Today's Rare Boops: Red Panda and Lemur
We took a vehicle the scenes tour at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo (near Poughkeepsie, NY) today, and we had quite the number of animal encounters!
The big wins were tracking up some rare boops and licks feeding some treats to a few special guests. The red pandas and the black and white tailed lemur were crazy fun. These are pics of Mrs anon feeding them.
The lemur was very cute, but they could be shockingly loud! Besides having special anatomy to deepen their voices, the guide said they will go deeper into the enclosure to tell to get added reverberations. It was a pretty terrifying noise and I have had no clue it came from them.
Quite friendly though. Great climbers, and very cool feet and hands with tiny fingernails and toenails.
The red panda had been on my wishlist for years now. I wanted to give an ear scritch, but I was forbidden. I already push the limits as it is! 😄
This close one was the male and was very polite for Mrs anon. For me, he was a bit pushier, and was grabbing at my hand with that paw and pulling me to give him more snackies.
That paw was much heavier, stronger, and sturdier than I had pictured in my mind! Those claws are solid! Thankfully not sharp, as he was grabbing me good,and the guide said he was breaking his rules, but they felt much harder than dog nails. More like actual bone, like an antler feels.
Both the panda and lemur licked at me trying to get treats, and both were "accidentally" booped in the course of events. Both have great noses, very soft and squishy, and gentle licks. Both A+ scores on boopability and sweetness.
They also have a coati that I recently learned about, so that was cool to see. A lot like a raccoon, but seems to maneuver better and a good bit larger.
They also had a binturong, which is another raccoonish guy. This is some random photo, I couldn't get a good one of the one on the tour. He's a very old man and was sleeping in a ball in the corner.
The best thing about binturongs that I can't say about any other animal: the smell! Very much like buttered popcorn, his whole little building smelled of it. I wouldn't say exactly like popcorn, more like if it was synthesized popcorn smell like those Jelly Belly popcorn jellybeans. But for an animal smell, it was a really great smell!
Scooter is the river otter. Super sweetheart and she came when the guide called her and she was having the zoomies like crazy. She has a huge aquatic enclosure with a very natural environment, but she loves her black plastic tub the best and she was swimming figure 8s in it, and them flipped the whole thing over with her head and she pounced on her little shed, where I snapped this trouble making look.
She came over and gave my hand some good sniffs, but I was asked not to touch her (bitey) so I deferred. Still a lot of fun to watch.
We had a great time, our guide was great, and they had a lot of neat South American birds and mammals I was mostly unfamiliar with. They also have a lot of wallabies and they breed them as part of an international program for both zoos and release to the wild. Lots of marmosets as well.
9 replies
such rare boops 🥺
I live for the rare boops!
I don't know if I shall ever top hippo for rarest boop, but I'm sure going to keep trying!
I'm astounded you've met a boopable hippo!
my dad is from Zambia, he told stories of encounters with them in the bush. They generally don't seem too happy with people 😅
I regard hippos as the true King of Beasts! Scary on land or water. They were my top animal until I found my calling as an owl person. We have many more of those to go around in the US then we do hippos... A bunch safer too.
The hippo I fed and booped was another behind the scenes tour. We learned their command to open their maw for feeding, and I took advantage of the fact the guide seemed more shocked an adult was willing to put their hand there to do it before my inquiry had time to sink in.
These adorably plump and ferocious young ladies were bred in Disneyworld's wildlife program, if I'm remembering correctly, so they've been around humans their whole lives. Still physically dangerous, but a bit less so mentally. They were behind 4 inch square steel bars. They kept them separate from each other in their paddock since they're still territorial, and who are you going to get to break up the random hippo fight?
I thought it felt like the world's largest strawberry. Plump and leathery, with a slight waxy sensation. It was about 20 years ago, but I still remember that boop clear as day. 🦛
Also fed and pet a cape porcupine that day. He loved bananas, and when I was out of nanna slices, he jumped on my lap looking for more, and that scared me more than the hippo! That's a spikey surprise! He was very neat as well. Really a giant guinea pig. The big quills felt like the vanes of big bird feathers, the middle section was bristley and plasticy like Easter grass or the carpet that looks like grass made of old soda bottles, but its ears were of supreme softness! At the time at least, I felt it was the softest thing I ever touched, but it's been a long time for that reference, and this year I held some red squirrels, and they are really dang soft! Much softer than the grey squirrels, which are average soft.
Big African porcupines though, dopey as a labrador retriever, body of a capybara, just with scratchy and pointy bits galore.
such adventures 🥺
I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of people who have booped a hippo could be counted on one hand (hoping they kept said hands!)
hadn't thought a porcupine could have lab energy 😍 🥰
I'm sure it's more than that, the hippos need their vet staff and such. Still, it isn't an animal that prevents many people safe(ish) options very often... I probably should not have been able to do it! 😂
I don't think lab energy, but the dopey lab brains where they're just loveable chowderheads just looking for pets and snacks. Would love to see what porcupine zoomies look like!
that's a fair point. still, I think even those caring for them may find themselves even a little apprehensive 😅
just a blurry, flurry of pines!
I have a stuffed red panda toy from the zoo because we can not boop them!
We do get to touch the goats though.
I still enjoy the goats as well! It is an honor and privilege to boop any animal.
About my only specific big boop left is I'd like to boop a big shark in the ocean. I've wanted to do that since Discovery started Shark Week back in 1988. Could never find anyone interested in doing that with me for some reason... 🤔
I've seen a few zoos over the years that have red panda encounters. Keep chasing your dream, and one day you will find that boop!