Zoobilation

Tonight, the Audubon Zoo presented a member night, with crafts, music, special animal shows, demonstrations, and a discount on all food and merchandise in the place. We took the kids and had an enjoyable three hours.

Near the entrance were zoo employees and volunteers holding different animals, from birds to reptiles. The kids touched snakes, a pretty large lizard, and a tortoise that was doing his best to walk all over the zoo. Grant was a tortoise on a mission to explore or hide or escape from the children. Finwe asked if he could touch the birds, but the keeper declined saying that these particular birds like to taste little boys. The bird did lean towards Finwe, so we kept walking to see the elephant show.

I always have a difficult time with large animals at a zoo, but what I heard from one of the handlers encouraged me. Each day (and I think evening) the pachyderms get a romp around the zoo grounds. They walk the entire zoo and get to play in a yard meant especially for them. The kids also got to pet one of the elephants, although Inwe must not have been feeling well. She got supremely scared so much that she screeched.

We also watched the komodo dragon eat beef hearts and the white alligator get some chicken. There's a white snapping turtle that had a snack in front of us. We ate dinner at the Cypress Knee cafe, which specializes in Cajun food. As we listened to Zydeco, we ate a good dinner of seafood gumbo and red beans and rice. After eating, we danced to a few songs before taking the train back to the entrance.

The evening ended too early for Finwe, but I think it was just right.