Summer At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo Monday afternoon to take some photographs, and was really surprised at how many people were there on a weekday afternoon. Of course, it is summer, and there were a lot of what I assume were summer camp kids walking around, all with their own specially designed T-shirts. Which is probably why there were so many Denver Zoo staff members and volunteers around, giving talks and answering questions about the various animals. I took the photograph on the left of a staff member giving a talk about parrots. I was tempted to go into the gift shop to see if they had that Denver Zoo surfboard (or possibly snowboard) for sale there, but didn't, although I might be back. It's never too late to learn either of those sports, right?

I also noticed the guy in the photograph on the right feeding that rhino by hand from a bucket. I was kind of surprised by that. I have always thought of rhinos as being too wild an animal to be hand fed, but I guess after being in the zoo all those years, what with heated quarters in the winter and A/C in the summer, not to mention cable TV, they tend to get a bit domesticated. If that is the case, providing rhino rides around the zoo could be a great revenue stream.

The photo on the left shows one of the giraffes coming to say hello to the staff member who was posted there. A few years ago, the zoo added a walkway into the giraffe compound to allow visitors to feed them. At first, they had a booth out in front where you could buy the food, and then head down the walkway to feed those giraffes. However, these days, zoo visitors are only allowed to feed them three times a day, in one-hour segments, and you have to make a reservation in advance. For a while, the walkway was closed to the public all other times, but happily it has reopened again during non-feeding times, which makes it much easier to photograph those giraffes, not to mention the zebras and an ostrich right next door. 

Summer At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday afternoon to take a few photographs. It was cloudy (at least for a while) and a bit cooler than recent days, and so I figured the animals would more likely be out and about than hiding in the shadows. Some were and some weren't. The lions on Predatory Ridge were all sound asleep, their backsides pointed at zoo visitors, which did not seem photogenic to me. However, many of the monkeys were willing to pose for a portrait, including the one on the left. What that expression means I do not know.

The monkey in the photograph on the right just looks plain depressed. It has that thousand-yard stare, no doubt realizing it is facing life behind bars, without ever having committed a crime. I still think the zoo should let all the monkeys run free through the zoo grounds, mixing with zoo visitors. It would definitely perk up both animals and people and make for good photographs. One of my favorite zoo photos that I took was when Klondike and Snow, two polar bear cubs, were allowed to walk back to the animal nursery at the end of the day from the polar bear compound. I happened to be there once at closing time, looked up, and saw them walking right toward me. Now THAT was fun.

The elephants didn't seem to mind the heat, either. Most of them were scooping up dirt with their trunks and spreading it on their backs to stay cool. The two elephants in the photograph on the left are, I am guessing, Jake and Chuck, bachelor elephants who arrived at the zoo from Ontario back in September of 2018. They both seemed pretty friendly and didn't mind getting close to zoo visitors.  The zoo also has three other bachelor elephants (Groucho, Bodhi, and Billy), all of whom occupy Toyota Elephant Passage, one of the largest Asian elephant exhibits in the world. Asian elephants are considered an endangered species. What I want to know is why they don't introduce some female elephants into the zoo, which might produce some babies to help eliminate their endangered status, and also make for some cute photographs. I still remember the "baby elephant walk" from the 1962 movie Hartari, which starred John Wayne as a professional wild animal trapper, capturing animals for zoos around the world. I assume that is illegal now, which is why the zoo should definitely check with Ontario to see if there are any female elephants they might want to get rid of. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?

Getting Together Once Again With The DU Bookstore Gang (Retired)

I got together with some of the old gang from the University of Denver Bookstore yesterday evening. And wouldn't you know it, as we were leaving, I completely forgot to take my traditional photograph of the gathering. I seem to be getting more forgetful in my old age. In addition to forgetting to do things, I often forget names and places when I talk to people, and when I later remember around 3:00 A.M. what it was and call to let them know, they actually seem a bit perturbed. But I digress. This is the reason why I had to put together the above collage of everyone who was there last night to use on this blog post. The hosts of the dinner were Chris (the former Accounts Payable Assistant at the bookstore) and her husband Jim, as seen in the photograph on the left. As usual, it was an excellent meal. The next photograph, to the right, is of Jake, who was married to Valarie, the late Operations Manager of the bookstore. Jake recently returned from a 21-day motorcycle trip through the Western U.S. and Canada, which he thoroughly enjoyed. The photograph to the right of him is of Darrel, the former Accounts Payable Manager for the store, and his wife Linda, who are planning an RV trip to Idaho. The photographs on the far right are of my sister Susan and I. We are planning a trip this summer to Stuart, Florida to enjoy both the heat and the humidity, something we rarely see here in Denver. It was great getting together and catching up with everyone, guys! Let's do it again soon!