A Rainy Day at Riverbanks Zoo

Rainy Sundays are good for only a few things in Columbia and visiting Riverbanks Zoo is one of them. My daughter Miss Wiggles and I skipped out of the house living my wife and son behind and found the zoo nearly empty. Besides the workers there were only six other people giving the impression that the zoo was ours alone. On a normal sunny and warm day Riverbanks Zoo can take on the atmosphere of a crowded theme park.

We have a new kangaroo exhibit that you can walk through without any fence or other barricade separating you from the animals. There is a zoo employee watching everything to prevent anyone from trying to pet the 'Roos. Yes, my daughter was desperate to give one a hug.  This fella was under a shelter and was looking at us like we were crazy to be walking in the rain. Yeah, I guess he could have been right. 

Some of the animals at the zoo have the advantage of leaving whenever they want. This cardinal is one and was hanging out at one of the many places selling food looking for dropped french fries or pieces of hot dog bun. After shelling out six bucks for a hot dog Wiggles said she needed the next thing I know the bun is in a thousand pieces and the cardinal is flying off saying, "See ya' wouldn't want to be ya."

While the cardinal can leave some who crawl in and get caught become permanent guests. This cottonmouth crawled in for a visit a couple of years ago on a warm summer day and after scaring a couple dozen guests was captured by an alert caretaker and after a period of isolation is now on display. For those who don't know cottonmouths are nasty snakes with very bad attitudes. They are quite territorial and in fact I had one come after me one time back in Georgetown, South Carolina. My granddad, after hearing about it, said I probably got to close to her nest. Out of all of God's creatures I cannot stand these animals. I like gators better than them and that is saying a lot.   

Little dude here is a Grand Cayman Blue Iguana who has the duty on that island of spreading around the plant seeds. In fact many of the plants rely solely on the native iguanas to make sure their seeds get dispersed. Of course the Grand Cayman Iguanas are the most endangered species of iguanas with a wild population of no more than 100 to 175 individuals. Been to Grand Cayman and it is seriously overdeveloped with massive resorts probably taking much of what was once the iguanas habitat. On this particular visit this was my favorite animal and I figured he and I could have hung out all day on some beach with him smoking dope and listened to reggae.

Panamanian Golden Frog showing off for us, little fella and his buddies were all hanging out on the rock position under the heat lamp. Hey, they may not be free and wild but there are worse existences. Pre-Colombian tribes thought seeing one of these bad boys was a sign of good luck. As long as they didn't touch them, their skin is highly toxic.

This was the scene of a nasty marital fight with the brightly colored male, and certified jerk, pecking the head of his mate. If she ever gets fed up and kicks the living shit out of him I hope I am around to see it and laugh.

My daughter was wondering what this Jersey Cow's name was and when I said "Snookie" off the top of my head I got a vicious snort and a very dirty look in return. I apologized to the offended bovine and quickly left.  

Now this was bordering on the weird but primate dude here looked majorly depressed. I wish I could name this species of ape but it has slipped my mind and I forgot to take a picture of the information display that told me but I think they are related to Howler monkeys. I did three weeks in Honduras back in 1988 and suffered an assault of  poop throwing by Howler monkeys hanging out in the trees. The Howlers actually seemed to get a kick out of flinging poop on us which was about as exciting and dangerous as things got for me for that three weeks. As I watched the fella sitting there I felt so bad I would have gladly taken a couple of  hand fulls of poop to the body if it would have made him feel better. 

Miss Wiggles and the lorikeets. At Riverbanks you can feed the lorikeets little cups of sugar water , which are sold by zoo personnel just outside their enclosure.  We both seriously dig the colorful birds and after all our visits and feedings I believe we have developed relationships with some of the birds. The birds wear bands around their legs and one bird I believe has picked me out as a fantastic place to leave his "mark." I will save everyone from the nasty details but once I see that bird I always have to wash my hat when I get home.    

The bird in question is the one on the left and this was about a minute before he jumped on my head and did his business. You know I enjoy the birds so its no big deal. Their colors are so bright and they are so alive and active its a small price to pay. For those who might be wondering yes, I am smiling.