Thursday, September 01, 2011
The Zoo
I have now discovered that the best day to go to the zoo is Monday. No one was there this week. Okay, so I estimate 10 families plus the Hills. Practically no one. It was great! On Monday, the carousel and shows are not available which may be why it was empty. Also, the school field trips usually happen at the end of the week not the beginning.
I was able to really teach the kids about each animal and not be rushed. We stayed at each exhibit for longer than 10 seconds and were the only ones there for the majority of the trip.
Our gorilla exhibit has a viewing of the grassy enclosure from a cave like setting. While there, the male gorilla spotted us. We had just read that we should not give it direct eye contact. That way it won't feel the need to be aggressive. After teaching all the kids to look away quickly if he looked at us, we played this hide and seek game for a few minutes. It was very fun to play around with him, pretending to not notice him. All the while staring at him. He did this too back to us. At this point, he was a good 60 feet away. But he tired of this quickly and decided to charge us straight on at full speed. He was soooo fast. I have never heard the kids scream so loud! They ran completely out of the cave in 4 different directions while I jumped and ran too, heart beating out of my chest! You know he can't get through the glass, but have YOU ever been charged by a grown adult male gorilla?! It's quite the heart beater!
After he charged us, he just sat down at the glass sideways. No scream, beating chest, nothing. He was just having a little fun with the Hills that morning!
After I rounded all the kids back down, people starting coming in to check on us and see what the screams were about. One of the zoo keepers was there in a minute. The kids enjoyed relaying the story all the while a few feet from this HUGE gorilla leaning against the glass just staring at us (probably laughing inside too).
It's a memory I don't think they'll forget in a long time. I'm actually tempted to try it again next time we go to see if he'll charge us again. I know for a fact the kids won't enter the cave if I do though.
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