Dave Spencer Communes with the Creatures of the Earth at the Louisville Zoo [VIDEO]

So I've been getting into zoos lately. I was at the Nashville Zoo last month and, on Monday, visited the Louisville Zoo. (By the way, going on a Monday after school has begun is a GREAT way to avoid crowds.)

Assuming you've watched the video (we all really dug the giraffes; we just wish they'd been allowed to roam around outside), here are some images from the rest of the zoo, beginning with Helen:

I don't remember what kind of gorilla Helen is, but I do know that she is 56 years old and has lived at the Louisville Zoo for 12 years, a transfer from the Chicago Zoo. And I don't know if was just me, but her eyes seemed to be communicating a great deal. I just don't know what.

I also don't know why the gorillas are on opposite sides of the zoo from the orangutans:

Do they naturally not get along? I just don't know. (They did in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.)

What I do know, or THINK I know, is that this guy, like Helen, seemed to have something on his mind. And, like Helen, it will remain a mystery.

Getting away from the enclosures, I encountered these two:

And I'm glad they can't jump. The edge of the area in which they were being kept was just a few from where we were all standing. It is not my wish to have a rhino's horn surgically removed from my stomach. Actually, they were quite docile. The one laying down was under medical supervision according to the many signs accompanying the exhibit.

Finally, let's talk about the "South America" region of the Louisville Zoo, the weakest of all the regions. Yes it purports to educate us about South American wildlife, but it really contains animals from "the Americas," which means creatures like pumas and ocelots and bald eagles (the fellow to your right being a fine example) which are indigenous to NORTH America. The real South Americans--the snow leopard and the jaguar--were being camera-shy and did not emerge from their caves.

So, there you have it. Another zoo story from yours truly. My next zoo visits will require some extra time on my part. I'm told the St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Columbus Zoos are not to be missed.

At some point in the future, I plan not to miss them.