After the lunch we made our way to Lincoln Park Zoo which is free on Saturday's and Shawn and Camille are a poor young couple as well so we took full advantage. Somehow in my excitement I forgot one simple thing, free stuff = crowds. As we circled the park and surrounding area over and over and over.........and over, we could not find a single free parking space. Cars were jammed into parallel parking spaces like, well not like sardines because sardines are really not jammed in that close together, but the cars were jammed in like pickles, which are absolutely packed into that jar. To our dismay it also started pouring rain while we were looking for a parking spot to go along with the 92 F or 33 C heat outside. So hot and muggy is understatement of what it felt like.
Eventually we succumbed to paid parking and once we got out of the air conditioned car we realized how fast one can sweat in 100% humidity. After a little while the on and off showers cooled things down and it wasn't that bad.
For a free zoo the animals that were exhibited were quite impressive. I was able to see a Tiger for the first time in real life, up close, and he even smiled for me so I could get a picture.
I had seen Lions in the wild in Africa so that was a little less exciting. One of the female Lions did however have something against the lady who was standing behind me and to my right. The female Lion at one point looked directly at the woman and growled the deepest meanest growl I've ever heard. I turned around, looked at the woman, and although I saw no reason why the Lion growled, I promptly moved to the other side of the crowd. Maybe the Lion knew something I didn't.
It was fun throughout the afternoon to try and make noises to try and get the attention of the animals so I could take their picture. I assumed that the mating call of each species would garner the most attention so that was road I took. Of course I don't know the mating call of a single species, not even humans, so the noises that came out of my mouth were quite interesting. Not surprisingly, I wasn't the only person trying to get the animals attention. Grown men and women, along with kids were making a variety of calls. There was the universal "pucker your mouth and suck in" making a squeaking noise. There was the "growl loudly" especially used around the large cats. There was the good old whistle, but there weren't any dogs at the zoo so that one had limited success. And then there were even people who tried to just call out in english to get the animals attention. One question though, what if the animal doesn't speak english?
I do have to say that I was able to entice a black bear. The noise I made can only be explained as a cross between a mule, a goose, a walrus in heat and an angry armadillo.....ya it was quite the spectacle. Right after I made the call the bear stood up on it's hind legs and proceeded to eat some leaves. Whether it had planned to stand up before I made the call we'll never know. But it looked kind of impressive so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Although it was neat to see some of the animals I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Many of them were very confined quarters and some of them looked very unhealthy. There was one penguin in particular that looked so sad. The fur or hair on it's back was falling out to the point that you could see it's skin quite easily in
places. It didn't do much but stand in a small room that housed about 40 other penguins. I guess I'll have to wait until heaven to be able to play with and see the many beautiful creatures of God's creation.
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