Posts Tagged ‘Critters’

The weather was simply splendid this weekend, so the Mister and I packed up and headed west to the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro. I took my little camera hoping the perfect weather would mean plenty of great photo opportunities. I thought the animals would be active, and they were! However, most of them kept their backs turned towards the crowds all day long. I can’t blame them; if I were faced with hordes of screaming kids trapped in giant strollers, I would probably keep my back turned too. (Hey, zoo officials – can we get a childfree day at the zoo once a year? Pretty please?)

Anyway, here you go: some pictures from my animal ass safari at the zoo.  Here’s one of the black bears and his ass. He was a very thirsty bear, and he would not turn around to face the crowds. He was content to drink and drink and drink and drink and…

Black Bear :: "My ass - let me show you it!"

The grizzly bear was content to do the same. I think it was his snack time because he planted himself against the gate at the back of his habitat and wasn’t moving for anyone. I guess the salmon truck was back there or something.

Grizzly Bear :: "My ass - let me show you it!"

Even the cougar, who was napping, positioned herself so that her ass was pointed towards the crowds. So, while I did manage to capture her face in the shadows, the primary focus is her sunlit ass.

Cougar :: "My white ass - let me show you it!"

The gorillas weren’t going to be outdone. Both the male and female silverbacks wanted us to photograph their asses.

Female Gorilla :: "My ass - let me show you it!"

Male Gorilla :: "My ass - let me show you it!"

I did manage to make the giraffe turn her head by whistling at her, but, as you can see, she still had her ass pointed towards us.

Giraffe :: "My ass - there it is!"

And that concludes The Great Critter Ass Safari of 2011.

I’m back from my week in the Outer Banks. While it wasn’t the perfect vacation, I did manage to enjoy the beach and its inhabitants quite a bit! The first two days were rainy and dreary, but when the rain finally started to lift, I was treated to a beautiful rainbow over the Atlantic.

Rainbow - Outer Banks, NC

Then the wind started to blow, and the kite surfing enthusiasts hit the ocean despite a few remaining sprinkles of rain and some rather chilly water. I love the way their colorful kites dot the sky. It was difficult to capture a great photo because they were definitely zipping along the water at very high speeds. It looked like tons of fun, and had I not had some ailing relatives with me on this vacation, I would have considered renting some gear and giving it a go myself.

Kite Surfers - Outer Banks, NC

Since I couldn’t stray very far from our beach house and my sick relatives, I had to find other ways to entertain myself. Whenever I visit the Outer Banks, I feed the beach critters my leftovers. Did you know that crabs love leftovers? They do, especially anything with protein! I caught one of the large blue crabs excavating his crab hole after I tossed him a large piece of leftover fried chicken. I just wish I could have captured a photo of him actually dragging the chicken leg into his hole.

Carolina Blue Crab - Outer Banks, NC

No beach trip is complete without seagulls begging for scraps. Every afternoon one very determined seagull perched on the deck and stared us down until we produced a few pieces of leftover toast or crackers. I’m quite sure he was a pound or two heavier by the time we left.

Begging Seagull - Outer Banks, NC

Finally, a young grackle decided to join the seagull. What was amazing about these two birds is that they seemed smart enough to realize stealth was the key to enjoying more food; they didn’t squawk and alert the other birds on the beach. They wanted the bread bits all to themselves! Meanwhile, other seagulls would squawk and circle and alert every other bird on the beach. These two appeared on the deck every day around 2:00pm and were very quiet, content to fetch crumbs discretely tossed their way.

Young Grackle - Outer Banks, NC

I’m sure the next family in the beach house is going to wonder why birds and crabs are staring at them every time they venture onto the deck. And yes, Mr. Crab also stared at us, waiting for more food to rain from the sky:

Blue Crab Waiting for Scraps