Last Sunday we decided to take a break from church after a very busy week where we hardly saw Da-da and spend some time together as a family. The rain was supposed to come in late that day so we had just enough time to check out the 'zoo' at Moorpark College, right off Collins Drive. The official name is the Exotic Animal Management & Training Program and on the weekends it is open to the public.
On our way there Dave was telling me about a radio show he regularly listens to called Car Talk. There was a 16 year old girl who called in because she had gone out to buy her dad the most outrageous birthday present ever. She heard about Madagascar Screaming Beetles on the Discover Channel and found a place where she could get them. While she was driving home she opened the box and the pregnant female had excaped and hid under the seat! She was calling in to get Click & Clack's advice on how to exterminate them. We got to the zoo in time for one of their hourly shows where they bring out the animals for a promenade around the little arena and, coincidentally, what the first animal they brought out? A Madagascar Screaming Beetle! We learned 1) You never want to crush a roach/beetle because that sends out a pheramone to the other beetles to quickly reproduce making your problem MUCH worse and 2) They scream by sending air out of the holes in their shell when they're startled. The second animal they brought out was the Asian version of a racoon called a Caoti. It was super cute and super anxious about being separated from its sister. What I wish I had a video of was when they brought out the pig and Clay started making snorting noises.
This is a bright red Bristle-Tongued Parrot. The zoo also has the coolest larger animals - A female lion, a hyena, mountain lion. golden eagle, bald eagle, vulture, water buffalo, and a whole slew of different kinds of monkeys.
2 comments:
How can you be married to Dave and not know about Car Talk? I think it's the funniest show, and I know nothing about cars!
You are right, Amy! I realized when I re-read teh post it sounded like I hadn't heard of the show before. Actually I was raised on it. My earliest memory of Click & Clack was around five years old. I can tell you what a catalytic converter, drive shaft, carborator, even what a serpentine belt does but if you put any of them in front of me I would not be able to identify them! A lot of good it did me!
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