Cry for the Camera

I always want people to have a nice time at the zoo - even if I don't actually work at the zoo in question.  Part of it is all of the hospitality training that was drilled into me as a teen volunteer.  Part of it is a sense that, if people remember having a good time at the zoo, they're more likely to support zoos and aquariums in the future.  Visitors who are cranky/tired/otherwise unhappy are a lot less open to receiving education and conservation messaging.

And so, when I'm visiting another zoo, just as a plain old visitor, I still find myself "working" a fair amount.  That's why I give directions to visitors that I see looking confused at their maps.  That's why I'll point out a hidden animal that a family can't find.  And that's why I offered to take a picture of a mom and her daughter at Tanganyika Wildlife Park.

It was a fairly cool day, and being a weekday there weren't too many other folks there.  It just so happened that the three of us were the only folks inside the penguin building at the time.  I was over at the otters, when I noticed that the mom was going to take her little girl's photo.  Remembering my hospitality training, I popped over and asked if she would like me to take the photo - that way both she and her daughter could be in it together.  She gratefully accepted, handed me her phone, and knelt down by her daughter, arm draped around her shoulder.  They were right up against the rope netting that formed the barrier of the penguin exhibit.

I clicked the button at the exact moment that the girl jumped skyward, yelping in pain with contorted face.  An African penguin had crept up behind her and, poking its beak through the mesh, bit her square on the butt.

Mom immediately pulled down the girl's pants (as I spun around, not wanting to watch, but not able to leave since I still had their phone) so she could inspect the afflicted body part.  I busied myself industriously studying the otters again, my back firmly to the scene.  After a moment, the mom confirmed that there was no broken skin - just a pinch - and collected her phone, then went off to look for an employee to provide some ice for her child's derrière.

I wish I'd had the presence of mind to look at the photo while I was waiting to see if I had, in fact, caught the act itself.  I suppose that, at least for that family, Tanganyika was even more interactive than it was advertised as.

I didn't offer to take any photos for anyone else that day.  I figured one good deed going punished was enough for one day.