Feeding Julius

Let it be known when I arrive at the zoo, I turn into an adventurous kid. This latest trip to Zoo Boise was no exception. I am game to whatever was offered. Walk with the wallabies along an enclosed pathway—you betcha!  Go into a greenhouse and be surrounded by delicate butterflies—of course! My husband and son patiently go along with me as I explore in the contained wilderness.

There’s a feeling of connection and somehow this zoo has honed it to letting us mere visitors feed certain animals. I got all excited that there was a feeding barn. There were machines that for a quarter filled my hand with pellets that I was able to feed the baby goats and sheep.  They happily licked up the pellets from my hand and their big, sparkling eyes begged for more.   I was only too happy to oblige. I was rushing to the pellet machines and feeding them bunches of quarters at a time, like I was trying to win a jackpot.

As we left this exhibit, we walked past the sloth bear habitat. A woman from the zoo asked us if we wanted to feed the bear. Did I ask “How does that work? Would any harm come to us?”  Of course not! I quickly volunteered us to feed this wild animal. I was pretty confident that the zoo wouldn't be offering its patrons to get too close to the animals if there was any potential danger. She informed us for $3 dollars we could feed 6 meal worms through a feeding tube to the sloth bear encased behind its glass cage. Just as I suspected, it was a safe bet, no harm would come to us. 

As we dropped the meal worm into the feeding tube, the sloth bear sat upright, its mouth covering the feeding tube. As the worm fell, the bear slurped it up and we could feel the rush of air as it used this over sized straw. It looked like a large teddy bear propped up behind the thick glass. Its close set eyes first looked at us, then eyed the feeding tube--Pavlov’s theory was alive and well. I actually apologized to this bear that we were out of worms!

Just when I thought this interacting with the animals couldn't get better, the ante was raised— we stumbled across signs that the giraffe encounter was about to start in fifteen minutes away!

This encounter almost didn't happen--we misread the sign, waited at the wrong area of the zoo, and asked the only staff member who had no clue about this event.  He thought we were kidding since we were standing at the actual giraffe habitat. As he relayed his side of the story to the gift shop attendants, they told him yes, there really is a giraffe encounter and gave him the directions. Finding out we weren't playing a huge colossal joke on him, he gave us directions to the other side of the zoo.  I was off like a shot, my husband and son trailing behind.

My sense of free spirit was waning and slowly the grown up part of me started to take over.  I fretted the whole way that we wouldn't make it on time and the experience with the giraffe would be either filled up or closed. I feared this gamble would not be successful.

Somehow, the odds were not against us that day, and we arrived just in time to join the queue! There were many other people there waiting to partake in this unique opportunity.  As the line began to move, my excitement began to bubble up again.

We were given 5 romaine lettuce leaves after paying our $3. In a matter of minutes, we were next! The zoo keeper called us over to the large fence and there was Julius the giraffe.

I've seen giraffes from a distance at other zoos and on television, but I was not prepared for how TALL he was. We craned our heads way back to take in the size of his neck.  His head almost blocked out the sun.  We all had the same reaction--we gasped at how massive he was!

However, he was definitely a gentle giant. Seeing with his serene eyes the lettuce leaf in my hand, he elegantly lowered his head. His long, purplish tongue felt like sandpaper as he expertly took the leaf from my fingers.  I got so caught up in the moment that as I quickly fed him the other leaves and cooed to him. I completely forgot my husband was trying to take a picture of this feeding time!

Wouldn't it be great to bring a whole head of romaine lettuce to feed to the giraffe to make the moment last longer!