Of tapirs and monkeys

On a visit to Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo in the summer of 2007, I was fortunate to see some of my favorite critters in action. Imagine my surprise, though, when I saw a monkey (I don't know what species) climb atop a Baird's tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and go for a ride. Yes, A MONKEY RIDING A TAPIR. I almost peed my pants.

The sociable simian went on to (apparently) groom the tapir.


Note that this was a Baird's tapir, native to Central and South America, not to be confused with the distinct, but similarly compelling, Mayalan tapir (Tapirus indicus) featured in my 2007 post, "The screaming hose-nose."

Apparently these behaviors are not uncommon, at least in zoos; for example, this fellow observed a gibbon apparently grooming a tapir. These observations in monkey-tapir interactions are strangely comforting to me - that is, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only primate who finds tapirs so compelling. Let the record show, however, that I do not aspire to ride or groom tapirs myself. Even David Attenborough kept a respectful distance from a tapir in the "Plant Predators" episode of The Life of Mammals - apparently they can be rather vicious when they feel threatened (tapirs, that is, not Sir David, though I honestly can't be sure about the latter).

I'll post a movie of the monkey-tapir interaction when I get around to it.

State Capitol #30

About a year ago, I visited my 30th state capitol (Carson City, Nevada). Unless something truly unexpected occurs, 2008 will pass by as the first year since 2004, when my capitol quest began, in which I did not visit a state capitol I hadn't visited before, though, to be fair, I did visit the national legislature in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Below is a map of my quest thus far. The states in which I completed the capitol visit ritual (i.e., doing a little dance on the capitol steps, getting a GPS lock, taking appropriate photos) are colored blue. The green states are those in which I have visited the capital city but not actually taken care of business, as it were. Photos of the 30 state capitols (plus one Canadian provincial legislature building) are up on the web album.


Here are some highlights:

My personal favorite overall: Madison, Wisconsin (capitol visit #20). The capitol is the center of downtown, on the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona.

Assorted capitol tales:

• In Topeka, Kansas (capitol visit #22), the capitol tour takes you all the way to the top of the dome. I highly recommend it.
• The state house in Annapolis, Maryland (capitol visit #7) served as the Federal capital for a time.
• In Tallahassee, Florida (capitol visit #25), the new capitol complex was built around the Classical-style old capitol. The old capitol is now a museum.
  
• In Carson City, Nevada (capitol visit #30), the state legislature doesn't meet in the capitol building. Only the executive branch uses the capitol.
  
• Only five state capital cities are not directly served by the Interstate highway system (and no, Honolulu is not among them):
• Dover, Delaware (capitol visit #8)
  
• Carson City, Nevada (capitol visit #30)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
  
• Pierre, South Dakota
• Juneau, Alaska
• When I visited Montgomery, Alabama (capitol visit #26), I couldn't go inside: it was closed for Jefferson Davis Day, a state holiday.
  
• There is a statue of Abraham Lincoln on the capitol grounds not in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois (capitol visit #3), but in Charleston, West Virginia (capitol visit #19). Lincoln signed the enabling act admitting West Virginia to the Union on December 31, 1862.
• Finally, should you visit the capitol in Montpelier, Vermont (capitol visit #13), remember that the mugs outside the chamber are personal property of legislators and not for public use:

Of coastlines and cervids

I went to a conference in Seaside, Oregon earlier this month, and I was fortunate to have an afternoon off to explore the Oregon coast. That alone would have been sufficiently awesome, but, as if to increase to the sweetness to unbelievable levels, I encountered some elk in the early phases of the rut. The bulls were bugling and sort of circling a group of cows, but the bulls seemed to still be tolerating each other. Elk bugling is surely one of the most distinctive and awesomely weird sounds in nature.

Oregon Coast photos, including scenery, elk, and tidepool critters, are up in the web album.

In other news, the whitetail deer here in Cook County are gearing up for the rut and for winter. They're increasingly fearless - I must have seen a dozen individuals (including the fine specimen at right) along the North Branch bike trail last weekend, chowing down in broad daylight, mere steps away from the busy trail. I also saw three individuals in a residential neighborhood in Evanston yesterday, two blocks from the Northwestern campus: one spike buck, one mature buck, and a doe.

Loon Awesomeness

I experimented with taking photos through my spotting scope this July during a visit to Eric Z's lake place in northeast Wisconsin. I got some good results courtesy of a cooperative loon. See the album at Loon Awesomeness.

More thermite on a frozen lake

This time, we ignited three pounds of thermite on the frozen lake.

Manatee salad

In June 2007, I was fortunate to see some manatees in the manatorium* at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. This manatee was going to town on a head of lettuce- some kind of manatee salad.

* I totally made up the word "manatorium.". A better word might be "Sirenium", from the Latin name of the manatee family, but it's just not as mellifluous.

Listen for the manatee music in the video (best from 0:20 to 0:55 or so).





Tonight at 11: When Manatees Attack British Naturalists.

Look out, Sir David!.

Another day, another walrus

Best headline ever: Another day, another walrus in B'klyn

Spotted in amNY, New York City's answer to the Red Eye, on Friday, September 28. The text of the article is available on their web site, but, to my disappointment, the headline was changed.

Seems a walrus was born at the New York Aquarium. According to the aquarium's press release, "This historic occasion marked the first birth of a walrus in New York City."

Walrus enthusiasts rejoice: http://www.nyaquarium.com/babywalrus