Soccer Dad

Antelopes are missionary

But turtles apparently aren't.
The turtles we saw were, um, "exercising" as our 6 year old helpfully explained at the Plumpton Park Zoo this past Sunday. The zoo was OK, worth about an hour and a half. But the Baltimore Zoo (or now the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore) is too pricey for too little, so we decided to try the Plumpton Park Zoo about an hour north of Baltimore.
There were peacocks all over the place. (Actually that's peafowl. Peacocks are the male of the species; peahens are the females.) Somehow, though I don't think they fly, they were on roofs and in trees.

And no matter how beautiful peacocks are, they are loud and obnoxious.

When I was younger we lived in Springfield Massachusetts. On our walks to synagogue we'd pass through this zoo. The two animals (or species) I remember were the peacocks and the polar bears. In the summer, my father would usually comment how unhappy the bears looked, so hot in their fur coats.

The Springfield Zoo in Forest Park is sort of famous. Not for itself. But at one point it was run by T.R. Geisel, the father of Theodore Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss.

Some of their animals were named. There was Freddy the Donkey.

Jimmy and Jeremy were the giraffes. (But not Geoffrey.) And there was a Python named Monty.

As far as exotic animals go there were Zebus, that simply look like white cows. There were also Watusi, which is another kind of cattle, not just a dance.

On the way out I decided to take pictures of some of the flora too.

I thought that this one was particularly nice; though I have no idea what kind of flower it is.

One problem I've noticed with private zoos is that they are generally smellier than the public ones. Still for our two children (who are currently home) it kept them interested. Though the three year old didn't like the "smelly house." That was the reptile her house. Her six year old brother liked it quite a bit though. Especially the bespectacled caiman.