Interesting time of the year to go to a Zoo here. We've had our first snow (now long gone) and colder weather, but it was a beautiful 12C degree day yesterday, with lots of sun and a minimum of wind in the early afternoon when I took the family to the Valley Zoo in Edmonton. The animals were quite active. And not too shy, with Zoo staff outnumbering visitors by at least Two to One.
Having just seen two owners with their dogs just outside the Zoo, I didn't think too much about it when we were approached in the Zoo by "a couple", each with their own rather large dogs. Both were on good solid leashes, not the flimsy retractable ones so popular these days in a City with strong Lease Laws.
As they approached, I realized that the couple was actually two Zoo staff walking the pair of Arctic Wolves. One wolf started towards us, and the other followed, but returned to their original path after being told by one of their walkers: "No, you can't eat them."
The much maligned Lucy the Elephant -- who William Shatner and Bob Barker have recently visited, to try and free her from our local tyranny -- was also out for a walk, but in the Staff-Only area, having a whale of a time as she paused to go through a giant feed pile.