Zoo Visit

Took the Shopping Shuttle to Merced....swapped critter stories on the way....at the Mall got a haircut...then over to Michael's to get some picture frames for the prints...then...the real purpose of the trip...Driver license renewal...paddled over to DMV on the other side of Town....a pretty walk...brisk wind, blue blue, and blossoms on the trees....couple pics of new, to me!, birds....got lost....asked directions...got lost again...asked directions...finally got there....it's always a kinda shock to walkabout town after a long stretch in the Valley...inside DMV it was wall to wall....took a number...asked how long a wait...'two hours'...well...I'd miss the Shuttle back....'thanks'....and walked back to the pick up spot at the 99cents store....hooey...I could spend the night in Mariposa...DMV there too..and too crowded too!...a kinda miniature!...but wanted to be back in the Valley...and didn't want the expense of a motel room to stay overnight...the Yarts bus doesn't have a complete route in the Winter (why I took company's Shuttle)...evening return run only goes as far as the Bug Hostel...which is cheap enough...I just wanted to be back!...and did get back in time for a walk out to Creek's End...Valley was cold and wintry after Merced and drive up the Merced River Canyon!....Helicopter was doing a rescue up above the Falls...clip....oh!...on the way from DMV to 99cents, I stopped in the Zoo!...admission one dollar and fifty cents...it's a really neat little Zoo...first time I visited..friends had disparaged it...but I think they think Zoos have to be big...like the San Diego..or LA...I've suddenly become charmed by the idea of small Zoos!!...anyway...too many clips for the computer's memory..so just posted couple...the Mountain Lion is knockdown...there were Two there...usually at the big Zoos the Lions are asleep in the daytime ...but...OH!...I came around a corner, and Mountain Lion crouched and looked at me like there was no chain link fence...and the cages are small so one is really close...I'm wondering how it could happen...how it could be promoted...to make just small intimate Zoos....the little Zoo will be on my mustvisit list for Merced each time I go!!.....sunny blue cool Spring in Town...clouds settled over the Sierra...tonight, Full Moon...lighting up Cook's and the Oak Grove on the way back from Pizza in the Village...stood a bit in middle of the road at crosswalk and looked back at Creek Bridge in the Moonlight...the Tall Pines on either side...for last week or so, a very early bloom of Poppies in the Merced Canyon...and this where the fire was...though some areas are just bare soil..no green grass or anything....the drive along the Merced is always wonderful....I get about okay with public transport..company transport today!..or friends......haven't hardly driven a car for five years...I may just let the driver licence expire!...but will likely pursue again next weekend...saw Hawks in Cathys Valley...and 'am thinking to take Yarts that far for a flatland walk...and too take Yarts to Cedar Lodge..which is walking distance from Hite's Cove (famous for Spring flowers)...though a kinda uncomfortable walk on the narrow road edge near traffic!.....expensive to spend the night...but I figure it's gas and car payment saved money!!...learned there's Museum in Downtown Merced with a Grizzly Bear exhibit...a MustSee!

I googled 'small zoo'...a good article with link to small zoo list...
The Naturalist
Zookeeping
By Jesse Smith
quote
These are zoos whose origins are grounded in the simple pleasure in, and perceived value of, looking at wildlife. Yet while the large city zoos transformed into institutions more similar to the Bronx Zoo, those like the Cohanzick remain fixed in time, places people go not to be educated, but to be entertained by looking at animals.
“Why look at animals?” art critic John Berger asks in an essay of the same name. His answer gets at the desire of children (and, in fact, many adults) to bang on the Plexiglas at the Bronx and other zoos. “The eyes of an animal when they consider a man are attentive and wary,” Berger writes. “…But by no other species except man will the animal’s look be recognised as familiar. Other animals are held by the look. Man becomes aware of himself returning the look.”
Alas, the marginalization of animals — their disappearance from our daily lives, as well as the soullessness imposed on them in the wake of Descartes — is what ultimately makes such banging a failure. Zoogoing itself, according to Berger, can be nothing but a disappointment, as with marginalization animals have been “immunised to encounter,” and never meet the visitor’s gaze. And with that goes the use in looking at them:
That look between animal and man, which may have played a crucial role in the development of human society, and which, in any case, all men had always lived until less than a century ago, has been extinguished.
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article07110802.aspx
unquote

and this about Merced's Zoo....

All the animals exhibited at the Applegate Park Zoo were born in the Zoo or were rescued and are non-releasable animals. The Zoo Parent Adoption Program is your opportunity to help feed and care for our Zoo animals. Individuals, families, companies, schools and civic groups are invited to join this program. Detailed brochures are available at the Parks and Community Services Office (690 W. 16th St.) or at the Bear Creek Nature Store and Gift Shop located at the Zoo (1045 W. 25th St.).

http://ci.merced.ca.us/depts/parks_n_community_services/cs/applegate/camps.asp

LIP!...that's a Great Site you have...(see Followers icons)...I listen to Allison Kraus and Union Station all the time when I ride the bus to and fro through the Merced River Canyon!...their Bluegrass really fits 'country' hereabout!!...nice sketches you have too...bit jealous of those also!!