the zoo part three

This is my final zoo post, I promise.  My parent's visit was fun last week, although it was really hot here so we didn't do much.  I'll put some pictures up as soon as I have a few extra minutes of charge on my computer (yeah, still no electricity...)

Anyways, we spent quite a while watching this little fox watch his wished- for lunch:

here, birdy birdy birdy

I don't have a super zoom lens on my camera.  I was actually this close to the little guy.  He thought I was funny looking, but that Daniel's nose has potential.  :)

One of my favorite pictures from the day.  If this bird had wanted to, he could have pecked me right through the fence.  I think the camera confused him though.  Amazing colors, true?

It was good practice for me because I had to focus my camera manually in order to shoot through the fencing.   I think it added a really neat texture to the background.

day at the zoo, part two: Charlie the Macaw

After we visited with Buddy, the zookeeper said that since it was my birthday, he would let me visit with one of the zoo's Scarlet Macaws!  Meet Charlie.

Daniel and I got to feed Charlie some peanuts.

Charlie very politely took a peanut from my hand... but Daniel-- not so much.  Charlie tried very hard to remove a finger from Daniel. 

Such innocence....

It turns out that anyone can visit with Charlie for $10Bze, which is pretty cool.  Scarlet Macaws are magnificent birds, but they aren't seen much in the wild any more, so visiting at the zoo is the best place to get really close.

Also, visiting the Belize zoo for your birthday is the best.

day at the zoo, part one: meeting Junior Buddy

The Belize Zoo's motto is 'best little zoo in the world,' and I have to agree (and I have been to a lot of zoos).  They have this great combo of lots of wildlife, and a typical Belizean attitude that people should be able to take care of themselves-- which adds up to really, really close encounters with the animals.  Some, not so comfortable-- like walking by the 12 foot crocodile, seeing him look me straight in the eye, and then realizing all that separates us is a 3 foot wall made out of bamboo.  Not even exaggerating.  But other encounters are pretty much the awesomest thing I have done here.  For a small fee, the zookeepers let you pet a jaguar.

Junior Buddy is a jaguar that was born at the zoo.  His mother was a rescued and rehabilitated jaguar, and she came pregnant to the program.  Zookeepers have been working with Buddy his whole life, which means he is somewhat trained... for a 145 lb lethal weapon in a fur coat.

The zookeepers work as a pair.  One lures Buddy into a side cage, the other lures...us... into a cage inside Buddy's enclosure and locks it.

Then he calls... 'here, kitty kitty'.  Actually, he really called 'commeer Buddy!' 

I asked if I could pet Buddy, and the zookeeper said, yes as long as you don't put your fingers in his mouth.'

Wasn't really tempted anyways.

His fur wasn't soft at all.  It was really coarse, like one of those coconut-fiber door mats.
He was pretty playful, the zookeeper bribed him with chicken feet and he did somersaults for us.

Daniel got his forehead licked too.  Buddy is only supposed to lick you if you are bald, but the zookeeper let him lick me because it was my birthday.  He totally surprised me though- he just grabbed my head and kept his hand over my hair without telling me what was going on, and then all of a sudden I was being licked. By a very big, VERY rough tongue.  

look at those amazing spots.

We were in the cage for maybe 20 minutes, and then afterwards the zookeeper put a chicken foot out so Buddy would pose for our pictures.  You can tell Buddy just loves it.

More to come!

...and then, because it was my birthday, the jaguar licked my forehead.

To be continued....