Entry the eighteenth: In which I have no progress to report
But here's my contribution to Eye Candy Friday.
I hope the Montery Bay Aquarium got some kind of award or a MacArthur genius grant for coming up with this way of displaying live jellyfish. I never thought jellyfish were all that exciting until I saw them in Monterey. And now? Now I think they're still not exciting BUT they're really gorgeous. So. Yeah.
Plus, those otters are really cute. You know, the ones they have in Monterey. Actually, the ones we have here at the zoo are pretty darn adorable as well. I'd love to pick one up and pet its tummy but I'll bet you a quarter that otters bite, so I won't. Plus, it's against the rules. You aren't allowed to do a lot of things at the zoo, and even though it isn't specifically mentioned, I suspect breaking into an enclosure with the express purpose of petting an otter's tummy is still considered a no-no.
But look at them! Aren't they the cutest? Those eyes! Those shiny black noses! The tiny ears! The little clawed toes!
Yesterday at the zoo, I saw them zooming around in the water. They swim like... otters. (Okay, lousy simile.) But you know what they sound like? Birds. One of them spent a lot of time chirping -- it was quite high pitched -- and it was both interesting and unsettling because it seemed worried about something. None of the other otters paid any attention, though, so maybe it was just crying wolf.*
*As in, "Hey you guys, I know you said I should stop chirping about this, but I swear this crazy woman in the big hat is going to jump in here and rub our tummies! I'm serious you guys! You guys? Where'd you all go?"
posted by Elinoire @ 8:11 PM
5 Comments:
Maybe it's called something different when otters do it. Like, I dunno, crying shark?
I think the zoo's list of things you Should Not Do is SO extensive that it MUST be exhaustive. So if they don't say otter-cage-breaking-and-entering and otter-tummy-rubbin' is verboten, is must be okay, right?
Hm, I don't know. I wouldn't be too surprised if the otters find that having their tummies rubbed is ruffling (is that a word? Just in case it's not, let's just pretend I said "vexing" instead) so... probably against the rules. But maybe we won't know until the next time I'm at the zoo, get really liquored up, and hop in the enclosure to test the theory.
You'll know when that day happens because it will be the lead story in the ever-more-desperate local news. "Local woman molests fierce carnivores at the San Diego Zoo! Tune in at 11."
Have you been to the Scripps Aquarium (OK, I know it's not called that anymore) lately? Because it's gotten all fancy and it has more backlit jellyfish than you can shake an otter at. You should check it out. It's pretty cool.
Yes! (Scripps -- actually Birch Aquarium at Scripps now... don't know how long that's been true)
They do have pretty cool jellyfish there, too. And you know what else they have? Seahorses. I loooooove the seahorses (don't know why) and they had many, many more than the Monterey Aquarium did.
I used to play under the abandoned canneries that the Monterey Aquarium is built over. You could find the coolest bits of things - weird corroded metal objects, bits of pottery. It was a major factor in my becoming what I jokingly refer to as a "a Junior Naturalist". (I actually have a degree in biology but I like the Junior Naturalist title a lot).
It is a wonderful and marvelous aquarium but please don't pet the otters. I can tell you from years of scuba diving in the area that they can be quite fierce though they are also very playful.
I understand your frustration of not being able to blog or show photos of the holiday presents because then people would know what you are making them! We shall just have to be patient.
Post a Comment
<< Home