A Final Reflection at the Zoo

I love animals. And I love seeing animals that I have never seen before or don't get the pleasure of seeing very often. The Fort Worth Zoo is fantastic in my opinion and it never lets me down. As I was trying to take pictures of people for the final assignment I was also taking some time to see what I wanted to see. I wanted to at least get my money's worth while I was there too.

The zoo wasn't very busy today so I wasn't having to fight a crowd or jostle around with people to get a good look at the animals. While I was walking through the big bird section that has the eagles and all those kinds of big prehistoric-looking birds, I was reminded of "A River Runs Through It" and how nature can help us reconnect with God and ourselves. Those giant birds with huge, gnarly talons and beaks that look like they could quickly shred something apart reminded me how amazing His creations are. And how beautifully dangerous they are. I could just sit there and watch them. I would stare at them and they seemed to be staring back. I wish animals could talk so I could ask them what it is like to be in a zoo where all you do all day is watch people come and go. I feel sad for the animals in zoos even though I like to go see them. Granted, these animals have a pretty good life. They are always fed and always kept safe. But I know that they somehow know that they are in cages. They are always confined. One blue magpie really made me feel sorry for him. He was flying back and forth across his enclosure. He was carrying a stick in his beak and it was like he had a purpose for it. He would stop and purposefully look at me from a spot in the fence that did not have a plexi-glass cover. He knew that there was something there keeping him from me. He was beautiful, but unhappy. I don't know if it is a good thing in the eyes of the Creator that we have caged his animals. Some of them are better off in a zoo than in the wild because they are becoming extinct or what have you.

So, I guess I kind of have a love-hate relationship with zoos. I love seeing the exotic animals, but I can't help but feel their sadness. I am able to witness God's magnificent creations because they are in a zoo. Did he intend for us to do this though?

THE ZOO

One little boy happily strolling by the Orangutans and the other strolling not so happily.

Happy onlookers taking pictures of the Orangutans.

A father smiling at his daughter in the parrot aviary.

I finally got to visit the zoo today. It wasn't super busy and the animals seemed to be pretty sleepy. I managed to get some pictures of a few people, but I felt like a creeper! I saw a lot of people smiling and laughing but it was hard to snap a picture at the right time and not be obvious about it. There were several school groups at the zoo so I saw kids walking around in big groups. I was never able to get a good picture of them, but they were evidence as to how contagious laughter is. I believe they were about middle-school age. I remember how everything at that age is funny. They were all smiles and giggles that's for sure. 

The pictures I managed to get are shown above. My favorite is the third one. I figured the parrot aviary might be a good place to find people laughing because you can buy little sticks with food and go inside to feed the little cockateels. The man in the blue shirt was carrying his daughter on his shoulders. She was smiling and giggling at the little birds flitting all around her. He was smiling and giggling too. Probably for the same reason or because he was happy his child was having fun. I snapped this picture when he set his daughter on the ground and turned around to look behind him. Granted the picture looks like I am spying on him because of the fence that is between us, but I caught something genuine that would not have been possible otherwise. 

The other two pictures posted above were at the Orangutans enclosure. They are pretty funny animals to me and I thought I might be able to get some good stuff there. The little boys were running around on the boardwalk peeping through the fence since they were not tall enough to see over the rail. One Orangutan was climbing around with a big mouthful of green grass. It looked pretty comical with its cheeks full and even more grass poking out of its mouth. The little boys thought this was hilarious. In my picture the one little boy is smiling and the other is not. I think I just caught him at a bad time! The couple observing the Orangutans seemed to be enjoying themselves. The man is concentrating on documenting the hungry Orangutan while the woman can't help but smile at it. I couldn't either! 

After getting sufficient paparazzi pictures of random people at the zoo, I chose to make my $5 parking ticket and $6 zoo ticket worth my while. I wandered around and visited my favorite animals. It was a nice treat before I had to get back home and study for my next test.

P.S. Here's some more picture I took that might make you smile.

Apparently the tree tastes pretty good.

I am super jealous of this big guy's cat nappin'.

As I was leaving, this face told me I needed to stop being a creeper and get back to studying.