What’s New at the Zoo

 

During the aforementioned organized meeting with the mayor of Landau, Zach and I decided to forgo local politics and take a quick visit to the zoo nearby our host family’s house.

Sorry guys… didn’t have time to translate

 

Relative to the size of, say, the Houston zoo, this was quite a small collection, but I’ll always take the opportunity to take a gander at (mostly) exotic animals.  Plus, it was a perfect excuse to test myself on all of the German animals of which I have been singing in Die Schöpfung.

Apparently it was feeding time when we first arrived, and we caught the penguins being tossed some sardines. The leopards, however, managed to have a field day with a not so lucky pigeon not quick enough to fly away.  Even the tiny fox was chowing down on a little baby chicken (which, by the way, has been our nickname for the campers since back in 2010, so I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this.)

Lovin’ them some sashimi

 

 

NATURE!

 

Givin’ me some sass.  (The baby chicken is behind and to the right)

 

One of the more surprising animals to be found at the zoo was a group of guinea pigs, as I can’t say that I’ve ever seen them at one in the states before.  When talking to our host father he said that often when families who have them as pets get tired of them they will donate them to the zoo to be used as food. (Shhhh… Don’t tell my mother this!)

Meerschweindschen! Though, why they are called “sea pigs”, I’ll never know.

 

And speaking of upsetting parents, nothing gets an Aggie more upset than the sight of some big ol’ horns:

Saw ‘em off!

 

One of the "interactive” sections of the zoo was a sanctuary you could walk into and see the birds up close. The following bird was labeled as a “Mexican fowl” if I remember correctly:

 

LEARN SOME ENGLISH!!

 

Though adorable, I’m not sure these ginger monkeys would be a big hit across the pond in merry old England.

 

Look at me!! … Mmmmk, thnx

 

Don’t think I didn’t get away without making an excuse to take a ridiculous picture of myself.  There were numerous metal statues of animals littered about the property, the largest of which was a bison and it’s baby.  Mind you, our first day in Landau was the hottest one they had in several weeks, so needless to say I only stayed on for the absolute minimum time needed to catch the photo.

Yee haw or ouchee?

 

Zach was even going to attempt it but, after touching the metal and nearly burning himself, decided to be the smarter of the two and abstain.  His inner thighs most definitely thanked him.  He did, however, find a smaller, shadier Simba to pose with.

 

Stop stealing my pose!!

 

And though it wasn’t in Eberbach, I couldn’t HELP but add one more Eber to my collection! This one’s for you, Sabrina!

 

Annnnnd finally, in the small gift shop they had some stuffed animals with oddly large eyes.  Perhaps I’ve been watching a little too much New Girl, but these things are giving some serious Zooey Deschanel realness, right?!

Who’s that giraffe… IT’S JESS!

 

Artists: Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green / Album: Do Re Mi