Observations at the zoo

The other day it was warm and sunny, so on a whim I went to the zoo.  (I have a membership to the zoo, so that makes it easy to just go on a whim.)  With my membership, I have been to the zoo several times over the last year, and basically know the layout.  But each time I have a different experience.  This particular day, the sun was melting some snow that had accumulated the day before.  While walking under trees, I was in danger of getting dripped on, or, worse yet, getting smacked in the noggin with a handful of cold wet snow as it loosened its grip from a branch above me.  There are a LOT of tree-covered paths at this zoo, but I managed to dodge the larger payloads during my visit.
Aside from dodging snow bombs, here are my other unique experiences from this visit:
The moose was being groomed (brushed) by a staff member while some volunteers looked on.  One of the volunteers brought over a tuft of the fur to show me.  There were two different types.  There was the fluffy fleecy stuff that looked like it would keep mr. moose quite warm.  Then there were these straight, thick strands about 3 inches long, interspersed within the fluffy stuff.  The lady said those strands helped to protect the moose from burrs and such.  Who knew?
The wolves were out and walking around in the middle of the day, making pathways in the melting snow.  Their enclosure is a steep slope with many trees, so they can easily hide.  Usually I only see them in the evening or when they are being fed, so it was a treat to see them casually walking around.
As I came close to the tiger enclosure, I saw that he was walking on a path that came directly toward me.  So, I stopped right where I was, to see how close he would come.  (Yes, there was a fence between us.)  He followed the path, and paused about 4-5 feet on the other side of the fence.  Then he turned and walked uphill in the snow to lay down.  I think that is likely the closest I've been to one of those gorgeous animals.  I didn't make a move to pull out my camera, because I didn't want to startle him.  So, no picture to go with the memory of my tiger encounter.  Alas.
I did snap a few pictures of the hippos while they ate. 

Did you ever play the game Hungry Hungry Hippos as a kid?  In the game, the mouths of the plastic hippos go up and down, devouring as many marbles as possible.  Up, down, up, down, up, down.  Straight up, and straight down.  Well, a real hippo munching on hay makes the same chewing motion!  Most animals have a bit of side to side motion when they chew...but not hippos.  Just chomp, chomp, chomp. I guess they can move the food around with their tongue, so they don't need to move their jaw as much.  In any case, I found it pretty funny that a cheap kids game bore a decent resemblance to real life.

There you have it, my observations at the zoo.  Creation is quite fascinating!