Visiting Some Cool Cats

I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday.  I was planning to go Tuesday, but it was so damn cold and windy I put it off until yesterday. Fortunately, Wednesday was sunny and warmer, although not too many people decided to take advantage of the 40 degree temperatures to visit the zoo.  No matter - the weather did not seem to bother the animals, especially the big cats.  I tried to take photos of Tatu, the baby lion cub, and it's father, Tobias, starring right into the lens, but as you can see in the photograph on the left, they were both more interested in starring into space, no doubt meditating on the meaning of life.

For a minute there, I actually though Tobias was going to turn all the way around so that I could get a good shot, but unfortunately he wound up turning around only halfway, as seen in the photograph on the right.  No matter - I think the photo shows Tobias in a charmingly reflective mood. And as one of the zoo's volunteers has said, he is an incredibly gentle creature and very good with his son Tobias, and so how can I complain?

Fortunately Tatu's mother Neliah was not afraid to face me and pose for the camera.  I must admit that she does look pretty crabby in this photograph. That is probably because I happened to mention that Tatu looks much bigger than when I last saw him, and therefore not nearly as cute as he used to be. Just telling it like it is, Neliah.

I was also happy to find that one of the tigers was willing to pose for the camera, too.  I think that since visitors were few and far between at the zoo yesterday, the animals were feeling lonely and neglected, and so were much more sociable than usual.  Once again, I have to say that it is a shame they can't be released from their cages (supervised by Denver Zoo interns, of course), so that they can interact with zoo visitors.  I am sure they would just love to be scratched behind the ears, and I myself would love to take a photograph of that.  As I have said many times before, that is just the kind of guy I am.