to be outside!?!? They were noisy, but when I turned the video camera on them, they quieted down.
The pond between us and the flamingos was full of fancy ducks. This area has netting all around it, so the fancy birds are confined, and their local conspecifics are excluded. Smaller birds (like starlings) can go right through the mesh. I saw a bunch of starlings fly right to the net, land on one strand of netting, and then recommence flying on the other side of the net.
Alas, I have no info on the names of all these waterfowl.
The two above are in the shade. The one at left, below, is the same kind, I believe, only in the sunshine. Look how green his head is! I think it's just possible to make out green, above, but below, you can't miss it.
Love those white pointy feathers draped over the dark ones.
Lots of these birds were generating a lot of splash. Whether they were bathing, or what, I don't know.
Now here is someone you'd expect to be out, on a winter day, who was actually out. Yaks are new to the zoo. Someone who comes from the high Himalayas probably experiences Toledo in winter as positively balmy.
We caught a glimpse of two elephants in their indoor enclosure, but they walked out of our view. We could see the rhinos through glass, but the pictures were going to be awful (glare, and too much junk in the background), so I didn't take any. No meercats.
The reptile house was open. This is an Argentine black and white tegu. It is large -- over two feet long.
Panther chameleon. Gotta love chameleons.
The often have a very peculiar gait. This one lifted each leg way up, and then carefully placed it down.
They turn their eyes everywhichway, independently. (I'm wondering if their brains map what they see in a really different way from the brains of critters whose eyes are much less mobile.........)
They can have excellent color.
They look like their skin is covered with beads.
Cool.
And now for something completely different -- you knew someone had the job of painting the backgrounds in the enclosures. Well, on the 5th, we saw him, up close and personal.
Some more new-comers to the Toledo Zoo. Baby Galapagos tortoises. With any luck, they will handily outlive all of us. There's no scale here, alas. I could have easily held one of these in my two hands, but not just one hand (they were too big for one hand).
I captured no info on this next one, alas. Some sort of big snake. It was from Africa, I think. I was struck by the way the pattern looked African to me. The monochromaticity, and the lines and triangles.......... Interesting to imagine the impact of local critters on art forms..............
Here's something else that just looked to me like it came from the place it really came from -- this is a Chinese alligator (I hope I'm remembering correctly). To me it looks very like the dragons that are common in Chinese art......... It was maybe 6' long. Here's its head, above the surface of the water.
Here's its body, below the surface. All of those white specks are water bubbles, I believe.
Awww, look, they have a mold-a-matic! Put in your coins, and it makes a brand-new hollow plastic toy, just for you. These were common when I was a kid. I still have the Stegosaurus I got at Chicago's Field Museum when I was a kid. I remember other toys available in other places -- a train, somewhere, and a bust of Lincoln, somewhere else.
This one looked like it made a fairly cheesy elephant, so I did not indulge. Had it made an attempt at a realistic crocodile, I might have been more interested.
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