Soooo.....there's this one section of the zoo I don't like. You walk around a corner and all of a sudden there are signs, warning you about the lions. And the warnings aren't about the lions eating you or anything semi "normal" that you might expect to fear from a lion. Oh, nooooo, nothing that mundane! The signs warn you that the lions like to "spray" (fancy zoo term for SQUIRT PEE ON YOU) and to watch how close you get to the cages. Most days the lions are chilling out on their one lion rock in our somewhat sad zoo, but there are days where they're pacing, and they do this growl thing, that I would never in 100 years guess was a lion (except now I'm totally in the know, so I WOULD get that question correct if they had a sound category on Jeopardy) and I can just see them waiting and watching and hoping my girls get close enough to get hit with some pee.
Due to my semi rational fear of getting a golden shower lion style, I rush my girls past this part of the zoo every time. It's not hard, since the giant carp pond is right past them. They have these little machines where you buy some pellets for a quarter, throw the pellets on the water, and watch the carp basically crowd surf to get your pellets. These are some hungry carp people.
There's a warning sign by the carp too, and I've read it but I've never paid much attention, since we JUST made it past the lion threat and the carp are so cute. Well, not cute precisely but cool in their own way. This sign says to watch out for the red wing black bird. I guess this is the area they like to nest, and they don't like peeps up in their grill. I look at this sign and smile, because I love red wing black birds.
You need a little back story. I moved to the cornfields from the desert. The desert people. Where the warmest jacket you'll ever need is a hooded U of A sweatshirt. Where we treat frost on windshields with awe and glee. Here in Michiana, we are at the bottom of a lake. A big lake. Some might say a "great lake." Get it? No, get it? Moving on. This lake, Lake Michigan, contains lots of water. The way the wind blows makes it go right over the lake and then comes down on us as "lake effect snow." It sounds all jolly and magical, until you live through it for 6 months, and then it starts to wear you down. Last winter we had a glorious 100 (that is not a typo) inches of snow. The irony is that it was too cold to build a snowman. (all that great snow with nothing to do). The moral of the story is, winter here wears you down. You get to a point where you think you may never feel the sun again. Or be able to go to the store without a full set of car emergency gear. You start looking for signs that spring may come.
In lots of places robins = spring. Not here. Not sure why, but our robins seem to like the cold. You'll see a robin out in December and be like "dude?" and he'll be like "duddddeee," and you'll wonder where in the world he's getting worms this time of year. So the robin is unreliable, but the red wing blackbird is the man. Or the bird. When you see these guys, you know spring is on it's way. So I've always looked at these birds with a little glint of love in my eyes.
NO MORE. Oh my gosh, these birds are psychos!!! PSYCHOS....Luckily I was with a group and a friend warned me, but anyone not warned who happened to walk too close to the birds got attacked. There was no concern for age or ability. Old men, children, everyone, everyone got a big up close of red wing blackbird in their face. The birds attacked people's hair, pulling it out and making some people bleed. Blood...eww. They came back second and third times, and they were mean. Can you tell I have PTSD over this. My friend the red winged black bird is a cold hearted killer. Or at least a cold hearted scratcher. So next time you're at the zoo make sure it's not nesting season, or just avoid the lion/carp area entirely. Your choice
The kiddos
Obligatory turtle picture. Some day this will get old for them, but for now they still fight over who sits in front.
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