Years ago, we purchased a membership to our local zoo. It was worth the money we spent because we visited the zoo numerous times during the year. Our kids were young, and it was a perfect thing to do on a weekend. We would take snacks and purchase a $1 refill zoo cup, so we spent almost nothing for the day. Since then, my parents began renewing our membership, and my mom has continued to do it every year as a Christmas gift to SuperD. Even after we moved, she bought us a membership to the new zoo.
It's one of SuperD's favorite family things. I was worried that it would get old, seeing the same exhibits over and over and over again. Surprisingly, I discovered that each time we went, we saw something we had never seen before. One time, we watched a chipanzee make a tool from a tree branch to get a goldfish cracker out of the water when he couldn't reach it on his own. Another time, a peahen crossed the path in front of us, followed by all her little peachicks. We've been on a behind-the-scenes tour of the brown bear's habitat, passing within two feet of the giant bear. We witnessed the chimpanzees going crazy when they heard the tornado siren being tested.
On our most recent trip to the zoo, we went to the children's area, where we petted the goats. As we followed the path to exit the children's area, we rounded the path to see this beautiful peacock with his feathers spread out in a beautiful display.
We stopped in our tracks to watch him for a moment. What we hadn't immediately seen was the peahen that was off to the side of the path. It quickly became clear that the male was displaying, in order to gain her attention.
We were all mesmerized by the vibrating feathers, but the peahen was unimpressed. Both she and her sister totally ignored his flirting. When it became clear he couldn't hypnotize them, he turned his back, did a little dance, and literally shook his tail feathers at them.
No comments:
Post a Comment