Sarasota Jungle Gardens

Sarasota Jungle Gardens, one of the oldest tourist attractions in the area, called our names one day ~ we packed a picnic lunch and headed down the Tamiami Trail to visit with a few four-legged and feathered friends.

The barren American Alligator exhibit didn’t impress us much ~ just a concrete pool,  three enormous  banana leaves floating on the surface, and the resident gator, “Attitude.”  

I sighed, thinking that the rest of the Gardens would be the same. 

Not so.

Around the next bend, we saw crocodiles in enclosures with grass and palm trees to frolic on and under. 

While admiring their toothy grins, we heard a cacophony of sound.

We wandered over and found 20  delightful jeweled-toned parrots  hanging around . . . nibbling on sponge cake, watching the sun bake, and posing with tourists covered in oil. 

Did I pose with a parrot?  Of course!

I held out my arm and a gorgeous red and yellow parrot – an obvious parrothead – grabbed my shirt with its talons. 

Eye to eye, up close and personal, we engaged in a few pleasantries:

“Hello.”

“Hello,” replied my feathered friend.

“You’re a pretty bird!”

Nodding in agreement, he replied, “Pretty Bird.”

I encouraged Pretty Bird to sing “Cheeseburger in Paradise” with me.  No luck. 

He demurred ~  jumping onto the waiting docent’s arm, rolling on his back, and waiting for his belly rub! 

Too cute!

Around the next bend, we were surrounded in a sea of pink . . .  Flamingos that were almost, but not quite, as tall as I am. 

The flock wandered in and around camera-toting tourists as if they owned the place. 

Oh, wait, I guess they do.    

The path continued through jungle paths filled with hundreds of species of palm trees ~ pygmy palms, date palms, coconut palms, and even majestic Royal Palms, with trunks so smooth they look as if they are made of concrete.

During the course of our trek, we saw turtles, and lizards, and snakes.  We admired screech owls, and barn owls, and great horned owls. 

We watched a bird show, complete with a 73-year-old cockatoo riding a bicycle on a “high wire,” and another playing “Three Card Monty.” 

We sat in the front row for a reptile show, during which Attitude the Alligator demanded R-E-S-P-E-C-T and displayed A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E  when her trainer slipped a noose  past her nostrils and around her jaws for her weekly scrub down:

Splish Splash . . . we all got a bath! 

The trainer used a long-handled brush to scrub algae off Attitude’s hide.  In the wild, the algae acts as camouflage. 

After the show (and communal bath and shower), we had a chance to pet Crank ~ a four-year-old alligator with a belly as soft as a baby’s butt.

The best part of the day arrived when we stumbled upon the Ring Tailed Lemurs ~ three adults (Paul-a, Ringo, and Jude) and twin babies, about 5 weeks old. 

As soon as we saw those rascals in motion, we started singing the theme song from Madagascar . . . “I like to move it, move it.”  

Next Up . . .  Bottoms Up!

No Rules.  Just write!

What about you? 

Are you a fan of zoos that keep animals in captivity for educational and recreational purposes?  Or do you want to fling open the gates and cry out, “Fly, my pretties!  Fly!”

What is your favorite animal to watch in the wild or enjoy in tamer surroundings?  {Hint:  my favorite starts with the letter “Z”}