Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!

The zoo knows how to celebrate this most important of holidays, and in the weeks leading up to Halloween, many of the exhibits and enclosures have been enlivened by jack-o-lanterns (unlit, of course, after last year’s incident with the pyromaniac prairie dog). Many animals’ diets have been enlivened by these tasty pumpkin treats, too; in fact, the small-mammal house looked a bit like a Squash Horror Show this week, with jack-o-lanterns lying on their sides, eyes and mouths nibbled on, heads gnawed.

I was lucky enough to reach Lemur Island just as the lemurs discovered their new decorations/taste sensations. First, of course, they had to investigate them, one at a time:


Or all at once:



Then they ate the carved bits out of them:


And then, truly getting into the spirit of the season, the Vampire Lemur returned!


That’s right: no squash is safe from the fangs of this ravenous primate! Mwahahahahaha!!!!

Ahem.

Yes, well. Whether you choose to celebrate by dressing up, giving out candy, re-watching Arsenic and Old Lace, or snarfing up a pumpkin—have a happy Halloween, everyone.


{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}

2 comments:

Noel said...

Happy Halloween to you!! I love that the zoo decorates for Halloween. I actually got to see some lemurs yesterday myself at the local pumpkin patch. They expand their average petting zoo with exotic animals in the fall -- which I can't say I entirely agree with, but that I enjoy nonetheless. This is a bit of a dilemma for me every year. The animals DO NOT look all that happy, which makes me sad. At the same time, getting to feed a giraffe (which, btw, have crazy long tonuges) was by far the highlight of my week.

Anca said...

Taking a walk through the Zoo with you, Olivia, was the highlight of our incredibly wonderful week in D.C. and Williamsburg. These photos and commentary are fantastic, as if the lemurs knew you were going to show them celebrating! But it broke my heart to see the "cemetery" of extinct species that the National Zoo also created for the event--the truly dark side of what's happening to our world.

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