Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat: Our Best Day Ever At The Zoo

Our Best Day Ever At The Zoo

Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat
ENTHUSE. ENAGE. EDUCATE. ENTERTAIN. EXPLORE.

                    Our Best Day Ever At The Zoo

Years ago…years…was the first time we ever saw an okapi, and it happened at Denver Zoo. We were awed into silence as we stared at this beautiful creature with the striking zebra stripes, luxurious chocolate coat, and huge brown eyes. How something so beautiful could be endangered was staggering. As the sun gleamed on his shinny coat we finally spoke to each other.
     “I wonder what it would feel like to touch him?”
     “I was wondering the same thing, but of course we will never know.”

A Denver Zoo keeper once described an okapi felt like a velvet sofa. Looking at its chocolate fur it is easy to relate to the description and we accepted that would be as close as we would ever come to ever touching one.

Decades later when we decided to create Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat, of all the hundreds of options in selecting the first animal photograph to be published on Dill (besides Dill herself) it was the memory of seeing the first okapi that made the decision. It was also the okapi that inspired the first video we created, Zebras, Everywhere.

Not long ago Rachel from Denver Zoo called and left a phone message. She offered us the opportunity to have a private tour of the zoo and see a few animals including the okapi. From Denver Zoo Matt suggested the tour to Rachel, Connie joined in, with Loren and Robin the keepers of the okapi and Dave, the keeper of Mahali the hippopotamus. Matt and Connie were off the day of the tour and yet they came.

B r e a t h l e s s.

We were breathless into silence for the invitation coupled with the realization one can never say what they will never know. We listened to her phone message a few times.

All these years, decades, we always believed it would have been a wonderful feeling to touch an okapi, and though it was, at the same time we were wrong.  It was more than that. It was humbling and a honor. Loren spoke about how the okapi was endangered, very few zoos in the world had them, and the responsibility to be their keepers. Robin spoke to me about how much she enjoyed and appreciated working at Denver Zoo. I could hear the tone of passion in both of their voices. What we have dreamed of, they do everyday. The words I wanted to express eluded me.

The okapi was turning around to look when we entering the private area where he resides from the public.

This okapi came to the gate where we fed him some kale and lettuce, and touched him.

No matter how many times one has seen a hippo, sometimes called a river horse, with his mouth opened, its like looking at a hippo for the first time.

Next we visited Dave the keeper of Mahali. He was teaching Mahali behaviors that would help the staff care for him and to keep Mahali mentally enthused. For all his spots, Mahali's name in Swahili means spots. We were given an opportunity most people on the planet will never have, to be a part of Dave’s training by helping to feed Mahali apples.

How gracious and generous we were given not only a beautiful experience and but memories woven into the fabric that defines us. It was beyond amazing how Dave was able to relate/train Mahali. Our plans are to one day publish all the photographs S. Mason has ever taken with animals. The one with Mahali rising up to be fed by Dave with S. Mason standing with him...oh my goodness. And again the words I wanted to express were evasive.

　
Rachel capsulated the visit in one perfect word. “Magical.” It was. Extremely so.

In the days after the tour, still grasping and absorbing what happened, we talked about how our experience was more than with the animals but also with some very special people sharing their passion. We also talked about how Denver Zoo is a place to connect to one's passion of animals, and to the world itself. It is a place of education, discovery, and Denver Zoo salts awareness. It is a sanctuary, a conservation, a testimony it is not enough to be human, we must be humane. As all worthy zoos Denver Zoo is all of these things and more.

More...

Then came the realization, and it rippled, and the evasive words actualized--For all that it does Denver Zoo is another form of an ark.

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How to save money buying parrot fish

This is a picture of one of my three blood parrot fish. I have seen online blood parrot fish costing around thirty dollars and more per fish based on the same size as mine but my three fish in total did not cost over twenty dollars. If you are interested in owning blood parrots here is my tip. Purchase them as babies. They have a grey, white, and black splattered pattern and cost far less than the more mature fish they quickly grow into. They live long. My parrots are over ten years old. They are not aggressive but mine prefer to live without other fish. They have a large cave and when someone enters our home, they all rush inside of it as they do not like other people too.

ANIMAL SHELTERS ARE A DIFFERENT KIND OF DIAMOND STORE

We deeply respect and recognized the agony not only to relinquish your animal family members but to never know what becomes of them. It is a hellish grief because when a person or animal we love leave our lives and we do not know what becomes of them that is very different kind of grief, an unhealed one. One of our goals at Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat is to communicate many animals in shelters reach shore. They find new homes, sometimes not easy but they adjust, and are doing fine, as they become members of new families. Like many homes our animal family members come from animal shelters, a different kind of diamond store.

The Denver Zoo -A Centennial History

Authored by Carolyn & Don Etter, commissioned by the Denver Zoological Foundation, Cover to Cover Designed, designed by Jody Chapel- Roberts Rinehart Publisher

A copy of The Denver Zoo -A Centennial History was
gifted to S. Mason from Rachel, Matt, and Connie from Denver Zoo. As we looked through the pages at the stunning photographs, reading random passages along the way, each passage a gem of accounts, we were also in awe of such a
complete history of the Denver Zoo in one book. The more we read, the past becoming new knowledge, it was like being introduced to the Denver Zoo for the first time. Such irony--from the beginning the Denver Zoo seedlings were from visionaries and we suspect those visionaries would be pleasantly and proudly surprised if they could see the Denver Zoo today. Reading The Denver Zoo-ACentennial History is a rich experience. A beautiful book, a beautiful gifting,
thank you Matt, Connie, and Rachel, three very special people.

THE LAST WINTER

WHY BROWN & BLACK BEARS CAN’T ALWAYS BE DEFINED BY THEIR COLORS

It may seem reasonable by their names, a brown bear, a black bear one could tell them apart but not when one considers black bears can be dark brown, cinnamon, and even white; just as brown bears (commonly called grizzlies because they can have lighter colored tips on their fur) can be different shades of brown, blond, and even black. And if that is not confusing enough at the same time some black and brown bears can have a mixture of both colors. So how does one tell them apart?

Black bears tend to be smaller than brown bears. Brown bears have a hump on their shoulders where black bears do not, and black bears have bigger ears that sit straight up. But perhaps the easiest way to tell these bears apart is their claws. Black bears claws are short enough not to be visible and a brown bear claws are long enough you most likely will never forget seeing them.

Free to come and go but they stay

Sometimes by design or a location that is natural to animals that already exist where there are zoos, within them, are free roaming animals. These animals can come and go but they stay and live at zoos but not within a habitat. Not only are there free roaming animals but there can be several kinds at one zoo. At the Denver Zoo, as of this writing, there are peacocks, chipmunks, and rabbits. The Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska has wild roaming turkeys, and the Phoenix Zoo have lizards. Years ago at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs they had free roaming deer. In the Indianapolis Zoo they have free roaming raccoons. Some people were surprised and thought the raccoons escaped their habitats. I took this photograph right before this raccoon ran back into the bushes.

Emeralds. Pearls. Rubies. Or any jewel. Any corvette, any color or a ghost Rolls Royce. A harp, grand piano, a cello or any music instrument. Velvet. Lace. Silk. Crystal. A bar of gold. Or a red rose. Anything looks better if placed next to a black cat. Universally beautiful and individually unique there could be thirty black cats in a room and a guardian of one could easily find theirs. Although NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY is one day, Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat feels it is important enough to remind people 365 days a year. (the black cat image comes from online)

NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY

Panther. He was the most intelligent cat we ever had. He would step on the keypad and look at the computer screen. When we would turn on the wall light switch he would look upward to the light fixture hanging from the ceiling. He got it. When doors were closed he would stand on his hind legs and with his front paws try to turn the doorknob. In the US and UK there is a NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY. On Animal Blogging With Dill The Cat we will show our support by bringing awareness to this very important day-365 days of the year.

MEMBERSHIP

There are organizations whose mission include to ensure, enhance, the quality of life for animals. It can be a zoo, an aquarium, or even an organization specific to a particular animal. They all have one thing in common. These organizations offer membership to those who share their passion and beliefs. Consider a membership that is supportive of animals today. The next time you visit a facility where membership is offered, considered the money spent on a ticket for one visit can go towards a year long membership instead!
　

BEAUTIFUL WORDS

Some words are so beautiful they give us a reason to pause, reflect, and exhale. Such words speak to the stories of our lives. For us there are four special words that are beautiful together when driving miles of snow covered tree-lined blocks, and the title of my photography--On Our Way Home. From Jill, the beautiful word--Content. From the Denver Zoo we were inspired to include two words--support and dedication. Here are some more beautiful words that speak to the stories of our lives. Benign. Shelter. Guardian. Eventually. Retrospect. Passion. Forward. Different. Books. Serenity. Laughter. Animals. Believe. Dreams. Us. Balance. Found. A Raft. Change. Home. Recovery. Roar. Heroes. What words are beautiful to you?

IN MEMORY OF YOSHI

One of the best things about recommending books is the ability to share the experience with others. Reading and recommending Robert Smith's books from his series Petectives, based on his family two cats, Yoshi and Gatsby, have been a joy. We were sadden to read of Yoshi's passing. Little Free Libraries are boxes shaped like libraries, placed on posts, and filled with books in communities all over the globe. There, children can take a book to read then return it so it can be read by others. On Dill's Blue Page is more information about Little Free Library. We purchased a paper copy of Petectives to donate to a Little Free Library so others can know the joy of reading about Yoshi and Gatsby.