Turns out they can hold a lot of air in those lungs.
Category Archives: Mammal
Squirrel
Monorails just don’t seem as exciting now that I’m an adult.
Zebra
Zebras do not have a complex political system. Instead, they just visualize each candidate saying “Fools! I’ll show them all!” and vote for the most incongruous.
It’s surprising how well this approach works.
Red Ruffed Lemur
The cords on older models may no longer retract all the way.
Polar Bear
How often do you get the chance to take a macro shot of a polar bear foot? This was taken about four inches away.
I do not recommend doing so outside of a zoo setting.
Packrat
I’d never actually seen a packrat before. Very few zoos have rats*, and those that do tend to have them in nocturnal exhibits. So you often either get a photo of a sleeping ball of fur, or you get a dark blurry photo of an awake rat. These guys were a bit more cooperative and stood right in the light for me.
*Eell, OK, all zoos have rats. Very few of them are intentionally on exhibit.
Siamang
“Woe is me, for me is a dative object and woe is a singular verb and dative constructions are not used in contemporary English so everyone picks on my grammar.”
Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis)
My friends, I present to you the closest living relative to the elephant.
Every family’s got one.
Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus)
It never fails. The one time in the last many years that I have a chance to get a good shot of a ringtail and I don’t have my flash with me. (They’re heavy so I usually only carry them on a second pass through a zoo.)
So it’s a grainer shot than I’d like, but it’s still nice to have seen one.
Giraffe
One day she’ll go, off into the distance, striding, her long legs carrying her past the valley, past the mountains, past the edge of the known land off into the unexplored territories. She will wander, thirsty, hungry, tired until she finally arrives, covered in dirt and sweat, physically exhausted, in that mystical land, that magical place full of wonders. She will, with luck, finally meet that one special person, the one she’s heard of, the legendary one, the only person left on the entire planet that doesn’t care if she over-uses commas.
North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
Pepsodent users, wonder no more!
American Badger (Taxidea taxus)
It is surprisingly hard to get good photos of badgers. This is partly because they sleep during the day, but mostly because most zoos don’t keep them. They’re not endangered and have a tendency to dig.
Turns out it’s hard to keep diggers where you want them to be.
Southern White Rhinoceros
You’d lie down too if you had to nurse someone with a horn right above his mouth.
Southern White Rhinoceros
When not otherwise occupied, southern white rhinos entertain the rest of the animals by letting them play shadow puppets.
Southern White Rhinoceros
When they’re young, rhinos can levitate.
Squirrel Monkey
This guy is growing increasingly concerned about the number of Pokéballs littering the zoo and thinks that humans should pick up after themselves and not just throw ball and ball until they get what they want, leaving the mess behind for everone else to deal with.
Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis)
For a creature as armored as this one is, it’s surprising how quickly they react when you touch them.
The same is true for turtles.
Gaur (Bos gaurus)
Low guar low to the ground, feeling low, lowing.
Deer
Everything the light touches is his.
He’s been trying to claim his shadow for years.
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Giraffes learn to share from a young age.