The Zoo Story (big ol' dial-up warning)

[JeffR]

JERRY: I've been to the zoo. I said, I've been to the zoo. MISTER, I'VE BEEN TO THE ZOO!

PETER: Hm? . . . What? . . . I'm sorry, were you talking to me?

JERRY: I went to the zoo, and then I walked until I came here. Have I been walking north?

Oops, sorry, wrong zoo story. The real story is a zoo excursion a friend and I have been planning for ages finally happened. We spent Friday afternoon at the Toronto Zoo, covering most of the over 700 acres.

Here are some of my favorite souvenirs of the day. (Note: I uploaded these to Photobucket but my album there is not working tonight, so I uploaded these to Picturehosting instead, hence the unfortunate little banners and the added "bonus" of the gamma being a little compromised throughout.)

Larger and much more pristine versions of these and many other shots can be found on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10573337@N04/sets/72157619665454075/

The African red river hogs were a treat to watch:





Baked to perfection:



Front and rear views of an elephant:





Portrait of the artist and friend with a big fish:



Meal time:



Play time:





And so on:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear JeffR!

My god, man! I cannot hold a candle to your expertise, and don't you forget it!

These are so amazing, that I can hardly believe they were taken in a zoo.

The poignancy of the tiger looking at the tree wrapped in protective chain link is incredible. So poignant. It breaks my heart, seeing it.

Sigh

Thank you...

Fucking amazing.

[JeffR]

5. Thanks, Peggy.

It's fairly rare to see the F word used in the Photo Group. Glad it was followed by "amazing" rather than "awful"! :)

[Blue_In_AK]

2. These are really great, JeffR!

I'm kind of partial to the ungulates. They always seem to have such a gentle look about them, even the males with the big horns. Is that a llama third from the bottom? The last ones are my favorites. :)

[JeffR]

6. Thanks, Blue.

Tell you the truth, I'm not sure what that guy is. There were impalas in the enclosure, among other things, but I couldn't get near the plaque giving the rundown on what all the species were. The place was incredibly crowded for most of the day.

[Elfin Yeti]

3. Phew! What a collection!

Great job! I especially love the elephant and the snow leopard!

[JeffR]

7. Thank you very much!

The snow leopard seemed a little amused by being photographed. Finally he yawned and nodded off.

[Celebration]

4. too bad for you

Only one in the calendar. You could make your own calendar out of these. I love a number of them, but have you checked out the attitude in the bird? (duck?) That's funny-- a proud duck!!

And the big horn sheep? I love those things.

Great job.

[JeffR]

9. Thanks very much!

Now I need to figure out what to enter. :crazy:

[Mira]

8. Every time I scroll through I find new favorite moments and details. I can tell

you had a lot of productive fun. Maybe it should be a daily calendar?
:)
Can't wait to see which one will be in the calendar, no joke, these are so great.

[JeffR]

10. Thanks, Mira. I got about 500 shots

though the keeper rate was modest.

[blueraven95]

11. Jeff --

If you don't submit that color photo of the wallaby (at least I think it's a wallaby), I think I may just cry. It's beautiful.

[JeffR]

13. Thank you. I'll be entering that one definitely.

Assuming I can get the time for the appropriate resizing between now and the end of the week, that is.

[NV Whino]

12. Those Red River Hogs are really interesting

So many good ones. I love the simplicity of the giraffe and the two black and white Billy Goats Gruff. And the llama!

[JeffR]

14. Those piggies were fascinating.

Their gait reminded me a a very large woman walking in very high heels.

They're nocturnal, apparently, but these two had no issues being out and about on a very bright afternoon.

[Tindalos]

15. Wow!

The big cats, the quizzical goats, the fed-up camel, the adorable wallaby . . . I don't even know where to start raving about these. I just have to say that I love the elephant butt. It's so textural.

[JeffR]

16. Thanks so much. The texture of the elephants was amazing.

Most especially in the posterior!

I'm ashamed to say I haven't been to the zoo in years. It's routinely ranked among the top 5 or 10 in the world, but it's way out at the edge of the city and I always find excuses for going "some other time". I'm very glad I finally made the trip. It was a great experience.