three bears, two rhinos & a giraffe

Yesterday Jimmy and I took a trip to the Detroit Zoo for a few hours. I haven't been to the Detroit Zoo in at least six years, and it's been even longer for Jimmy. We usually go to Toledo, but decided we wanted to see some of the new exhibits in Detroit. Well, we didn't get there until late in the afternoon so many of the animals were napping. I was able to get a few good shots, especially of the black bear. I swear, this guy was posing for the cameras, moving his head back and forth so we could get pictures from different angles. And check out those crossed paws - what a ham!

When we got to the polar bears, they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their handler with dinner. After I took this shot, about 100 birds landed in their space and tried to steal the fish the handler was tossing over. There were so many birds around us, I thought I was in a Hitchcock sequel.

The giraffes were also getting fed when we arrived. There were three, but this is the only one I could get a clear shot of. One woman asked the handlers if the giraffes were meat eaters. I wanted to say yes and then go into some elaborate made-up story about how the giraffe is actually a descendant of the velociraptor and is an aggressive hunter, but I decided just to giggle to myself instead. I mean, if you're getting fed a bucket full of vegetation by a human you're probably not a massive carnivore. There's a reason why they allow the public to help feed the giraffes, but the lions and tigers are behind electric fences...

Oh, and we also saw some rhinos, but my pictures suck. There was a lot of tall grass in the way and I couldn't seem to get a good shot. Plus I was trying to take the shot one-handed because I had a popsicle in the other.

Next time we're going back to Toledo.