In going down the list of things we've not yet done that we'd like to do before leaving Japan, biking to the local zoo was a fairly easy one and a good way to log some miles before going on a 5-day ~250 mile bike trip we've got planned for early May. Luckily, we had one gorgeous Sunday in the middle of a string of rainy days to take an afternoon to see the zoo.
The zoo is a pretty straight shot, only about three turns total, but ten miles away. It took us roughly an hour to get to the zoo, and what is the first animal we see? Actually it was a Sea Lion, but the second animal:
was a raccoon. A raccoon. We go to a Japanese zoo to see a raccoon. A well-fed, good-looking raccoon, but a raccoon nonetheless.
We didn't get many pictures, in part because some of the animals were in cages that seemed too small for them, and were not looking all that great. We saw bald patches on some animals, and others that seemed to have neurotic tendencies, like the constantly chattering raccoon. That said, some of the other habitats were quite nice and we got pictures of a couple interesting creatures:
These guys just need horns to be the fabled Jackalope.
Not really all that much to report. Like the Osaka aquarium, this zoo had a specific route to follow to see the animals. No way to miss any, but also no way to skip around to see your favorite animals and bypass ones you aren't all that interested in, like, say, Golden Tamarinds (Lee was thankful this zoo, unlike all the others, does not have any) (Lee - they're supposed to be endangered but the last eighteen thousand zoos we've gone to have had enormous areas devoted to them, and I've seen enough for a lifetime).
Lee made friends (or something) with a Meerkat using the tunnel system that was mostly populated by children:
We'll leave you with a picture of a duck with really pretty markings. There are a couple more on Flickr, but this was a pretty minor excursion so there aren't that many and hopefully you're not feeling bereft.
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