I actually had a destination in mind a few days before the new year, thanks to the actions of that inimitable font of inspiration, Smerk. She found a video featuring some new additions at the Knoxville Zoo, and shared her find with the world. And so I decided to go there in person to see it all.
Knoxville is a fair distance away from here, a number of hours' drive even on the Interstates. It also decided to be rather rainy, though at least that was a good change from the being blizzardy that we had earlier in the week. An auto tune-up the day before and a filling of the fuel tank on the morning of departure took care of the car's basic needs, while a bag full of baked goods, a flask of hot tea, and a collection of thematically-appropriate music albums took care of me.
The first hour or two on the road had some rather heavy rain, but I'd anticipated that. And apparently most motorists were staying at home nursing their hangovers from New Year's Eve, because there wasn't much traffic on the highways. What traffic there was had to make up for it by mostly consisting of people who have watched Mad Max and The Fast and the Furious a few too many times, but I managed to avoid (barely, on occasion) having up close and personal meetings with them.
By the time I reached the outskirts of Knoxville the rain had lifted and visibility was much improved, and the route to the zoo was fairly simple. The Tennessee Department of Transportation did its best to make it difficult by the usual method of putting up signs that would require Alan Turing and Colossus (either the computer or the Marvel mutant, or perhaps both) to decypher, but I managed to foil their plot by not seeing the road signs until too late due to the oversized tractor-trailer rigs blocking the view.
I arrived at the zoo's front gate safely, parked the car, and wandered up to the ticket window. Given that there were about four other vehicles in the entire parking lot, I made a shrewd guess that the zoo wasn't being overwhelmed with activity that morning. My having to awaken the guy behind the ticket window further confirmed this guess. It may be that people weren't going to the zoo due to the light drizzle, or maybe due to the date. Or maybe the planets aligned in such a way to make it so. Whatever the reason, the whole zoo was nearly empty of visitors. I saw about five of them all day.
Being Winter, many of the zoo critters aren't on display. And so ticket prices were at half off. That was fine with me. I went through the gate, and then was chased down by the guy from the ticket window. He'd forgotten that he was supposed to hand me one of the zoo maps. Apparently they're afraid that if they don't give their visitors maps, then the visitors might get lost and fall into the alligator pit or something.
I decided at random to turn left (who needs maps, eh?), and almost immediately found myself face to face with the very critters who had sent me on this trek in the first place: the vicious red panda.
Red Panda 1
Red Panda 2
That particular fellow was an adult red panda. And while he was quite fun to watch (and he seemed to be fascinated by watching me as well), there was something else panda-ish that I was hoping to see. . .
Yep, the zoo has baby red pandas!
The young'uns are kept indoors, in a glass-fronted room where they're kept warm and safe. And where there are a number of webcams, so that people around the world can watch them being all pandaish. When I took a look, though, they were busy being all pandaishly asleep.
They looked quite contented. As well they ought to, since they're probably spoiled totally by the zoo staff. The zoo even has whole big groves of bamboo all over it just to provide fresh munchies for any hungry red pandas.
The pandas seem to not be lacking in the creature comforts, appearing to be most comfortable creatures indeed.
So I left the slumbering fuzzballs to their bamboo dreams, and went to investigate what else the zoo might have to offer. As I expected, many of the beasties from more tropical climes weren't out in their paddocks or enclosures. The rhinos were a no-show, as were the mysterious entities who normally inhabit a big cage nearby. But I did meet Edwin.
Edwin the raven, that is. Apparently he does mimic English words on occasion (mainly the names of foods he likes), but today he mostly felt like making sounds reminiscent of a lawn mower failing to start up.
A little further along I met some rather familiar critters, river otters. They were having a nap time, too, but while most were all cuddled up together under a shelter, one was all by himself on top of it in the open. And he couldn't seem to get comfy. Eventually he decided to get up and go for a frolic around the pond instead.
Restless Otter
Ottery Action
Next up was the reptile region, guarded by a mighty bronze tortoise. After a staring contest, though, he let me by.
All of the tortoises were safely stashed away indoors instead of in their pens (something to do with there having been several feet of snow recently, I suppose), so I never got to see any of them. Even the nobility among them.
The snakes and lizards, on the other hand (or other handlessness?) were all on display. They were in these sort of bubbles that stuck out from the outer walls of the reptile housing buildings, with double walls of plastic to shield them from the weather. Unfortunately, this also made the walls of plastic tend to fog up badly in the cold humid air, so it wasn't always easy to see them. But I managed to at least get blurred glimpses of them all.
The Green Tree Python of Australia and New Guinea!
The Black Cobra of Africa! I've actually had a fair bit of experience with these fellows, and they're not very friendly.
The Aruba Island Rattlesnake, from. . .well, take a guess.
A weird hybrid rattlesnake, of Eastern Diamondback and Canebrake ancestry!
The Uracoan Rattlesnake of Venezuela! He had an interesting texture.
The Arizona Black Rattlesnake! Apparently, Arizona is the Australia of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Louisiana Pine Snake!
Taylor's Cantil! I liked his face markings.
The Northern Copperhead! I don't really like these guys much. They're quite unfriendly.
The Blue-Tongued Skink of New Guinea! He actually wasn't in his home, but when I peered through the back of it I could just barely see him sitting in a cage in a corner of the work room beyond.
A Black Rat Snake taking a nap on top of a Corn Snake!
The Chihuahua Mountain Kingsnake! Guard your chihuahuas well, dog lovers!
Standing's Day Gecko, being properly geckoish by being stuck to the ceiling!
A Bushmaster, looking all masterful!
An albino Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake! He looked grumpy.
And lots of turtles! Some of them were actually running loose in outdoor paddocks, even though it is January. I'm not sure why.
Turtles 1 (and they look so happy together)
Turtles 2
After the turtle herds was another section that had been emptied out, with just the usual wild squirrels running rampant through it being all squirrely. Which was rather brash of them, seeing as how a red fox was sitting up on high, watching all.
Next came a rather birdish area. First up were a couple of Andean condors, who didn't seem to be all that amused by the squirrelish antics.
The white-crested laughing thrushes, on the other hand, seemed to be having a good time.
Thrashing Thrushes
That took me around to the start of the western loop of the zoo, back to the red pandas. I took a peek at the youngsters again, and apparently they had moved at some point but were still in a rather nappish mood.
The adult was still being rather curious of passersby, though.
Passing back by the zoo's main gate, I walked amongst the plethora of signs announcing all manner of things. One thing that caught my attention: apparently the zoo is planning on putting Flora Streater on exhibit!!!
From there I had a choice of several different ways to go. I chose a what was described as a short nature trail, the start of which was guarded by a vigilant pair of bald eagles.
See their grace, and hear their mighty cry!
The nature trail wasn't all that exciting, what with it being rainy and Winter and thus everything being dead or dormant.
The trail came to an end, and the critter exhibits resumed. Preceded by several warning signs.
The zoo paths then went through various exhibits for large cats and African wildlife, none of which liked the cold and/or the rain and so wasn't anywhere in sight. The paths were all nice and scenic, though.
The white-naped cranes were out, though.
As were the dreaded Mops of Doom, also known as sandhill cranes when in their alternate form.
A few of the other beasts also decided to make brief showings. One of the gibbons decided to run out and show off for a moment, and one zoo inhabitant was keeping an eye on the high-altitude weather systems.
At about this time it was midday, so I decided to stop for a bite to eat at the zoo's famous Safari Grill.
What with the zoo being on something of a dormant and lazy phase, it was rather interesting ordering food there. The delivery truck hadn't arrived that morning, so it was a case of I'd order something, they'd go and start fixing it up, they'd discover that they were lacking crucial ingredients, and then they'd come back to the counter and I'd order something else. I ended up with a meal of hamburgers, deep-fried cheese, and hot cocoa. I chatted with the woman who was (wo)manning the counter (since I was the only customer there the entire time), and learned that the previous day had actually been the busiest day for the zoo. Strange how that sort of thing works.
By the time I finished my meal and left the restaurant, the weather had turned to more of a heavy falling mist rather than a rain. Apparently it was enough of a change that the giraffes decided to venture forth into the Great Outdoors and do their giraffe business, whatever that may be.
Also out were the zebras. There were three of them, all standing around under a canopy. One was having a lazy day, just lying there dozing. Another, a mare, was standing around trying to munch on some fodder. And a third, a male, kept trying to get the mare "in the mood". The mare wasn't having anything to do with that, though, and just looked rather annoyed the whole time.
The zebras did have some holiday cheer, of a sort. They had Christmas trees! Of course, the trees were upside-down, and hanging forlornly from the roof. Signs of Satanic zebras?
During the busy tourist season the zoo offers camel rides to visitors. This being the middle of Winter, however, the dreaded beasts are kept locked away in their vile lair. And thus I was safe from their diabolical depredations.
Next along the way was the spectacled owl. He wasn't being all that spectacular at the time, though. Perhaps because it was midday.
Beside him there was an exhibit of prairie dogs. They decided to be smart little rodents, though, and remain all snug and warm and dry deep down in their burrows. So there was no sign of them. There was, however, a burrow set up for visitors to live the lifestyle of a prairie dog if they so choose. I so chose, and gave it my prairie doggish best.
Eventually, however, the lack of warm soft bedding to nest in or of crunchy veggies to gnaw upon forced me to abandon the carefree life of a subterranean rodent. So instead I went to see the elephants, who were lurking in the warmth of the elephant house. Instead of an elephant, though, I saw a tnahpele. This is a creature who closely mimics an elephant, but who does everything backwards. They are strange and mysterious beasts; nobody is even quite sure which end (if any) is the real head.
Next I went over to admire a room full of Geoffrey's marmosets. I'm not sure just who Geoffrey is, but he sure seemed to have a lot of marmosets.
Marmoset
In a greatly surprising turn of events, the two-toed sloth was being exceedingly slothful. In spite of the scarlet macaws being rather boisterous next door.
And as the last stop in the zoo, there were the African penguins (not from Madagascar, though). They didn't seem to mind the cold all that much. They, too, were rather dozy. . .the one in the foreground kept almost falling over onto his face, and then jerking back upright again.
That took me back to the main gate again. I still had plenty of time, though, so I decided to check back on the red panda babies. And this is what I found:
Red Pandas 3
Red Pandas 4
Red Pandas 5
Red Pandas 6
Red Pandas 7
And as a slight antidote to all that cuteness, behold their mighty claws!
I sat and watched them for a while, and they cavorted about and came up to the glass to say hello and to show off. Eventually they started getting sleepy again, though, so I left them to their well-deserved naps. And I left the zoo.
The drive home was about the same as the drive to the zoo, but without the rain. The only event of note was when I got to see the after-effects of what happens when a truck tries to pass under a 14' 0" bridge while towing a modular house with a peaked roof having a ridgeline of about 14' 2". Basically, you end up with a house having a ridgeline at 14' 0", and a nicely peeled length of rooftop in the middle of the road.
I made it home safely, to be greeted by a fuzzy welcoming party.
A few moments later, I was greeted by an equally furry yet less happy party. It seems that Rascal either finally decided to try leaping over the creek, or else he simply slipped and fell in. Either way, a little sodden lump of squeaking black fur came gallumphing up to the door of the work shop in the back yard when I was going into it. He was shaking and looking rather miserable, so I plopped him up by the heater and wrapped him in a blanket and dried him off a bit. He was happy and purring before long, and soon went gallumphing back out into the wilderness again.
And that was my first day of the new year.
3 comments:
Well done adventure!! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful experience with us less fortunates. And you were right, the cuteness was off the scale!
Nawwwwww cuteness!
Love the baby pandas!
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