Petting the Shark

So, today Janice and I petted a shark (two sharks, actually. they were adorable*). We also got to see some bat mantas (beautiful creatures, and apparently v. gregarious).

That same afternoon, we got to hold and pet a baby leopard (appropriately enough, since they'd been leopard sharks that morning). And also pet a skunk (which took a fascination with my watchband and chewed on it a while. We also got chuffed at, repeatedly, by a v. friendly tiger, and I got smelled or nibbled at by two donkeys, a llama, an emu, a wallaby, and almost an ostrich (Janice pulled me back, worried about a repeat of The Parrot Incident). Plus, we got mobbed by a mixed herd of small deer, goats, rams, and peacocks when we entered, feed-the-animal cups in hands (the place we were visiting uses ice cream cones as cup, so the animals eat the container as well as the pet feed).

Here's hoping we have luck with the whale watching tomorrow . . .

--JDR

*and apparently more easy-going than housecats. the guide told us that they originally put six fish in the shark tank to be eaten. But when the sharks realized they got fed even without catching the live fish, they started leaving the live fish they shared the tank with alone. Try that trick with well-fed housecats and a room full of little birds, and the outcome wd be less pleasant (for the birds).