Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Greets!!!!

Well, today was a wonderful day!! Why you ask, (you did ask, didn't you???) Well, I decided to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom to take pictures. This, in and of itself is not a monumental happening, but it was an awesome experience today none the less. The animals were, well, just animals. Some didn't come out at all. Some stayed in the shade and some were seemingly ignorant of the weather. Note: Animal Kingdom is built in a bowl, (according to an administration big-wig we know). Because of this fact, if the temperature in Florid

a is 90 degrees, then in Animal Kingdom it will be a minimum of 97 - 100 degrees. And we think that animals aren't as smart as humans!! Boy do we have that wrong!!! I can prove it!!!!

Today there were a ton of people at Animal Kingdom. In fact, I had to park in the last parking lot. I do not know why, other than it was a Sunday. School has already started so maybe it was the last people heading home tomorrow for another year of homework and headaches?!? Anyway, there were a lot of people wandering about. Sunscreen was everywhere, as were the burnt little tourists, (those were the ones that didn't bring sunscreen). The sun was out all day and there were very few clouds. So, you see, the animals knew it was brutal in the sun, and the people didn't.

Animals - 1 People - 0.

My first stop is always the flamingo enclosure. Now, to be fair, it's really not an enclosure. The birds can fly in and out as they please. You see, many flamingos take residence in Florida year round, using Animal Kingdom as their home. In this enclosure there are many, many flamingos. As luck would have it, I was pretty much alone at the flamingo enclosure for the first ten or fifteen minutes, so I got to stand where I wanted and have conversations with the birds. Now I know what you're thinking. He's lost his mind. He's nuts. He talks to wild birds.

Well, ye of little faith, listen to what transpired...

There I was, looking around when I spotted this one flamingo standing all by himself. Bad breath, I wondered? Beak-a-tosis??? So I decided to take pity on him and make him famous (my little mind play on how jealous all the other birds would get, if they only knew

that he was on the internet and they weren't)!!! I first saw him peeking at me with one eye, with the rest of his head buried under one wing. "I see you", I said. "Take your head out and pose for me." He immediately took his head out from under his wing, stretched, flapped his wings a few times and then proceeded to run around waking up all the other flamingos. Did you know that flamingos don't wake up in a good mood??? Well, you do now. It got pretty noisy for a few moments, till many of them went back to sleep. My flamingo was now just standing there as if waiting for another command. "Pose for me", I said. The picture below is what he did. Not

only did he pose once, but twice and thrice and many more times after that! In my opinion he was the Fabio of flamingos, (no he wasn't gay, or at least I had no reason to believe he was). Besides, if he got hit in the face by a bird, it would be sort of expected,

right???

I go on...

After taking numerous flamingo pictures, I then moved on to my favorite place in the park, the Gorilla Compound. Why it's called a compound I don't know, but it's actually two enclosures separated by a walkway. The boys are kept on the left and the girls on the right. I think you can figure out all by yourselves just why they are separated. I will not take the time to explain.

At first I couldn't understand why there were no people on the walkway? This was quite strange. The gorillas usually draw a sizeable crowd and there were NO people. None! Nada. Zip. Just me. As one lone tourist strolled through I heard him ask the attendant, "Where are the gorillas?" The attendant stated that it was hot and the gorillas were probably in the

shade on the other side of the compound. She did mention that there was one gorilla sitting by a tree, way back away from the people, (you could barely see him, as the bushes concealed him pretty well). After the lone tourist left, I said, out loud, "Hey gorilla! Why don't you walk out here so I can take your picture?" Now I know you're thinking, this guy has lost his marbles! Talking to an ape? Clearly the sun has gotten to him!

Wait for it, ye of little faith...

HE GOT UP!! And not only did he get up, but he broke

a branch off a nearby tree, stuck it in his mouth and proceeded to walk slowly across the compound, out in the open. When the attendant said to me, "He's not going to stop, he's going to go lay in the shade on the other side of the wall", the gorilla immediately stopped. I said, outloud again, "Hey, drop that branch, look at me and pose so I can take your picture!" Immediately the gorilla spit out the branch and as if following a script, he turned and looked at me, (see the picture). Now if that isn't a look of disdain, I don't know what is?!? He stood there until I said, "Okay. Thank you. You can move now", (about 20 seconds). It was the last I saw of him.

Animals - 2 People - 0

It was time for me to move along. I was hot and thirsty. So, after a quick stop at the local canteen, (a tourist trap were a Diet Coke is $3.50), I was again on my way. The next stop was a small but crowded pond where numerous birds stop and do bird things, (you know, eat, sleep, poop, etc...). Today at the pond there were White Ibis, Little Blue Egrets, White Faced Ducks, (which are the cutest little ducks in the world), and Roseate Spoonbills, (one of God's more ugly creatures). At this pond there are numerous trees and branches, which are great roosts for many of the above mentioned birds. Today, the trees were empty. It was too hot. Even the birds knew. Meanwhile, the tourists wandered around and did touristy things, (more on that later).

I stopped and found my next subject, a lonely looking Roseate Spoonbill. He/she (my eyesight isn't that good!), sitting all alone. Again, being a person who doesn't embarrass easily, I said, "Hey little Spoonbill, stop preening and look at me." He/she, did. I was again encouraged. I felt for a brief moment like Tarzan; talk and they listen. I went on with my human/bird conversation. "Thank you for stopping. Now, pose for me. The picture attached is what he/she did.

Now please understand, this is not rehearsed. I have no magical powers over these animals, (except perhaps that I have about as much brain power, but that's another subject for another time).

Animals - 3 People - 0

Before I go, I would like to tell you about two things I heard humans say today. The first was a man at the flamingo enclosure. This gentleman (and I use the term VERY loosely), was with his rather large family. The son asked, "What is that" pointing to the flamigos? His answer, "Son, those are flamincos".

The second human brainiac was at the canteen. He was seated at the table in front of me. The performers were dressed in their African garb and beating drums, dancing and gyrating to the beat of their music, which, by the way, was quite loud. After a lot of beating and drumming there was a brief pause. This was when Captain Stupid uttered his immortal phrase. A phrase that needs no explanation: "When does the singing start?"

Animals -4 Humans - 0

I close now with this thought: Just how arrogant are we as humans to think that animals are not as smart as us?!? Many of the animals that we look down upon not only have brains many times larger than ours, but they do things that scientists have proven to be caused by cognitive and conscious thought. So, the next time you see a bird or animal, remember that he's probably thinking you're pretty stupid too!

Just a thought.....

Byeeeeeeeeee