Animal Behavior

October 07, 2008

Animal Behavior

Several hours west, from the coastal lands into the midlands, I enter Columbia, SC. My old stomping ground, the place where I got the MPH, a place where I still have close friends, colleagues, and the central office where I can actually go and feel like everybody knows my name! Norm!

When I travel to Columbia I stay with my friend Rebecca and her daughter, Hanna. This time, I settled in for 8 days. It was a pretty low key trip, interspersed with some photo opportunities to share here with you.

The first, the most fun, is that glimpse into the animal behavior with a trip to the Riverbanks Zoo. For a small Southern city, Columbia has a really good zoo filled with some great animals that one can get up close and personal with. My very favorite - the Koala. Man, you just want to reach out and pet one. Repeatedly. And take it home with you. In your purse. And the cool thing is watching them....waiting...for them....to do something. ...anything..... Other than sleep. Of the two present, one was dozing in the tree (big surprise) and the other was wide awake, following me with only his eyes, his only change in pose being this ocular shift and a quirk of the ear. If I wanted a different angle, I had to be the one to move. Work with me here!

Another good exhibit is the Gorilla. In this case the Gorilla took it upon himself to run into the brush and come back with a bamboo shoot for snacking. That was quite a photo op. Did you know that Gorillas subsist not on meat but on plants and bugs. mmmm. Slimy, yet...satisfying?

And of course there are shots for fun, of Rebecca and Hanna neck deep in Lorikeets, squawking and pooping everywhere (the birds, not Rebecca and Hanna). But who can resist such a charming scenario?

While Columbia may not be the most sought-after place for photography, it has some beautiful parts and a certain uniqueness to it tainted a bit with the college campus feel. In the next few days I'll share with you a little bit of this city - the University Culture, the river scapes and the music scene....all caught with my camera in random moments of free time!

I ....just.....want....to.....PET him!