The Dallas Zoo - Jungle Critters — Tales From the Nest

Let's head on into the rainforest! This group was a little more stand-offish, turning their backs to us so we couldn't get pictures of their faces, or just plain going about their business, too busy to give us homo-sapiens the time-of-day. That is, everyone except this colorful fellow, Mr. Mandrill, who was not so much stand-offish, as show-offish. I didn't realize just how "out-there" Mr. Mandrill was when I was photographing him...I promise. It wasn't until I got home and downloaded a large version of the photo on my computer screen that - BAM! - there he was in all his glory. So I covered him up a smidge. This is a family blog, after all.

Granny Nell noticed this gorilla was behaving like any typical male would on a Sunday afternoon: laying around, scratching, wallowing in general laziness. The only thing missing was a tv with some random sport being played on it.

This guy had a friend or sibling with him and they were having fun wrestling with each other, which included some biting and hay-throwing. You can see the jeans and shoes reflection of another zoo-goer in the window. We were close to these guys and their antics were making me a little nervous. About ten years ago a gorilla escaped from the Dallas Zoo and just recently one of these guys threw a rock at one of the viewing windows, cracking at least the inside pane. That's all a little to "wild" for me...