Disappointing Dingos!
a week ago sunday, i made my way to the perth zoo to celebrate my friend diana's son's birthday. sam turned one on tuesday and what better way to celebrate then a day at the zoo? my thoughts exactly.
after paying my entry fee and findin the crew tucked away in the corner of the african safari region of the zoo (a small feat to find them) i continued to explore with them. it wasn't too long after i arrived that i realized (remembered?) that you know, i don't actually like zoos all that much. i mean, i understand the idea that animals in captivity may actuallly be happy (it crossed my mind only after reading the life of pi) but when i really think about it, no way! perhaps the little animals don't care all that much, but when i look at lions, giraffe's, and elephants? can't tell me that they're happy to roam around somewhere that's half the size of my subdivision in cornwall (if that)! i wouldn't believe it. not to mention the gorillas. i mean, they look just like us, act just like us, etc. i tried to picture myself stuck in the space they had to "play" in and i realized miserable it must be.
but, because it was sam's birthday, and babies seem to enjoy the day better when adults are all talking like fools to them and pointing out animals, i tried to enjoy myself and ignored the fact that i hated it all the while. thankfully, sam is adorable, so it worked out. if he'd been an ugly baby...well, i don't know! (he's really breathtaking! ;)
the day was beautiful though. an unusual day of sunshine in the midst of perth "winter" of rain. di packed a picnic and a delicious cake in the shape of a one covered in smarties... yay birthdays! we relaxed on the lawn and enjoyed a lazy picnic before trapsing off to the other areas.
one thing i find particularly funny in this zoo is the fact that local animals are on display. correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't recall the racoon or the squirrel ever being put on display at home. (on that note, i saw an animal that could have been a racoon. the sign said it was some sort of panda but you could've fooled me. the pic i got isn't terribly good because he's hiding in the dark tree. oh well. you'll just have to trust me). anyhow, being a canadian in australia, this section actually appealed to me. i mean, i've never seen a quokka, a numbat, a wombat and most importantly, a dingo! (the dingo ate you baby!)
so we wandered over to the "australian bushwalk" and started away. the wombat was interesting. it looks like a cross between a pig and an ant eater or something. so lazy looking. but funny none the less. but, on the more important part: the dingo. i skipped over, giddy with excitmet (i don't know why) and made my way up the glass and peered in. well, would you believe my shock and disappointment when i actually saw the dingo? it's a dog. nothing more. a dog. not even a mangy-sharp


anyhow, some interesting facts on the dingo- dierect from the zoo wall (that is, what seperates it from a dog- officially):
-it doesn't bark, it howls
-it only gives birth once a year, to a litter for 3-4 only
-it doesn't have that typical "dog smell" (no idea if that means odour, or ability to detect scents, but whatever)
that's it. really. the only 3 things that really seperate dingos from dogs. oh, and they are hard to make domestic apparently. uhm hmm. disappointing much? yeah. tell me about it. that was my zoo experience. mental note: don't get suckered into zoos anymore (unless running the toronto zoo 10km, or going for adorable babies birthdays)
on a totally different note, john wanted me to mention the random egging he received. yes, i wrote egging. we were going out for dinner on friday night and were walking to the restaurant. half way there we heard a shout out of a car and a splat. didn't take too long to realize that john had been egged. in fact, he had a welt! whilst annoying at first, it did turn into a fit of laughter because well, it's jut funny. good times in oz, no?
xo
1 Comments:
guess it's better to be egged than to be shit on by a terydactal...
Lx
12:13 p.m.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home