Going to the zoo is an activity that both Mamas and kids can enjoy. Kids are intrigued by the sights, sounds, and even smells of the zoo. It's both entertaining and educational.But there's another reason Mamas like going. We get to observe the relationships between various animal Mamas and babies--and it's quite okay if we stare. We can snicker if an animal Mama gets irritated with her baby and snorts or honks or makes some other hurumphing sound toward the tot. We can nod in understanding if she's tired of carrying her baby around everywhere. We can empathize with the tired look on her face that begs the question, "Where is your father?" But we also can't get enough of seeing those cute baby animals and cannot suppress the "Awwwws." There's just something so sweet and beautiful and natural about this Mama and baby relationship that we can't get enough of.
Can you guess where Katie and I are going today?!
Question for you: Have you ever learned a specific lesson through observing an animal Mama and baby?
4 comments:
Probably not a good lesson. :) On one visit to the zoo, one of the zookeepers had left a running water hose in the chimpanzee cage, and the baby chimp got hold of it and was squirting his mama mercilessly. I can just imagine the trouble that baby was in later, after it was all over, but I'm pretty sure he thought it was worth it. :)
That is awesome, Karin. I would love to have seen that! True story: the first animal we saw today was a baby giraffe. And yep, "Awwww" was the first thing out of my mouth.
I happened to go to the zoo on the day that the mama and 3-week-old baby gorilla were first integrated back into the gorilla family. The dynamics of the family (being narrated to us by the zookeeper as we watched the family try to figure it out) were intense, amusing, and disturbing all at once.
The thing that stands out the most to me is that the mama gorilla never ever puts down the baby for the entire first 3 MONTHS of the baby's life! I'm still in awe of that level of diligence, patience, perseverance.
Three months? Whoa.
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