How to fill time in retirement

 Each year the Brevard Zoo celebrates Halloween with several fun activities. Part of this is decorating the Zoo with lots of Halloween stuff. I took these photos on my visit this past week. Boo! Entering the Africa section has a new sign... No Halloween stuff here but the giraffe was wearing orange... Some chilling skeletons near the flamingo pond... Am I suppose to recognize this? Or this? A ghost and a witch hanging in front of Wild Florida. I really liked this one, a flamingo skeleton... No, that was not a real kid... Not a decoration but a snake wrapped up in the Rainforest, it could be a decoration... As you enter the Zoo, or as you leave... Make it out to the special October "Boo at the Zoo", great for the kids or grandkids...

 On my Brevard Zoo visit, I always like to see what plants they have. I must admit they usually have a great variety. Not sure what this is, but there were blooms like this all over... My next stop was Wild Florida which includes a few local animals. They use to have about 20 American Alligators in their large pond, but now are down to a few. I think they were having some social issues between the inhabitants. No one likes a crowd and in these times of a pandemic, social distancing is a must. This guy was off by himself... On the other side of the bridge over the pond, there are two American Crocodiles. They both are very large, I would say 8 to 10 feet. Here is one drifting by the bridge... I think all the Bald Eagles on display are in some kind of recovery from injuries they got in the wild. Regardless, they are still Majestic looking animals... It is too bad that the Zoo has such a problem with black vultures. They are everywhere and I think it is getting worse. Here is that Maj...

Since retirement, I have been a seasonal member at Brevard Zoo. But with the pandemic, they were close for a long time and now have strict guidelines for visitors. One new rule, you have to reserve a time for entry. They allow a lot of people each hour but to get in, you have to have the reservation. Being a member, there still is no cost for entry. Another new rule, you must wear masks in certain areas. I am use to that so no big problem. First stop was Expedition Africa. As I was entering the area I saw that the Siamang Gibbons were out. The female (in photo) was eating along the river. The male was higher on the bank, scratching his butt and waiting for the baseball game to start.. I stopped and saw the meerkats, but already having a large collection of photos, I decided to move on. As I was crossing the bridge to get to Expedition Africa, I saw that the Marabou Stork was hiding behind a palm frond. His pink gular sac seemed longer than I remember...The Latin species name is Leptoti...