My dad liked going to the zoo. The house I grew up in was just a short drive to the Brookfield Zoo and we went there a lot. I don't remember going that often when we were younger, but I remember going when we were older, like in junior high and high school. I never understood why my dad wanted to go all the time. I kind of do now. The last time I went to the zoo and I was still living at home, I remember that I really didn't want to go. My dad made me go anyway and I remember walking through the zoo entrance, seeing an animal in an empty(ish) cage and saying to my dad, Zoos are just so depressing and I don't ever want to come here again. Then I plopped down on a bench and told my parents to come get me when they were done. To my surprise, my dad totally understood and said, Yeah, when you get older zoos can sometimes be sort of sad.
So I didn't go to the zoo for years. But then we had kids, and then I did. And it didn't seem so sad. Could it be that the Oregon Zoo is different? Is it possible that I'm looking at it through the eyes of my children and not my crabby own? Will my kids one day look at me and tell me that they never want to come here again? I'm not sure. Maybe so.
It might feel different because the Oregon Zoo is small and lush and when you walk through it, you kinda feel like you're walking through the woods, like you are truly somewhere. Or maybe it feels different to me because this whole place is beautiful and that's all I see.
On this particular day, the zoo was very cold and quiet. There were only a handful of other people around so we were able to take our time just looking and watching. This mama cougar was extremely still and I watched her through the trees as her little cub jumped and pranced and raced about. She just sat there, cautious and alert, getting up every once and a while to check on the little cub.
After the cougars, we visited the wolves. There is something rough-and-tumble to me about the wolves. They are a shifty bunch and one of them has to be roped off from the others. Their space looks a little tangled and umkempt and there's something unsettled about it, like there's something going on behind the scenes. The elk live right next door to the wolves and in almost eight years, I've only seen the elk once. I can't help but wonder if it's because of their agitated, canine neighbors…
The little penguins, on the other hand, couldn't be more jovial. They are the slipperiest, silliest things ever, just bobbing up and down in the water. Unfortunately, they didn't sit still for a second and I wasn't able to snap a picture of their sweet little faces. They sure are a happy, social lot.
The young folk were getting cold and hungry so we stopped for some hot chocolate and elephant ears. When their bellies were finally full and their toes were almost warm, we headed towards my favorite exhibit in the whole zoo: The Predators of Serengeti.
Because, I mean, really, just look at these two. They are exquisite. Whenever I round the corner and see them up on this rock I always stop in my tracks. I hope they feel like this is their kingdom.
I hope they feel like they own the place.
Around the corner from the lions are the African wild dogs and they are pretty amazing looking, too. I think we woke this guy up from his nap. Shortly after he heard the click of my camera, he crawled back into his den and curled up again to sleep in peace.
And of course we can't leave this exhibit without banging on the drums and ringing the bells.
Lastly, we were able to walk right up to the glass and see the spotted leopard up close. He's usually in the back, away from the people, but this time we could even see his whiskers. So incredibly, superbly, cool. And after watching all of these sleepy animals, we started to get rather sleepy ourselves and headed back down the hill towards home.
And not one bit of it made me sad at all. Well, the monkeys kind of made me a little sad but what can you do.
