Water Buffalo

Yesterday Holly went to the zoo, today, her nan went.
Today, I went as a second member of staff on the Seniors' tour to the Mountainview Conservation Centre in Langley. The place was more like a safari park than a zoo, each animal or set of animals had so much space in their enclosures that we couldn't actually see all of them. Ivan the Indian Rhino was hiding somewhere. This water buffalo came over to have a look at us.
Kris, ever the naturalist, asked some question about whether you could tell the sex from their horns. I pointed out that he had very large goolies hanging there for all to see.

There were some packs of dogs from Africa that were the most endangered mammal there, but they were being managed and bred here in BC. They looked quite soft and pretty, but it was pointed out that if a keeper stepped into their enclosure without the pack being enticed away first, they'd soon be food.

Fortunately, we had no medical emergencies. I think there was a possibility of that had we not been pulled around the many acres by a tractor whilst sitting on what looked like benches stuck on a trailer.

And I got home early. On the doorstep, a parcel, a picture by Teddy and Holly. Good timing methinks, I can get that on the wall before they arrive and a very worthy pic too.

On National Geographic, we're watching some Herpetologist searching for giant crocs. A couple of nights ago, a different herpetologist was looking for giant cobras. Everyone's into herps, everyone wants to find giants. Since Herpetology encompasses both reptiles and amphibians, I look forward to some enthusiast coming to take a gander at our giant bullfrogs at the Park.

Still, no-one's quite as good as Steve Irwin at this game. There are some good presenters on TV and I believe there are some bad - I remember Sleepy wanting to euthanase one of them - but Steve-O set the bar high.

And I learnt another animal related fact today. The American badger is a completely different animal from the European badger. Good old Brock. I was quite confused to see something that looked like a large Pekinese dog waddling across the TV screen but being called a badger. There was something terribly...un-badger-like about it.
This probably explains the distinct lack of badgers in American literature. At least...I assume there's a lack, I can't say I've read too much of it.

Oh, and that last picture - a condor. I think he was watching us.