Keeping the Zoo Interesting

When I retired, as you probably know, I got an annual membership to Brevard Zoo. I usually try to go once a month and sometimes twice. There are changes and special exhibits, but most of the animals are the same and I have tons of photos of many of them. So, how do I keep myself interested when visiting the Zoo? Well, one way is to talk to people including the volunteers and zookeepers. Two things were of interest this last visit.

First, was a change with the emus in the Land of Change section of the Zoo. As I was walking the boardwalk I noticed that the female emu was right next to the fence...

That is the railing right next to her nose. I was not sure if she would peck at me if I leaned over the rail while taking the photograph. I also saw there was fresh food in this obscure area. Why would they do that? Then I saw another emu lying right next to the fence. I took a photo looking straight down...

I passed a little and tried to get another shot. His head was facing where the food was sitting. Not a very great shot. At this time, two of the volunteers stopped by to take a look. They said the male was lying on a nest with six emu eggs in it. Now I wanted to see the eggs but the male seemed to be set...

They said the eggs are a beautiful green so I went online to check it out. This photo, downloaded from the internet, shows an emu egg next to a chicken egg.

I left the area and went to the Africa Exhibit. While watching the ring-tailed lemurs, I talked to those volunteers. I showed them the photo of the emu and they were curious about whether the keepers were bringing the eggs inside at night. Good question. So I went back to Australia and saw that the male had flipped positions. He was now facing the other way...

Here is a closeup I took, he seemed pretty content...

The female was still guarding (or nagging) the male.

So I went over to the apiaries where there were volunteers. I asked them about the eggs and luckily, as I was talking to them, two of the zookeepers came by. So I asked them and they said that the eggs cannot be moved and the nest will stay there until they hatch. I said what was my chance of getting a photo of the eggs and they told me the male was pretty set now and does not leave often. The eggs are supposed to hatch in March. Should be interesting to see if they get six new emus!

The other interesting site was at the ring-tailed lemur's exhibit. One of the zookeepers was interacting with the animals. The zoo is good at trying to keep all the animals stimulated. Here she is with a large cardboard box. You can see a lemur inside the box...

She also had some branch with small leaves that she had stuck in the hammock. She broke off pieces and would try to give it to each of the lemurs, they currently have nine.

I saw that she was also taking photos of their behavior...

As I saw, the box was of interest to them. She had thrown in some pinecones and other twigs...

Then she brought out some kind of blanket and half the lemurs went climbing quickly up the surrounding pine trees. Here is one taking a peek at the sheet from the tree...