Part I of our Sunday outside was spent at the zoo, where we were greeted almost immediately by one of the zoo's in-house educators and a kookaburra. I'd never heard a kookaburra before, but they're pretty loud.
Loud enough that the Australians apparently refer to them as "the Bushman's alarm clock." At least according to Nancy, the animal educator. I can't remember the last time I heard the term Bushman used in a non-ironic sense, but there it was.
Anyway, Nancy was there to hold the kookaburra and answer questions.
Someone asked if the bird talked, and she said no. [Why is that the first question people always ask about an exotic bird?]
Then someone asked what they eat, and she replied that they are carnivores mostly, feeding on mice, snakes, etc. Which made the questioner ask "Do they hunt them?" To which she responded, "Well, they live in the wild; no one brings them their food." Thanks, Nancy.
To his credit, the questioner was patient and followed up by saying: "I meant do they hunt or are they scavengers? The bird doesn't look physiologically capable of being a predator." I should point out that at this juncture in the mini-lecture there were about 10 people standing around. Easily five of them were little kids (stroller sitters and front-pack riders).
So Nancy helpfully responds, "Oh no --- they're quite capable as hunters. In fact, when a kookaburra catches a snake he thrashes it back and forth, smashing its head on a rock to kill it before he eats it."
At which point, the woman next to me (with baby in front pack) grew wide-eyed, uttered breathlessly "OK, we're done here sweetie," and sprinted away.
For his part, Samson was more concerned that the bird was going to make noise again [he's not big on loud noises, unless he's the one making them] than with the way it gets its dinner.
Man, I love the zoo.
Loud enough that the Australians apparently refer to them as "the Bushman's alarm clock." At least according to Nancy, the animal educator. I can't remember the last time I heard the term Bushman used in a non-ironic sense, but there it was.
Anyway, Nancy was there to hold the kookaburra and answer questions.
Someone asked if the bird talked, and she said no. [Why is that the first question people always ask about an exotic bird?]
Then someone asked what they eat, and she replied that they are carnivores mostly, feeding on mice, snakes, etc. Which made the questioner ask "Do they hunt them?" To which she responded, "Well, they live in the wild; no one brings them their food." Thanks, Nancy.
To his credit, the questioner was patient and followed up by saying: "I meant do they hunt or are they scavengers? The bird doesn't look physiologically capable of being a predator." I should point out that at this juncture in the mini-lecture there were about 10 people standing around. Easily five of them were little kids (stroller sitters and front-pack riders).
So Nancy helpfully responds, "Oh no --- they're quite capable as hunters. In fact, when a kookaburra catches a snake he thrashes it back and forth, smashing its head on a rock to kill it before he eats it."
At which point, the woman next to me (with baby in front pack) grew wide-eyed, uttered breathlessly "OK, we're done here sweetie," and sprinted away.
For his part, Samson was more concerned that the bird was going to make noise again [he's not big on loud noises, unless he's the one making them] than with the way it gets its dinner.
Man, I love the zoo.
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