PHOTOGRAPHY
Every Time I Stop At The Same Place In The Zoo
Those funny little animals always give me something to look at
The summer months are gone, and the weather is not always inviting to go outside, which means I go to the zoo less than I did before. Part of this is also because my energy levels are low, but that’s a story for a different time.
Today is a chilly, but sunny day and the plan was to go to the zoo until a migraine ruined it for me, and I ended up in bed. My mind was at the zoo though, remembering that one place I always stop, those cute animals I always visit, and snap photos of.
No, they are not meerkats, even though you can see a meerkat as a header image.
Meerkats are funny little animals related to the mongoose and are found in the deserts of southwest Africa. I love how there’s always one of them on the lookout, standing on a high point and watching the skies for predators approaching so he can warn the others. Meerkats eat bugs, lizards, and other small animals.
Prairie dogs and meerkats are not related.
Prairie dogs are native to the grasslands of Northern America and get their names because of the barking noise they make when signaling danger. There’s always one or two prairie dogs on the outlook for predators, which is similar to the behavior of meerkats.
Unlike meerkats, prairie dogs are herbivores, as they eat grasses and other small plants.
Whenever I go to the zoo, I always go to the prairie dogs. Their home is high enough for people to stand eye in eye with these animals, and sometimes prairie dogs even sit on the low wall separating them from the visitors.
They are social little creatures, as they form ‘towns’ of different prairie dog families. Their ‘towns’ have burrow systems with dozens of openings per acre, and those systems can measure from 4 to 35 meters long and reach 4 meters below the ground. Some of these towns can spread out over more than 100 acres, and the colonies can house several hundred different prairie dogs.
I love spending time with the prairie dogs, watching how they interact with each other, and how they interact with the people. Since the prairie dog ‘town’ is close to the entrance of the zoo, many visits I go there before walking deeper into the zoo, and then go to them again when I go home.
Every time I stand there watching them, I snap more pictures, because they are just so adorable!
In the past week, I have read two stunning stories, but they are utter contrasts to each other. The first is about a beautiful dream, The Dream of My End by Harry Hogg. The second shows the ugly side of humanity and social media, written by the talented Kate Granger and called Social Media World — Hero Required. Read with caution.
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