Yes, we went back to ZooTampa yesterday, and of course I looked for Riplee. But honestly, I’m not 100% sure who was who. But this little guy from the the feature photo appeared to be on his own, no mother hovering to keep him safe. And he was all over the place, gathering up the pieces of vegetables that had been put out for them for their morning treat.
I was sure I was looking at Riplee when I took this picture.But then this little one started to make me wonder. Riplee is two years old now, and there was another one around a year younger than him so that makes me wonder about this one. A very little one was climbing on ropes, very busy, but then a mom reached up and reeled him in now and then.But then there was this mom who quickly climbed the enclosure and swung from ropes and that little one clinging to her was on his own to stay attached. When I saw this mom holding her baby I assumed it was that little infant I saw the last time I was here. But looking at the photo I think this baby is the one year old. I remember how I’d race back to the zoo to see Riplee, sure that he would have grown so fast. But he was an infant a long time, well over a year before he was venturing away from mom. Eventually you must move on, and when we did we saw these barred owls. I took the picture through the same mesh that you see behind them, but the camera focused on the owls and ignored the enclosure in front of them. That’s how it looked through the view finder as I took the pictures, but I was doubtful that it would look like this in the photo.I tried my best to get an otter picture the last time was was here. They swim in the murky water and if they zoom in close to the glass you see them for a second. I was kind of pleased with this one, the bubbles especially.Yes, we live in Florida, but the new Florida exhibit is very nice so we always stop by.This didn’t look like a wolf to me as I stood there watching it move around the enclosure. It scratched itself on the bark of a tree, and panted with a very friendly-looking face. I asked myself if I’d recognize them in the wild, and I suppose if I was in their environment I’d be more aware. I think it looks more wolf-ish in the photo.This was a new spotting for us. We saw several big nests up high in the trees, and this one is home to a great blue heron and her chick. Freely choosing to make her home here I assume.
I apparently will never learn to take pictures of the signs that tell you what animal you are looking at. I feel badly if I show pictures without any identification at all, so I’ll hang onto my mystery photos a while and try to look those up.
Living on the Nature Coast of Florida provides constant photo ops, and I need an outlet to share what I see. And sometimes what I think...
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