Springtime at Riverbanks Botanical Gardens and Zoo

One of the jewels of the city of Columbia and a source of real pride for South Carolina is Riverbanks Zoo. It is not only listed as one of the best zoos in the country but if I am correct it is the largest tourist attraction in the state. When I first moved to the Midlands in 1993 it was already a well respected site for the protection and care of animals and a place of education about the natural world. With a superb and dedicated staff the years since then have only made it better with continuing efforts at expansion to house more animals and upgrading the conditions of those already living there. The addition of the botanical gardens a few years ago opened a new avenue for learning and appreciation of many forms of plant life, both native to the area and from other parts of the world.  

Last Sunday the pleasant Spring weather had most members of my family restless and unwilling to stay inside. As you might expect this condition is chronic for me and if I had not been on call for my job I would have long been on my way to Charleston for one of my numerous short day trips. The surprising thing was that Dragonwife also had the urge to get out of the house and came up with the idea to visit the botanical gardens. Since our son flew the coop earlier that morning with his buddies my daughter, Miss Wiggles, was forced to accompany us. Her idea was to visit a local fun park filled with video games, put-put golf, and go-karts but I was feeling in a cultured mood and agreed with my wife. Frankly, the idea of being around scores of screaming kids hyped up on soda and candy just did not appeal to me right then. We hit the gardens at almost the perfect time, the breeze was comfortable and the plants were blooming. The colors were spectacular and I found myself wishing my wife and I had caught our son before he skipped out so he could have watched Wiggles for us. It would have been nice to find one of the many benches throughout the garden and just sit. 

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Hey, before anyone makes a crack I seriously dug the plants that day and spent a good amount of time trying to take some decent pictures. This tulip was one of the few that seems okay, out of sixty some odd pictures taken only about twenty were decent enough to keep. No, I will not abuse my readers and have any more posts showing off my lack of photographic talent. 

Back on the other side of the zoo amongst the animals the number of people also enjoying the nice weather was very large, almost in the theme park range of being crowded. This is the elephant exhibit, it is a relatively recent upgrade with the pachyderms enjoying ample space and company. Maybe my mind is a little too weird and maybe I'm too caught up in elephants but when I was kid living around Wilmington, North Carolina there was a roadside zoo that we would visit occasionally.  It was a pretty seedy place with a few monkeys and other relatively low maintenance animals but it's star attraction was a lone elephant that the owners let kids feed slices of plain white bread. As kids we really did not know any better but at times I could almost feel the loneliness of the animal. The only thing holding it in its confined space were ropes and if it had ever gotten irritated at us puny humans it could have very easily broken out and trampled anyone nearby. Now that I am older I realize it was a horrible existence and hope it was eventually moved to someplace better, although I know that is wishful thinking on my part.      

The gorilla exhibit is also a recent addition with two of the large primates living permanently here in Columbia. This is where I could add some statement about their presence raising the average IQ of the area since the city is usually awash in state and federal politicians. This guy was in the far corner of the habitat well away from his buddy who I understand is top dog. Truthfully he could have also been avoiding the people since I often feel the same way.    

This old codger is one of the resident Galapagos tortoises of Riverbanks zoo. These tortoises have an extremely long lifespans and if this guy is any indication a very strong sex drive. During one of the previous visits a few summers ago my daughter and I walked through the gates hearing loud, god-awful moans and grunts coming from inside. Being a healthy adult with his mind usually in the gutter the first thing that I thought involved nasty images and deeds of a man and a women. As my daughter and I made our rounds through the zoo we eventually came upon this old fellow on top of a smaller female. The people around the tortoise enclosure were giggling and in some instances trying to explain to their own small children what the reptiles were trying to accomplish. As we passed by the old guy last Sunday he seemed more inclined to just enjoying the warmth of the sun. I am debating with myself whether I will post a video of turtle porn if I am lucky enough to catch them in the act again. I really don't want any heat from some irate person who might turn my butt into Blogger forcing a warning on my site before a reader enters. Lastly, take it for what it is worth but during that visit when the tortoises were "busy" the old guy was definitely into his reproduction duties, his female partner not so much. In fact she looked rather bored, a fact commented on by several human females who also expressed some sort of solidarity with the female tortoise.