On vacation - Turtle Back Zoo

We're up in North Jersey this week, a combination of business and vacation.  Tomorrow I'm doing a poetry reading that they're taping for a cable tv show on NJ poets, and on Monday I'm going to the Matt Dusk show to take some concert photos for Soundtracking.

 But otherwise, we're going to various places and having fun. Today, we went to the Turtle Back Zoo.

Not only is it good excerise, it's also right near the hotel. It was pretty easy to find, thanks to our trusty GPS.

  The first thing we saw was this big fluffy bird sitting on a rail. There were, in fact, quite a few birds of various types just kind of hanging out on this railing, doing what birds do - sqwaking, fluffing their feathers, trying to get the attention of other birds. I don't know what this one is, but he had a great amount of interest in his own tail feathers. We couldn't get him to face forward for a picture. But he's cute and fluffy, so here he is.

This adorable fellow is an African penguin. According to the sign, they used to have other names, including the 'Jackass Penguin'.  He had a couple of friends, and they had some nice water to swim in. No one was swimming when we took this picture - however later, we saw them in action when the zookeepers came over to feed them. Penguins actually swim pretty fast! They love their fishies.

  This shaggy fellow is a Bison. He was looking particularly unimpressed by us, and our camera. They also had some cattle of various other kinds there, but I forget what they were called. Bisons seem to make a particular kind of whuffing noise as opposed to the traditional 'mooo' you think of when you think of cattle. At least, that was the sound this guy was making. He was pretty articulate, at least.

This wolf had a big chunk of raw meat in his mouth, and promptly went over to dig a hole by a tree and deposit his meat into it. I didn't know wolves burried their food, or whether he was just digging the hole and dropped it in and covered it up again for fun or what. But that's what he did. A few minutes later, another wolf came over and started sniffing around the spot, but didn't dig it back up or anything. The wolves were very entertianing, if a bit more scraggly than I pictured wolves as being.

  This horse wanted me to pet him really badly. But considering the sign next to him that read 'We bite!', I figured I'd best pet him on the flank well away from the head. He had big feet with fluffy hair on top of the hooves - I think he may have been a clydesdale? I'm not sure. But he looked HUGE compared to the minature horses that were behind him. They all seemed to get along in equine harmony, though. He wasn't a big bully horse or anything. The little guys are over having a showdown in the picture on the right. They were super cute!

  Hey kids! It's Eric the All American Eagle. Okay, like ninety nine percent of you won't get that joke, but Jim and Niki and Li will laugh. Right? It was funny. Come on guys. Anyhow, they had a pair of bald eagles who were injured in the wild and couldn't fly. They were still very stately and imposing. It's easy to see why this is our national bird. Not the turkey like Ben Franklin wanted. What was Ben Franklin thinking? The Bald Eagle kicks turkey butt. Probably eats turkeys, too. It has HUGE tallons up close, and a big beak that looks like it could crush your bones. Eagles are tough, kids. Don't do drugs.

  Have you ever noticed aligators always seem to be smiling? It's that "I'm going to bite your face off if you come too close" kind of smile, but it's there just the same. It makes you wonder what they're up to. These fellows were just sunning themselves on a rock, really. In the reptile house. He does look happy, doesn't he? 

  This peacock was despirately trying to attract the attention of a girl. She was just kinda ignoring his display, totally unimpressed. We thought he was pretty though- and he made a neat noise when he rustled his feathers. His cries of rejection could be heard all over the zoo, poor guy.  He wasn't getting any love at all.  On our way out, we saw him dejectedly sitting on the railing, tailfeathers drooping. He'd given up on love- at least for the time being.

  Hey, you! Down here.. there's a goat! Look at me, I'm a goat! Pet me! Pet me! Pet me! That's what this goat seemed to be saying. He bleated to get our attention, and pressed right up against the fence until I gave him some petting and Aus took his picture. He didn't want us to leave without a goat picture. Really, what's a trip to a zoo without a picture of a goat? You can't say zoo without goat. Well, you can, but this guy doesn't think you should.

 Love me! I'm a goat! Notice me! Pet me!

  This was one very cranky falcon. We have no idea why it was screaming and screeching and flapping around like it wanted to claw something's face off, but it had some definate anger issues. It might have been because it was feeding time - we saw the half-eaten carcas of a bird on the log down in its cage. So could be that he was defending dinner from us preditors that may have wanted to steal his meal. Either way, it was easy to see why falconry was a popular sport in medieval times. Falcons are pretty bad ass.

This was a huge fat seagull- the biggest seagull we have ever seen, in fact. The zookeeper was feeding him by hand, so he was obviously tame and belonged in the zoo. We weren't sure he could fly until he took off, that's how big he was! He managed, though - pretty well! 

We had a lovely time! There was also a little train ride that we took, and we saw some deer while on the train. Aus snapped a picture of me looking out at the terrain. 

 If you want to see more pictures, we've got a whole bunch up in a directory on our website here.

 I'll post up pictures from other stuff we do on our vacation as we take more photos.