I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 557: Feast for the Eyes



A few people enjoyed watching Cloud indulge in a soak. After leaving the panda exhibit, they took a detour to Primate Paradise. The weather had heated up, and the macaques were playing in the water! The macaque exhibition area, surrounded a spacious expanse of water. On a large rock by the water, a macaque deftly climbed up, crouched for a moment, and then, spreading its arms and lifting its legs, leaped into the air and dove into the water. It hit the water, splashing droplets everywhere. Daigo blurted out, "A crow flying on a plane!" Indeed, the flexibility of the macaques jumping through the air did give the impression of martial arts heroes performing parkour in movies. After the macaque dived into the water, it kicked its legs and swam back to shore. Scrambling up the tree, it settled on a branch, shook its head, and flicked the droplets off its body. Bathed in water, it felt much cooler and began resting atop the tree. Daigo picked up his camera and snapped photos. Every so often, another macaque would leap into the water; as one climbed out, another would dive in, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, drawing gasps of surprise from the visitors. "I never knew macaques could not only climb trees but swim so well too!" "This is definitely different from ring-tailed lemurs; you never see them going into the water." "Wow, look over there, even such a small monkey can swim." Lin Hao joked, "So many water monkeys, we better call Xiaoliang over to identify them!" Lili, who was sipping an orange soda, almost spat it out through her nose, laughing nonstop, "Hahaha! Hey, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Clearly, she was also aware of the water monkeys meme. In the water around the macaque exhibition area, some bamboo rafts had been placed. At the moment, a macaque stood on one, wobbling to maintain its balance while its paws, like paddles, swiped through the water, propelling it from one side to the other, looking very amusing. The bamboo rafts were part of the enrichment toys for the macaques. Besides the rafts, there were also hanging tires, hammocks woven from fire hoses, and so on. Strong Guy, the Monkey King of the macaque exhibit, who had swum earlier, was now lying on a hammock suspended between two perches. He rocked gently along with the hammock, letting the wind dry his fur, appearing thoroughly content and comfortable. The other monkeys swung on the ropes, flying back and forth, running and chasing each other on single-log bridges, playing and frolicking, and squealing with "chee chee" sounds. After wandering around Primate Paradise for a while, they continued on their way. They did not visit the predator exhibition area and instead headed straight to the back, arriving at Waterfowl Lake! They were quite familiar with these areas, often visiting the new animals first. Two pelicans had just finished swimming and wobbled onto the shore, joining their companions. They stood foolishly under a tree, swaying their gular pouches from side to side. Pelicans, with their oversized heads and beaks, tiny eyes, and naturally comical appearance, looked especially silly in a group, swaying their gular pouches, wobbling hilariously. Lin Hao asked curiously, "What are these pelicans doing? Daigo, you volunteer here frequently, you must know about this, right?" Don't be surprised, Daigo actually knows what he's talking about, "This must be them dissipating heat! I remember there's a display board over there, it's about pelican pouches." The educational display board is located on the visitor path by the Waterfowl Lake, where visitors can naturally come across it while strolling and enjoying the sight of the waterfowl in a relaxed mood. The display boards here also have a unique design; they are not just regular square boards but are shaped like various waterfowl, each with a distinct look. Of course, it's not just about having different shapes, which only makes them visually appealing as a piece of wooden decoration. It's essential to have clear images as well. Otherwise, ruddy shelducks, mallard ducks, including black swans, white swans, and pelicans, all look very similar. The average visitor can't tell the difference and has no interest in looking. Approaching the pelican display board, it looks like a pelican with its mouth wide open, as if it were practicing vocal exercises. On the belly of the pelican board it's written, "Pelicans use their large pouches to catch fish, and they don't always have them open. Usually, they are retracted, and all you can see is their long, thin beaks... Sometimes the pelican's pouch will hang down naturally and keep swinging, a sight typically seen in the summer, and it's a cooling measure for the pelicans. On hot days, people sweat, and through the evaporation of sweat, heat is taken away to cool down the body. However, there are not many animals that sweat; they have to cool themselves in other ways, and the pelican's pouch does just that. Pelicans let their thin pouches droop to increase the surface area, and with a larger surface area, more heat dissipates from there. If it's still hot, they'll swing it back and forth. As they swing, the breeze helps remove even more heat." Lin Hao exclaimed in admiration, "So that's how it is, I've learned something new!" A few pelicans waddled over along the path towards them. The pelican up front flapped its wings and turned its head to open its beak towards the ones behind. It seemed to be saying, "Follow me, brothers. I'll take you to a great place I found, a treasure spot for feng shui. Let's go hang out there." Their direction seemed to be heading towards Primate Paradise. Lin Hao watched with amusement. The zoo did not restrict their movement, and it was quite interesting to see these large birds taking their walks around the zoo. Of course, if they wandered too far, say, to the square, the animal keepers would still bring them back. Lili saw the pelicans walking past, squatted down, waved her hand with a giggling greeting, "Hello?" The pelican stared at her blankly, wondering if this thing was edible. Opening its big mouth, it bit down towards Lili's hand! The pelican caught Lili's hand in its beak, and upon realizing it couldn't eat it, tried another angle, dumbly clamping onto her arm while tilting its head. Being "affectionately" gripped like this, Lili felt both excited and amused, "What's this pelican trying to do, does it want to eat me?" Daigo chuckled, "Pelicans are just like that! They want to open their mouths and see if they can fit anything inside to eat." This time the pelican opened its mouth wide and clamped onto Lili's head! Lili froze on the spot, "Ahh!" Lin Hao and Daigo laughed uproariously on the side. After all, anyone would burst into laughter seeing someone squatting down with a pelican's huge beak around their head. Lili looked at the ground, frozen as if under a spell, "Are you guys still laughing, give me a hand here, quick!" "Geese, geese, geese!" Daigo was too amused to be of any help, and he even took a photo. Lin Hao gently pried the pelican's beak apart with both hands, smiling, "How does that feel?" Lili stood up, and seeing the pelican staring blankly at her, ready to open its mouth again, she also found it quite funny, "Stupid pelican, making a fool out of me."

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