Thanks to my not super happy these days immune system, a blissful six days has elapsed since my last post. It certainly wasn't because I was slacking, I just got hit with an autoimmune relapse of horridness this past Monday and have spent the last couple of days stuck in bed. It's been fun.
Anyway, aside from that, this past Sunday I got to go on an outing in honor of @jacobtothe's birthday. We have some super amazing mutual friends who approached me a few weeks ago and let me know they were scheduling an otter encounter for JT's birthday. I of course wanted to contribute to such a thing, and they didn't have to twist my arm to encourage me to come along.
So, that's how I found myself at Big Red's Barn in Coeur d'Alene on Sunday afternoon. I even stopped and picked up the birthday boy and chauffeured him to the event.
And what an event it was! I've encountered sea otters in the wild, but this was the first time I actually got to sit and enjoy otter company. The girls, Skeek, Karen, and Nibbler, were all of the Asiatic River otter variety. They were sisters, and they were also in heat. It made things fun.
Their handler threw a blanket on the floor of the girl's enclosure and we all sat on it. Then the girls woke up and slunk over to us. Otters are very existentially comfortable, they sploot everywhere like spilled ink.
Not that any of us minded! I loved giving the sisters scratchies, and they really adored our friend T's pants. Nibbler even nibbled on JT once, but it wasn't a mean bite. Otter belly rubs for the win!
After hanging out in the otter sorority, we checked out all the other animals. Axolotls, bearded dragons, exotic birds, ferrets, and sloths were in attendance. Every one of the creatures was well cared for and as content as captive animals can be.
I especially loved the wallabies. They especially love ear scratches.
In the center of the building is a sawdust covered area that contained a herd of the more domestic variety of critters, there was a sassy llama named Elroy, a potbellied pig, numerous Nigerian dwarf goats, a hair sheep, cavies, rabbits, a grouchy cockatiel, and a couple of zebus.
I adored the little cattle, and I swear the goats knew I had tended to their kind, because before long I had a goat laying on my boot while I scratched one of the zebus. Darn goats. Okay, they got scratches too.
I got super amused when one of the zebus tried to mount the other one while we were all giving it scratches. The reason why became apparent rather quickly, the mountee had a couple dangly bits that lend to that sort of behavior. I was most amused.
All in all though, I had a fantastic time! I mean, how often does one get to dialogue with a prairie dog? And the otter girls must have enjoyed us, because when we walked by their enclosure they certainly were vocal in our direction.
Of course, that could have been the otter version of trash talking, but who am I to say...
