Beldaran gets eaten by snake, has fun. [large images ahead]

[Beldaran]

Last friday, I went to the zoo with my fiancee (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiancee). Waco has a zoo called the Cameron Park Zoo.

Normally everything in Waco is a dump, so I expected the zoo to be like, two cages with a couple of homeless people sleeping in them. However, it turned out to be great. It's a really nice zoo with lots of nice scenery and exotic animals. The only thing I regret is that I was so impressed by the Sumatran Tigers that I forgot to take a picture. I'll have to go back one of these days.

I am a big fan of wildlife, wildlife conservation, and evolutionary biology. This trip further fueled my growing hobby. I later went to the bookstore and purchased an interesting book on animal ethology (the study of animal behavior) and genetics.

So here are some pictures of my adventure:

First up is my new little friend, the meerkat.

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/meerkat.jpg

Here are some giraffes just kickin' it:

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/giraffe.jpg

This guy was super impressive. He even growled at me before I took the picture. Let's just say I was immediately thankful for the barrier between us.

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/lion.jpg

Some more lazy lions:

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/lions.jpg

These Jaguars were extremely awesome. The chain link fence ruins the picture. They are best viewed from the cave enclosure behind them, where you look through the glass, but I was not able to get good camera lighting. So instead of taking a shitty picture where you can barely make out the jaguars, I... well, I took a shitty picture where you can barely make out the jaguars, but from the other side!

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/jaguar.jpg

I really liked these coyote guys:

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/coyote.jpg

You know what's bad ass? Rhinoceroses.

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/rhino.jpg

This guy was giving me the evil eye. I'm pretty sure he wanted to just eat me and my stupid camera. Jokes on him though. He lives in a glass box, where food is brought to him everyday and his only job is to have sex and take naps. ... wait a minute... who's the joke on again?

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/croc.jpg

And finally, at the end of the day, I was eaten by a snake.

http://www.forrestkyle.com/photos/zoo/snakeeat.jpg


Well that's it. If you're ever in Waco I encourage you to leave quickly. But if you can't leave, try visiting the zoo. It's totally awesome.

[Darth Marsden]

You made me sit through all that crap just to find out that you were being 'eaten' by a stone snake. Worst. Thread. EVER.

:D

Glad you had fun.

[Sam Atoms]

Looking at that lion makes me want to watch Narnia again.

[Plissken]

That is a kick ass rhino. Zoos really aren't my type of thing and my Zoo doesn't even have a rhino :(.

[The_Amaster]

HOLY COW!

Geez, man, are you all right. I mean, that snakes like 30 ft long. Your lucky to be alive....

Sounds like a fun trip to the zoo.

[Aegix Drakan]

Nice pics there, Beldaran.

Almost makes me want to go to Waco just to check it out.

[moocow]

*squeals* I can't wait to go to the zooooooo!

[mrz84]

Your right. That rhino looks totally badass. I wanna goto the zoo near me and see it's splendid thingies. :kitty:

[Modus Ponens]

My dad got licked by a giraffe in the Cincinatti Zoo once. He climbed up the fence like you're not supposed to and it wrapped its tongue around his arm and licked the hell out of it.

[War Lord]

I love the zoo.
I definitely need to go there this summer.

I would imagine a lot of people on this forum love the zoo also, for their own personal reasons.

[koopa]

Yeah ... if anyone ever comes to Switzerland, Zurich Zoo is worth a visit. There's a huge indoors "tropical house" with monkeys, giant tortoises and all, but it's so hot over here right now that I don't need a tropical house.

Until a few years ago, our zoo was mainly large animals in small cages - not a very happy sight. But they've improved a lot. I don't presume to think an animal that otherwise roams the wild can really be happy in a cage of any reasonable size - but the zoo does educate people about wildlife and it's a wonderful place to go and spend a day out.

I should take some more pictures too next time I go ... but Beldaran's are very nice. In the kids' zoo we have, I once got eaten by a whale - no prizes for guessing how.

Edit: I expected a picture of your fiancee under that link. Shame on you ;)