Poop Is Educational and Other Info from the Zoo

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's Day, my sister Chrissy organized a multi-family trip to the zoo for my mother, who loves zoos.
Here's a few snapshots:

I love zebras.  You just can't go wrong with black and white.
Next we saw yet another idea for our backyard garden also known as the Who Likes Mowing Anyway? project:

I learned that scientists value things the rest of us don't:

And that flamingos sleep with their head on their bodies, requiring their necks to be twisted back in a fashion that just makes me think: "ew!"

 Speaking of birds, it's spring!  And apparently that is mating season for peacocks.  There seemed to be plenty of ladies around, but the males still had to fight over them anyway.  We didn't capture this on film, but these two bad boys attacked each other repeatedly, flying up startlingly high in the air and slashing at each other with their claws and beaks.

The primates were in a much more mellow mood.  Can you spot the monkey in this picture?
(No, not my niece.  She's obviously a leopard.  She was a leopard all morning.)

We got up close and personal with some giraffes, Rachel's favorite animals.  At one point the younger one ran, and I was surprised at how graceful he was.  I suppose, though, all animals are graceful in their usual environment.  It's only when the fish is out of water or the tree-dweller is trying to walk that they look clumsy.

Here's a group shot: