I got to the zoo and found they're even deeper in renovations. I don't think I've posted any pictures of the white tigers before, though one of the shirtless Australian tourists was meowing to them. They've got a huge exhibition of baboons waiting for Marshall, Will, and Holly. There are free-ranging orangutans, which draw an appreciative crowd. I don't know if this stork was supposed to be free-ranging; it was on the far side of a pond from the other storks, but a zoo attendant didn't seem bothered. At the Australian Outback exhibit -- which had a tribute to Steve Irwin -- a kangaroo tried to eat my tripod. (She also scared a human cub by looking at him.)
On to the serious business of otters. They've caught on to the value of playing hide-and-seek. They've also got good spots for backflips. One I was lucky to catch mid-squeak. A couple of otters playing together raise the natural question of shouldn't they have heads? And some new signs point the way to otter mass transit, in which you're put inside a ping-pong ball and bounced on to your destination.
There were only four or five raccoons; I suspect they're getting ready for renovations. Still, that's no reason for those still around not to hang out in trees, or for them to not take naps while other people look on. Some have figured out how to compose their own pictures. And one raccoon discovered that a rock I'd never paid much attention to was hollow; he scrabbled inside it and I could see his paw poking out of it, although not in any light making photographs possible.
I think I've failed to adequately photograph the mongoose exhibit, which is a kidney bean-shaped enclosure with several dozen mongooses running clockwise (as viewed from above) through it. This is because the banded mongoose comes from Southern Africa; a northern hemisphere mongoose runs counterclockwise. I don't know if this one was doing the watch or if she was just the mom warning the kids not to make her come down there. While I got pictures through several circuits, eventually I believe they noticed my presence. So I leave matters with the simple caption, ``Look out! Newbies!'' And don't tell the mongooses, but on the sidewalk near the sea lions ...
Trivia: Alfred Nobel was not the legal resident of any country. Source: Remaking the World, Henry Petroski.
Currently Reading: Pogo Even Better, Walt Kelly; Edited by Selby Kelly, Bill Couch Jr.