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Happy Sunday to all. Last day of the Olympics. With the ever-changing weather conditions I'd say they ALL have had their own Adventures in Nature.

If you take a break from your TV and are looking at your computer screen instead, please click this link and come on over to my newest post on the HOUSTON ZOO BLOG. Any and all comments would be very welcome and much appreciated.

Bachelor Dads

Almost two years ago now a new pair of geese showed up at Hermann Park. While previously there'd only been the grand and elegant Mr. and Mrs. Goose ruling the lake, I arrived one day to see two more gliding along it's blue surface. One was a Chinese goose with all the same brown and white feathers, the same black beak with a bump, the same plaintitive wail as Mr. Goose. It was also the same size, and so I assumed it was a he. The other had an orange beak and as big a body, but with fluffier feathers that were ashy-brown all over. I've come to know this as a greylag goose (but it could be a landes-- chime in in the comments area if you know). I assumed he was also a male due to his size and aggressiveness when eating from my hand. Where the other three were more gentle, he'd rip the bread from my fingers, often nipping them in the process (he didn't mean it though, he just needs better table manners).

While Geese are known to be good egg producers, I've never ever seem Mr. and Mrs Goose with chicks of their own, though there's six weeks a year, sometimes twice a year, when I only see Mr. Goose on his own. As the Mrs. was never far from his side normally, I wondered if they had a nest during those times...though if she was gone due to sitting on it, apparently nothing ever hatched.

I've read much about the goose's tendancy to mate for life, but I wondered about these two guys. Somewhere I came across a line or two that they might stick with a buddy if not a mate, filling that need to pair.

Interestingly, last spring, when all the Muscovy's begin to appear with lines of fuzzy babies waddling after them, I noticed that the bachelor buds were very interested in the 11 little ones of one mother Muscovy. Here were a few pictures I snapped.

The first few times I thought they were bullying them, but when I tried to shoo them away from the mother and chicks, they would not go. They were obsessed. With further observation, I realized that they were quite attached to the little ones. Over the next few weeks, I found them together in all corners of the park. They would stand guard as the babies slept under the shade of a tree, assist them as they got in and out of the water, or shepard them safely across the walkway, as I caught them doing here.

I wondered if I'd been mistaken, that they were indeed male and female, practicing for the future. But if they were both males, could they not also have some kind of paternal instinct? And it being nesting time, but finding themselves unable to fulfill nature's call, could they not have decided to adopt?

They often bent their long necks down this way to gently nudge the babes along --or to dicipline! After about 6 weeks they'd grown into juveniles and the mother was no where to be found. But I'd see the pair of bachelor geese right beside them, until one day, their little flock had grown too big to tell them apart from the other muscovy teenagers. And like all parents, these two guys were forced to watch as they swam away to have their own lives, leaving them with... an empty nest.

Considering how few babies make it to adulthood, these geese proved to be excellent parents and they should be proud. Oddly, I've never seen them do it again. But spring is coming and with the budding trees and sprouting flowers come babies of all kinds in the animal kingdom. I will be keeping a close on these two.

Today's Giggle

Anything for a Bite of Green

At The Zoo, the resident herd of giraffes are very well fed, and quite loved and pampered. So it is not from hunger that on occasion I have seen one doing this when there are no visitors on grounds...It's just because they're orally fixated!

Isn't this what long necks are for? But long legs certainly don't make this so easy. To be this close and see them do it is surreal. They are such gentle beings.

More Sleep Positions

Oh how I wish little squirrels could be kept as house pets! When I've said they provide and endless source of amusement, I'm NOT kidding. Even when they sleep they're hysterical.
Not all of these are the best quality as it's hard to shoot through the glass tank in the sun, but I encourage you to click on any photo you want to see better. It will open up and enlarge in delightful detail on a new page.
ENJOY!!!Oh, those not-so-little feet!

Their noses, always tucked under something...

And these two Fox siblings who I found crashed out in their playpen under the tail of a "mother" squirrel toy's gray tail. Both on their backs, both hips splayed, both with heads hidden. THE BEST comedy moment of Fall '09

And Rocky, my first at-home squirrel patient, sprawled out in the sun with his foot stretched out behind him. Cute cute cute.

These next two: I was amazed at how flexible they were, so much so that sleeping with their necks craned upward against the tank apparently was comfortable enough to pass out and dream their baby squirrel dreams.

Yes, there are two in that tank... those are not the legs belonging to the one up against the wall.

Ah, anything to be curled up, tucked under, somewhere soft, warm and cozy.

Did I mention they were flexible? Puts cats to shame in that department. These are two of many photos I have of them sleeping completely upside down.

It's squirrel baby season again... We've only had two sets of pinkies come into The Center so far, knock wood. As much as I love caring for them, it's my hope that they all will manage to stay in their nests, safe and sound with their mother. But if some more come in that need to be nursed at home, we may have some fresh pictures in the coming months. Stay tuned!!

Mr. Foof

There's a pack of about 6 caramel and white colored ducks who must have flown in from somewhere (or were dropped off by someone) about a year ago and decided that The Park was a good place to stay. Smart birds.Plenty of places to swim, nest and sleep and the weather isn't too shabby either. Not to mention that there are lots of humans around who provide extra treats when pulling on grasses and reeds and nibbling insects get ho hum.

Each one of these ducks have a distinctive white poof of feathers on their heads. Not quite an Easter hat, definitely not a pompadour, but more like a cotton ball pillbox.



But last time I was there I saw what appears to be a mallard drake with the same poof on top -- only his was quite grand, traveling from his crown halfway down his shimmery neck. Take a gander: The front shot just makes me laugh.
So noble and yet, so Don King...


Really. It's more than a poof, hence the post's title. Anyway, here for your enjoyment is a little of this guy, dabbling among lily pads.



Having spent the better part of an hour scouring duck books and Google to find out what this is all about, I've come up with ZERO. I went to duck ID sites for hunters. I put head plumage in quotes to get as specific as possible. I Googled images using every wording imaginable. The best I found was one picture of one of the caramel colored poofers but it was on a stock photographers site. The caption was as clueless, only offering it is thought they are a hybrid.

Do any of you animal lovers out there have a clue?