Close Encounters

Life is a zoo in a jungle.

Peter De Vries
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Hello Addis Ababa Ethiopia
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New York City has a number of amazing zoos. The Bronx Zoo, which is actually The New York Zoological Society (since many things in New York have two names) and the small but excellent Central Pork Zoo, where, if you're in New York City, you should go to see the penguin exhibit among other things.

Otherwise there is the general wildlife of New York. The ubiquitous pigeons, squirrels and cock roaches (which, I'm told, is the only creature that servived the atom bomb).

There were also some strange spottings of animals over the years: an alligator living in one of the waterways, a coyote loose in Central Park, a family of Peregrine falcons nesting in the top of one of the tall buildings.

Then there was the Siamese cat.

Some people in the city keep strange animals in their apartments. I once went to a rehearsal in an apartment that had a boa constrictor living there. The snake didn't move. It slept the whole time I was there which was alright with me. And I knew an actor who turned his bathroom into an aviary for a flock of birds. He also had a parrot in the ktichen.

I went to visit an actress friend and her husband. Their apartment building had a garage attached to it. He was working in the garage so we went there. There was a monkey in a cage who was so glad to see me he pissed on me.

Then there was that Siamese cat.

Some of the ground floor apartments in the city have back yards. I knew a woman who kept her pet sheep out there.

But the strangest encounter I had was with a bobcat. I went to the ground floor apartment to rehears and found an apartment full of animals: a strange tropical bird in a cage, a turtle, a small furry dog, a Siamese cat and two bobcats. The people were environmentalists who were into saving the bobcat, so they had two of them. She told me that one of them was nice and the other one was nasty. She tried to get them both into the back yard, but while I was sitting on the sofa going over the script I was suddenly joined by a creature who jumped up on the sofa to check me out. I turned and was face to face with a wild bobcat. It was about 6 inches from my face and staring at me. I was scared. I wondered wither it was the nice one or the nasty one. But just at that moment the Siamese cat appeared from somewhere and sat down. When the bobcat saw it he lowered his head and slunk away into the back yard. With all those animals in the house I was impressed to see that the Siamese cat was the one in charge. Without lifting a paw it told the big dangerous bobcat what to do and where to go.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
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Never give up.
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SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)

Come on. 11 diverse and interesting answers so far. Where's yours?

NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.

Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?

dbdacoba@aol.com

I eagerly await your answer.

DB
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Viewed Verisimilitude 4/26/09

Life is a zoo in a jungle.

Peter De Vries
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Happy Sunday.
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Years ago some friends and I went to a zoo in a large city. After wandering around we got to the primate area. There was a large field with baboons chasing each other around and a building next to it. When we entered the building we were in the gorilla section. There were several glassed in areas. One of them was a small area with rocky walls and ledges. Sitting on the ledge near the window was a young male gorilla watching the people go by. There was a bench nearby, so I sat down.

Within a few seconds that youngster and I were staring at each other. He reached up and brushed his shoulder once. I did the same. Every time he made a gesture I copied him. He seemed interested in that. I held up my hand in the gesture of a greeting. He watched me but didn't do anything. I did it again. After the third time he copied me.

Soon we were making gestures at each other. I always imitated him, which seemed to amuse him. Some of my gestures he imitated, some he didn't. There was a man's voice behind me with a scornful tone that said "Ha. Monkey see, monkey do."

"Ape" I said.

"What?"

"Ape, not monkey."

"Oh, really" the scorn went on. "And what's the difference?"

"Monkeys have tails" I said.

He walked away.

The imitation game went on for a while, back and forth, until the mother gorilla came out to get him. She lifted him up gently. He climbed up onto her shoulder and as they disappeared behind the rocks he looked back at me.

I didn't see that young one again, but I wonder just how much real communication there was between us. There certainly seemed to be thinking going on.

Considering that he was probably born there, under the supervision of the zoo's veterinarian, that he was fed and cared for by the custodians, that he had other young gorillas to frolic with and the adults as companions and that when he wanted some entertainment he could sit on the rocks and watch the silly humans walk by and gawk at him, my final question is: Which one of us is living the more civilized life?

DB - Vagabond Journey
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May the good shine through.
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Check out the Spring Quiz below.