Up close and personal.

Not much crazy stuff happened today, and I'm feeling pretty sick with sore throat today, so this is intended to be brief. Now will it? The chances of that are very slim. I could simply say, 'I've gotten to have some up close and personal experiences with several interesting animals lately' and end it there, but what kind of story would that be? One worth reading? As is so common with me, I've already taken up about five sentences to just explain how I want this entry to be brief and how it won't be...case in point.

Things were really fascinating the other day as we went to catch our sick helmeted guinea, but I forgot to mention it in my post about the experience. The guinea yard shares a fence with the back of the African yard, and as we were in there catching guineas, all of the hoofstock got very interested in what was going on. In fact, at one point there were two zebras, about six greater kudu, three impala, and an ostrich (though not hoofstock!) all up against the fence, curiously observing us. They were within five feet of me, and despite the fence between us, it was an awesome experience. Awesome-as in I was definitely experiencing some awe.

The interaction with the plains animals of the African yard was pretty great, but could not compare to my experience this morning. We have two Panthera leo's here at the zoo- one male, one female. They are both old kitties, 19 and 22 respectively. It had been noticed by one of the keepers that Darla, the female, was stumbling some as she walked, so the veterinarian and I went to check on her. At this point, early in the morning, both lions were still inside from last night. Once we entered the cat building, we turned right to a concreted hallway, about five feet in width. On the right of the hallway was the cinderblock wall, and on the left were two metal stalls, where two very snarly lions were. Now, naturally, most of the animals at the zoo have a distaste for the veterinary staff (a bit sad for me to acknowledge as I have such a love for them, but nonetheless true). However, I had not yet seen the distaste displayed so strongly as I did this morning. We peered in on a pacing Darla, whose head was much larger up close, and she continually emitted low hisses as she bared her huge teeth. It was crazy to see her this alert, as everytime I've passed the exhibit in the zoo, they lions are just lounging in the grass, sleeping, as lions often do. Lions in the wild will sleep up to 20 hours a day. Anyway, Darla was just the beginning. From the next stall down the hall was coming the most bizarre noises unlike anything I'd ever heard before. It was almost as if a giant with lungs the size of a refridgerator were gargling listering in a very low frequency...mixed with a monster truck starting up. And that was Leo just saying, get out of my house you people who poke me with syringes. It was crazy. The doctor said, "I bet you can't walk down there without jumping," so I walked in front of his cage, feeling confident that I could certainly face him without response, but I was definitely wrong. At his first rumbling growl, my shoulders drew up in a quick flinch. Being that close to a lion was a crazy experience, and I have certainly grown in my respect of such powerful and beautiful creatures. Here are some pictures of these guys out on their yard.

Leo

Darla