Zoo Zoo Zoo!

So I had the pleasure this past Thursday of joining Maria and my godson Brian to see the Zoo Babies at the Cincinnati Zoo. It was amazing to see the animals with an eleven month old. It seemed like the bearcat was his favorite, but I KNOW that's because we didn't make it to the cathouse to see the wildcat! :) But speaking of the cathouse, one of my most vivid zoo memories was when my mom chaperoned a school field trip when I was about eight. Now, everyone knows that both Mom and I LOVE cats, so we couldn't wait to get to the cathouse that day. We spent time looking at the smaller residents, before moving on to the larger cats. The Cincinnati Zoo has this huge jaguar habitat that has a tree and a jungle background, and there used to be a clouded leapard and a black jaguar that inhabited it. When we got to this spot, the black jaguar was pacing back and forth right by the glass. Of course, we all had our faces up against the glass to get a better view. All of a sudden, the black jaguar let out a fierce roar and lunged at the glass! He actually swiped the glass panel with his paws, and left scratches etched on the inside! I thought my mom was going to faint. She grabbed the group of us and hearded us toward the exit. As scared as she was that day though, she loved to tell that story. Every time someone mentioned the zoo, she would regale them with the tale of the jaguar attack. It was actually something that few people would ever get to see, and it was as if we got to see the wild side of the animal kingdom that day. That black jaguar died not too terribly long ago, and I admit there were a few tears. He reminded me so much of that day with my mother, and how awed she was by him and his little tantrum. That habitat is still there in the cathouse (the above picture is the black jaguar's old roomie), although there are different cats in there now. And everytime I walk past, I look to see the scratch marks, even though I know they are long gone...