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A day out.
Aug. 16th, 2008 10:26 pmSpent the day with my in-laws today... had a good time. :) We did stuff that I've been wanting to do around here, and just haven't ever gotten around to it. Had good dinner when we got back to the apartment, though the plans of grilling were scratched when the pea- to grape-sized hail and monsoons blew through yet again.
We headed out this morning and took the tour of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. Pretty neat. It's the last active Shaker community in New England, with 4 members... a way of life that will soon be gone, and has already changed quite a bit from the way it was.
Visited the Maine Wildlife Park too, which was made me kinda sad... I guess I'm used to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where the animals are pretty much free to roam, or at least in larger enclosures that try to mimic a natural environment... This was mostly all cages and concrete, with some dead trees and boxes. It is first and foremost a rehab center, I think, not a zoo, so most of the animals are (in theory) temporary residents, but none of them seemed very happy... The little fox in the photo was in a chain-link cage, in a row that also housed porcupines, a skunk, and a fisher. A raccoon was housed a few feet away. All the animals were doing was pacing... The lynx and bobcats were in smallish, round enclosures that looked a bit like squat grain silos, and the lone mountain had a reasonably spacious rocky/woodsy spot, but still, pacing animals. The mountain lion was lounging on a rock, mostly out of sight, and seemed reasonably content, but his home seemed far too small for such a big cat. (I was hungry, and getting a little tired, so maybe I was projecting my own irritability onto the li'l fuzzies, but pacing is pacing.)
Maybe it's a matter of budget, and the enclosures will improve with time... There were some larger areas, housing a couple more foxies, who were out of their little den and playing the second time we passed by, and the black bears and coyote had a larger, more natural habitat. Well fenced, of course, but much more room to roam. There were birds; peacocks, several different owls and raptors, and a turkey vulture, housed next to some ravens. Never seen a raven up close. They're pretty spiffy. We do have at least one pair that lives around the nursery, I've been hearing and seeing GIANT CROWS all year. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that beak, though, let me tell you.
All in all, I'm glad I got over there and got to see what it was all about, but I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon...
We headed out this morning and took the tour of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. Pretty neat. It's the last active Shaker community in New England, with 4 members... a way of life that will soon be gone, and has already changed quite a bit from the way it was.
Visited the Maine Wildlife Park too, which was made me kinda sad... I guess I'm used to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where the animals are pretty much free to roam, or at least in larger enclosures that try to mimic a natural environment... This was mostly all cages and concrete, with some dead trees and boxes. It is first and foremost a rehab center, I think, not a zoo, so most of the animals are (in theory) temporary residents, but none of them seemed very happy... The little fox in the photo was in a chain-link cage, in a row that also housed porcupines, a skunk, and a fisher. A raccoon was housed a few feet away. All the animals were doing was pacing... The lynx and bobcats were in smallish, round enclosures that looked a bit like squat grain silos, and the lone mountain had a reasonably spacious rocky/woodsy spot, but still, pacing animals. The mountain lion was lounging on a rock, mostly out of sight, and seemed reasonably content, but his home seemed far too small for such a big cat. (I was hungry, and getting a little tired, so maybe I was projecting my own irritability onto the li'l fuzzies, but pacing is pacing.)
Maybe it's a matter of budget, and the enclosures will improve with time... There were some larger areas, housing a couple more foxies, who were out of their little den and playing the second time we passed by, and the black bears and coyote had a larger, more natural habitat. Well fenced, of course, but much more room to roam. There were birds; peacocks, several different owls and raptors, and a turkey vulture, housed next to some ravens. Never seen a raven up close. They're pretty spiffy. We do have at least one pair that lives around the nursery, I've been hearing and seeing GIANT CROWS all year. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that beak, though, let me tell you.
All in all, I'm glad I got over there and got to see what it was all about, but I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon...
