Put Me in the Zoo

This weekend I dreamed that I was in a women's prison, like in 'Orange is the New Black.' Then I woke up and realized that I actually was sleeping on a thin mattress in a cinderblock room with 15 other women. Luckily for me, none of these other females were felons, but were in fact third-graders and their moms.

I was camping with Kimmy's Girl Scout troop at the Columbus Zoo, and let me just say that it was awesome. We got to walk around the zoo while it was closed, see and pet various animals, and even go behind the scenes to the zoo's animal hospital. I was geeking out. When our zoo counselor was talking to us and asking questions it was all I could do to hold myself back from going, "Ooooh! Oooh! I know! Nictitating membranes!!" I had to remind myself that the trip was for the kids, not the grownup with a background in wildlife biology.

I don't have pictures of any of the best parts of this Zoo Camp-In. Sorry not sorry. I was busy experiencing instead of looking through technology. And for some of our visit we weren't allowed to take pictures, even if we'd wanted to.

Feeding giraffes. This is something anyone can do if they arrive at the right time of day and shell out $3. But it was still amazing. I've taken my kids to do this, but it wasn't the same this time. I wasn't juggling three kids of various ages and interest levels. I just slowly held out the romaine leaf and looked into the giraffe's enormous dark eyes. It slurped out its long tongue and licked the lettuce right out of my hand. There's something about having an encounter with a wild animal, making eye contact, and just being present in the moment. It was amazing.

Everybody loves a tall blonde with big dark eyes that only eats salad.

Speaking of encountering a wild animal, we went to the polar bear exhibit and saw the three bears pacing back and forth in front of the huge viewing window, waiting to be fed. We watched them and talked for several minutes about what made polar bears uniquely adapted to their habitat. Kimmy and the other Brownies were standing right up against the glass, giggling about how gross the polar bear poop was. They weren't paying close attention to the closest bear, who was definitely paying attention to them. She loped up to the glass and pounced right at Kimmy, slamming her paws against the window! I'm pretty sure she did it just to see Kimmy and the other girls freak out.

Behind the scenes at the zoo's animal hospital we saw their treatment and operating rooms and heard about taking care of the zoo's 10,000 animals, some of which are critically endangered. And then we happened to be in just the right place at just the right time to see the zoo's newest inhabitants: 13-day-old Amur tiger cubs. They're being hand-raised after their mother failed to take care of them (I can sympathize with her--it is SO hard being a first-time mom and I can't imagine what it's like not knowing what's going on or having people to talk you through it). The cubs' eyes were still closed (because like all cats, tiger cubs are altricial) and they were all fuzzy and adorable. Their keeper held one up for us to see and he cried, little squawky cries! Poor little guy. It's so hard to be a baby. She switched from holding him up with both hands and instead held him by the scruff of his neck and he instantly quieted down, hanging limp and peaceful. Amazing. I wish my babies had had a neck scruff. The tiger cub only weighed a few pounds, but some day he'll weigh several hundred! Crazy. The keeper told us that the tiger cubs (all males) are named Han, Luke, and Chewie. I approve. You can click here to see official pictures of the cubs.

The last animal encounter I'll mention here was unplanned. We were walking through the Asia Quest area at twilight and happened across a skunk. A WILD skunk. The girls were excited, but the skunk scurried off under the boardwalk to the tiger exhibit, and we all walked away quickly. This sounds like a nothing kind of encounter, lacking drama (thank goodness), but it's significant because April (my six-year-old) has nightmares about skunks. Seriously. Nightmares. She's a fan of Curious George, and there are a couple of episodes about run-ins with skunks, so now she's sure that skunks are everywhere, and to be feared and dreaded. I wish she'd been at the zoo with us to see the skunk flee without spraying us. It would have been just the anticlimax to defuse all those nightmares.