Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Zoos, Roos and Zebras

Laughing keeps us healthy and of course it means we are happy. I have always assumed the Creator has a sense of humor. On Monday I went to the zoo with my 20 month old grandson and decided my reasoning about the Creator's sense of humor is sound.

We were staring at a Zebra while my grandson gave us his version of the pronunciation of ‘zebra’. Reading the text that the zoo places at each exhibit I learned that the hoofs of a zebra are made of the same material ‘keratin’ as human finger nails. Then I could not help but notice that the zebra pattern looked familiar. The familiar look came from my years of fingerprinting suspects and viewing print cards of offenders during investigations. I know fingerprints, and the zebra markings look just like fingerprints. I have the impression the Creator may have been making zebras while having human fingers still running around in his brain or whatever a Creator uses to create with. Or maybe he was just wondering if we could put it together?



I walked around more, and noticed all of the tiny children being pushed in strollers by their mothers. Then I came upon the Kangaroos and this mother with baby roo ‘in pouch’ scene. It brought another smile.



Then in a very strange coincidence I ran into my Uncle Max (pictured below) who went to the zoo on the very same day!



I'm out.

18 comments:

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Oh that was EXCELLENT!!!

And are you sure that bottom picture is your Uncle Max? Because it sure looks a lot like my Uncle Fred....only I think my Uncle Fred has a bit more hair...;)

Monogram Queen said...

Ha Haaaaa great post Rick! We took Maddie to the zoo in March (she'll be 18 months in two weeks) and she really loved it. I did too. I am a sucker for zoos, carnivals, amusement parks, cheesey roadside tourist traps. You name it!

Seven said...

Stacy,
Well, he sure looks like my Uncle Max, but then its possible your Uncle Fred just got a haircut...

Cakes,
My grandson is starting to throw off all kinds of words, though most of them require a mom interpretation. Except for 'duck' which he can enunciate clearly at volume. Every variety of bird we encountered was a 'DUCK'. People around us were ducking down as if incoming missiles were being launched.

Jenn said...

I love it! The zebra thing is so cool. And that's not your Uncle Max, or Stacy's Uncle Fred...it's The Idiot.

Oh, that's right...he's not in a cage in Texas. Darn.

Seven said...

Jenn,
Perhaps we could arrange it?

Grant said...

Hmm...hoof prints...confinement...stripey outfits...are you sure the zebra isn't nature's criminal?

Minnesota Nice said...

Wow what a small world, Rick, I used to date your Uncle Max.

Gotta love Kangas and Roos...

ManNMotion said...

Uncle Max looks a bit grumpy. How is he at family reunions?

Seven said...

Grant,
In fact you maybe right. I noticed that the zebras would not make eye contact with me; just kept looking at the grass and pretended to be eating. That is suspicious indeed.

Sandra,
My Aunt Geraldine is going to be heartbroken when she reads your comment...

manmotion,
He picks his nose and breaks chairs.

Reach said...

Rick,
what a striking, "striping", analogy! The creator, I could imagine coming up with something this clever. I do know, the Zebra's stripes are individual, much like our finger prints.
Somehow, I do not think that Darwin was so clever to recognize this. So, tell me, did the Zebras naturally give you the "front" and "Profile" view? Or, did they wait for you to say "Turn"?

Reach

Seven said...

Reach,
I gave them typical police commands which they totally ignored. I decided not to taser.

Reach said...

LOL, that was good

Anonymous said...

Rick, great fun and very insightful. Those wild designs are indeed unique, just like fingerprints. No two zebras are the same. I like the pattern of zebras, a beautiful blend of contrasts. Our bed comforter is the same design. As for the Creator, He's got millions of other little secrets waiting for us to figure out. I just learned one about the rabbit liver fluke!

Seven said...

Rob,
Huh? Rabbits have livers?

Anonymous said...

Yes, this is amazing! the liver fluke, like all life, needs to replicate itself. The story starts with paralyzed ants. They are hanging from the tips of grass blades where rabbits eat them along with the grass. Inside the ant's brains are the ever so minute fluke larvae. Now in the gut of the rabbit, the fluke migrates to the rabbit's liver and matures. It will lay eggs which are carried out to the world in droppings. Here's the ID part. Snails consume the droppings, but can't digest the fluke eggs. They cough them back up layered in mucus to be devoured by...ants. The larvae mature in the ant and migrate to the brain causing this bizarre behavior of hanging on tips of grass blades. How clever is that? Makes you wonder what our purpose in life is, huh?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Rick, I'm more synonymous than anonymous

Anonymous said...

I babble on. I have actually attempted to taser one of its relatives... donkeys, when I was working as a bilogist in a Natl. Park. They do NOT go down.

Seven said...

Rob,
Thanks for the education. Speaking of donkeys; while at the zoo I saw a pic of a'zonkey', the result of a donkey and zebra mating.