What is impressive/intriguing about zoos? What is impressive/intriguing about weather/nature? What is the most impressive or scary moment you've witnessed with an animal? What is the most impressive or scary moment you've witnessed from the weather/nature? And how was the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha? Here's a spectacular excerpt where Pi describes the weather just before the Tsimtsum sinks: "I felt very brave. It was dark still, but there was enough light to see by. Light on pandemonium it was. Nature can put on a thrilling show. The stage is vast, the lighting is dramatic, the extras are innumerable, and the budget for special effects is absolutely unlimited. What I had before me was a spectacle of wind and water, an earthquake of the senses, that even Hollywood couldn't orchestrate. But the earthquake stopped at the ground beneath my feet. The ground beneath my feet was solid. I was a spectator safely ensconced in his seat" (102-103). He was safe for only a little while longer.
108 comments:
Once I saw a polar bear at the Minnesota Zoo. I was little; it was enormous. It was swimming laps in its large enclosement. When it would swim past the glass where I was, I recall my heart throbbing. It would surface, lunging with all its might onto a high man-made perch, the water pouring off its yellowish fur (they're not actually really that white). It was sleek, smooth, spectacular--then my dad pointed out what it could do to seals, to me. I was in total awe.
The majority of my life has not involved just sitting down enjoying nature, that doesnt mean i dont tend to use it to my advantages in life though either. Everything that i do involves either politics or something along the lines of it. But one of the major advantages i find to the nature around us is, it gives me and my friends the ability to blend in not just as in feeling and seeming combined, but literally blend in i have invested into a ghillie suit at which me and a couple of my friends from the school take to parks, and wood lots and such. Thats one characteristic about nature that is astonishing to me, when im wearing the ghillie people dont see, hear, or suspect anything going on (except for my red shoes i may add). The real thrill is when people realize there nature around them come to life and take off at them in a dead sprint. This characteristic in nature doesnt just remain itself, it plays off of you as you play off of it creating the ultimate surprise.
I think the extraordinary part of nature is that it seems to have no bounds. We can slightly attempt to create rain, but we cannot control where or when tornadoes or hurricanes are going to hit, and when they do hit, we can't stop the damage they are going to cause. To see such raw power out of something out of our control is almost scary, and astounding to the highest degree
The most impressive is probably just seeing all these different animals that you would not be able to see by just going out into the wild here is south dakota. I hate going to the zoo and seeing things like deer and buffalo because I can see them almost any time I want be just going outside my house or maybe taking a mini road trip. The most impressive thing about nature is that it can change at almost any time. Also, almost nothing that happens in nature is the same; even if you have two thunder storms they are unique in their own way.
At the Henry Doorly Zoo my favorite thing there would be the gorillas. The last time I was there i talked to a zoo keeper and they said the gorillas will pick someone out of the crowd to 'tease' by running up the glass and banging on it just because they like to see the people's reactions. I never knew that that was why the gorialla did that.
Later in this novel a lightning bolt will strike the crest of a wave. Martel's depiction of this is entirely stunning. Probably the best two pages of anything I have ever read--and I say this without using hyperbole! The sheer power of nature will never cease to impress me. It so impressed the Greeks that they created a whole mythology to match the might of nature (like that alliteration? --match the might?).
Driving on I-90 west of the Missouri River, I have seen some of the biggest, baddest thunderhead clouds and storms ever! My wife is from California, where she says there are never storms like we have here periodically.
Zoos are interesting and fun because you get to see so many animals that you would normally never otherwise get to see. ive always wondered how different animals act being in a zoo compared to how they would act in nature. But zoos can be kind of sad too if the animals are not taken well care of. yesterday at the omaha zoo most of the big cats were in tiny little concrete rooms with nothing to do. they were all super skinny and had none of the muscles they would have had in the wild. most of them were sleeping, but the ones that were awake seemed really bored and were pasing or chewing on their tails. I think that they should have had more space and some toys or something. And the giraffes were also in a concrete room and they were seperated from eachother. Other than that i think that most of the other animals were fun. the gorillas were the best. they could see people and they would imitate us. a lady was sitting by the glass and one of the gorillas came and sad just like her, leaning on the glass. and another came up and made faces at some of us. its funny that they act so much like people do. another one walked really slowly up to the glass, looked at us, banged on the window and ran away. that was pretty funny.
Weather amazes me. it so crazy how it can be pouring out but sunny at the same time or how it can rain on one side of the street but not the other. or how it can be really calm out and then storm like crazy. or even lately how its been really hot one day then it snows the next. The scaries weather moment i can really remember was when my mom dad and i were driving down to indianna. it was really nice out that night then we came up to an off ramp and almost all the cars took it. next thing you know its pouring then hailing. it hailed so bad we could barely see the road. some how we made it without any damage to the car.
Is a lightning bolt actually the finger of some colossal being?
I'm going to ask my friend, whose wife works at our Great Plains Zoo, if we can get a "backstage pass" to see the real fascinating parts of the Animal Kingdom (without having to go on safari). She might say "no," that the liability concerns are too great, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Rock's right! Nature is seemingly boundless on earth; and nature is truly boundless beyond earth--"To infinity...and beyond!"
In my opinion, Mr. Christensen, I don't believe that a lightning bolt is a finger of some colossal being. It's an atmospheric discharge of electricity, simple as that.
The most impressive thing about zoos to me is seeing animals from all corners of the world. With out zoos most of the people in the world would never see animals up close that are from different parts of the world. One thing I find very not impressive is when zoos have deer and horses because I am sure every one has seen those animals. It is cool to walk around in the museum before you go look at the animals. There are animals in the museum that are not at the zoo like a hyena. You can get so much information about animals that is so interesting to know about them. The most impressive thing about nature is how it all fits together so perfectly. You can see how ever animal is on this earth for a reason and is involved in the circle of life in its own curtain way. It is amazing to me how powerful and unpredictable weather can be. Lighting storms can be very powerful, unpredictable, and amazing at the same time. I really have not had any scary or impressive moments with animals because I am not around them that much. The most impressive thing I have witnessed with the weather is how hot it can get. I was at a soccer game and the temp. Was around 97 degrees and in the second half I got heat stroke and I fell to the ground. It was impressive and scary because it is amazing how hot the earth can get. It is amazing to me how very unpredictable the weather is because we still could get snow in May.
I think that the most impressive site I saw at the zoo was Mr. Lovrien sitting down trying to actually talk to one of the gorillas. It was most hilarious. We also got to witness two large cats of some kind blantantly mating right up against their cage. It seemed as though a lot of the animals were putting on a show for us. They sit in their cages day after day looking at all the people go by so I think it is entertaining for them to see the publics reactions to everything. There were also these gorillas that were banging up against the cage right at my face. They looked so sad. For a while I just felt bad; many of the cages the animals could barely walk in. A few of us agreed when someone said that zoos were so much more exciting to us when we were little. I mean the first time we went to the zoo we probably had seen pictures of many of the animals but its exciting to find out that things like that actually exist. The more mature one gets the more indepth you tend to think about zoos. Meaning that you tend to wonder how often the animal is fed, what things go on behind the scenes, whether those signs that say "this animal is temorarily off display" actually means that or that that animal got loose and they are not sure where to find it. Little kids do not overanalyze such things they just enjoy what they see. So my feeling is that if someone should go to the zoo when we are our age it is best experienced with an enthusiastic teacher or a small child. I personally kept looking at the gorillas just wanting to jump in the cage and play with them. My brother worked at a zoo for a while when he was in college as a biology major and he had a great time with it. He did mostly maintenance work were he cleaned out the cages but he got to play with a lot of the animals and experience the zoo in a completely different way. He was just like a big kid I am almost positive. The closest thing I got to that was when I was little my dad brought me to this farm that was connected to the University of Massachusetts and let me ride on the biggest pig I had ever seen. I do not think I have ever had any scary experience at the zoo because I do not normally get scared with that type of thing. Growing up with two big brothers I experienced huge 4 foot long pythons getting loose in my house more than once (one time it even turned up in my bed) and lizards along with the normal household animals. The only time I ever was frightened was when the snakes turned up in an unexpected place, so I was more startled than anything. Now that I think about it I should have been terrified being as that I was about 8 or 9 when it happened.
Do you realize that lightning bolts can travel three ways: from cloud to cloud; from earth to sky; from sky to earth?
Ever seen the movie The Great Outdoors? In it, a man has been struck by lightning 66 times! Funny, but sad = black humor.
i think that the scariest moment in weather would be seeing a tornado headed straight sor you and know you were going to be hit and there is nothing you can do. this is also what make weather so interesting, it is one thing that we can not control. it is still completely random, we still dont fully understand even how to predict the weather. i've never actually witnessed a tornado coming at me but i imagine that this would be by far the scariest thin that could ever happen. with every other type of natural disater you have warning and you know exactly where it will effect. with a tornado it is impossible to tell where it is going or what it will effect. there are instances where a house on one side of the street will be destroyed and another one right across the street. it would be a terrible situation to be in.
The scariest moment that i have witnessed was about four years ago. I was at my uncle's farm during calving. We were at a farm auction just down the road. MY uncle lost track of time at the auction and we hurried back to his farm to see if there were any newborn calves. It was a cold cloudy day. I remeber walking up to the barn and hearing a cow mooing in distress. My uncle and i ran into the barn to see how the cow was doin. it was the calf that was in distress. We hurried to the calves side. THis being my first time at my uncles house during the calving period i had no idea what to do. My unlce acted quickly taking his coat off trying to warm the calf up. You could tell the calf was really struggling to stay alive. I just kind of stood there helpless. My uncle then told me to get some warm water. when i came back the calf had past away. this was the most scarriest moment because it was the first time i saw an animal pass away. One of the scariest moments in my life dealing with weather was in sixth grade. I was a part of a dynasty of a fastpitch softball team. We were the team to beat. As a team we won the brandon fastpitch championship three years in a row. The First year we were in the tournament we witnessed a little issue with the weather. We made it to the championship. We were playing cody strands team. We were winning by a decent margin late in the game. We were in hte field getting ready do finish up the last two innings when we heard a tornado siren. We all ran for our cars forgeting about the game. The scariest part was that we were told that there was a solid chance of a tornado near the towns dell rapids or garetson and the traffic was so slow getting out it was quite scary. We made it home safe and of course..we won the championship.
A story that I hear from my parents all the time about the power of nature comes from when my dad graduated from Black Hills State. They said that they went to the graduation ceremony at 2 in shorts and t-shirts, and wear wearing winter coats with snow on the ground by 5. Like that cheasy cliche we hear all the time...if you don't like the weather in South Dakota, wait 5 minutes, it'll change.
The most impressive thing to me about Zoos would Have to be the animals themselves. my favorite animal at the omaha zoo has got to be the tigers. They are facinating, the superiority and haughtiness of the tiger is astounding. I went to the omaha zoo a year or so ago and we saw a female tiger with her cubs. She became outraged when people started to take pictures of her and her cubs. She attempted to attack us through the glass and her massive paws left huge marks on the other side of the glass. It was startling really frightening, I dont think that I have ever jumped like that when she first hit the glass. Any way I'm glad that the glass on those cages is thick. I have also experienced an encounter with a coyote, he ran away but I was around eight feet away from it and it was terrifying.
First off, I havent been to a zoo in a long time. But what I do remember about zoos are that most people are awe struct at the sight of the magnificant animals. It is also impressive how the wild animals can be so domesticated that us humans can pet some of them. It makes a perosn think, do the animals really enjoy being there or do they just give up hope of ever being in the wild again? As the book states, I think that the animals enjoy their stay in the zoos because they are pampered so much.
Weather is also very interresting, who would think think that on a may 1st parts of south dakota are getting snow? Its crazy plain and simple weather is unpredictable and at times can be extremely dangerous.
A dangerous story of an event with an animal happend to me just last week at the dairy farm i work on. I was holding a cows tail up when somehow I started to get squished between the cow and a metal bar. The cows hip was pushing directly on my chest and there was a bar behind my back, this sucked i thought that she was goin to squish me into a pancake. Luckily, my dear friend Matt Dawley came to the rescue and opened the front gate to let them out. Thank God he was there to let them go or i would have been sitting there gettin squished for a much longer period of time.
I recall a scary weather story from last summer, my family and I were over by Rochester MN at a motocross race. Many of the racers have a camper they stay in at the track. The forcast for the evening was rain, but it turned into high winds and a tornado warning. To say the least it was crazy, it was blowing hard, raining even harder, and everyone was super scared. The crazy part was that it only lasted about 25 minutes after everything died down, we all decided to walk outside. Eazy up shade tent like things were all over the place layin in pieces tehre was all sorts of debris laying around the pits, and the creek that flows through the place was up like 2 feet it was very scary and I hope i never have to deal with something like that ever again.
As a little girl i lived with my grandparents on their farm. My mom was a simgle parent and there wasn't a whole lot to do because all of my mothers siblings were grown up and out of the house. So I spent a lot of time out doors playing with the dogs, or my pet goats. I loved being outside and had no fears. I would spend most of my days exploring the 36 acres of land, and eating the wild fruits that grew from the trees. One could say that I was a wild child of sorts. My grandparents were both to busy, or to old to keep me preoccupied, so I was a loner. So as I got to be 4 I was exploring everyday and going further and further on the property. Well I eventually stumbled upon a bed of rattle snakes and became very frightened. Now I don't know if you know this, and believe me I didn't at the time either, but when snakes start mating they go into a trance and it's almost imposible to get them out of that trance. But I ran, this was the first time in my life that i had ever been afraid of nature and it really caught me off guard. After that I was sent to daycare, and let me tell you that it was one of the hardest transitions that i've ever had to make in my life. I was this scrawny antisocialized girl that didn't know how to interact with strangers. It took me about a month to make friends and "friends" to me were the kids that were willing to sit with me at snack time. Then my mom got married and she took me into the city where I quickly learned to fit into the culture of the city. To this day I still love a day when I can go out and just lay in nature. I have a respect for animals because I grew up in a world where they were the boss, and if I didn't respect their territory then you would pay the cost. Nature and animals both have my utmost respect for them both they are controlled be a higher being.
At the Henry Doorly zoo, there was a quote on the aquarium wall I feel in love with. Can't remember exact words, but, in terms it said in life we have a duty to conserve what we love, in hopes to better understand what we love, so we can prevent love's extinction. The quote summarizes not only the purpose of the Henry Doorly zoo, or any zoos, but life in general. Use it or lose it, right? Zoos help preserve and continue the different walks of life. But, zoos are not a cureall for animals quickly becoming endangered species. Tragically, not every animal can be saved, and even with our greatest knowledge, we can't stop every poacher, forest fire, oil spill, etc. So, I adore zoos for at least providing the service to the city in order to educate us to prevent a different type of dystopia...one without the earth's beloved animals. Zoos and the rest of the world should take care of each other and the environment. For me, after visiting the zoo (and reading Life of Pi), I want to learn more about animal behavior and influences in my life. recycle, shred the plastic off pop cans, use environmentally friendly car soap, reuse your hotel towels...ha ha, anything! Personally, I want to be closer - it's so fulfilling to me to observe how some animals behave like humans (or are we behaving like them?) I'd love to travel to Brazil, Australia, Africa, southern parts of the U.S., India, and Egypt to experience their common life being our exotic life...in South Dakota, we have deer crossings signs. Australia has kangaroo crossings...
I think zoos are really impressive because you are able to see animals and their habitat from all around the world. It allows you to travel without even leaving the state. I used to think that zoos were somewhat evil because they trapped the animals in cages, but this noval has made me look at it another way. If they really wanted to leave, they would.
I remember being part of that dynasty L and I remember that game. It did take forever to get out of the park, I remember my dad decided to run/walk home because he had to stick around to put the equipment away...we ended up picking him up about halfway to our home. Also from that night, we got like 3 inches of rain and had hail about the size of softballs, which is still the biggest hail I have ever seen. Of course I also remember Tornado Tuesday from 2003, something I will never forget.
During our life time there haven’t been many crazy nature experiences around here. I do sort of remember a huge flood when I was in elementary school but nothing drastic. Except that McHardy park was flooded completely and the golf course too. It was sad but looked really awesome. There has also been other times when the snow was so high and the wind blew it all into our driveway. There have also been times when the snow was so full in the ditch that we made tunnels and forts and stuff. There have only been two or three times that we have had to go down to our cellar because of a tornado. Once we were with a babysitter and she was kind of freaking out so we had to go down. One time we all had to sit in the small shower at my grandma's house because of a tornado. It is the freakiest thing when you see a tornado cone almost touch the ground. Some of my favorite bad weather is a thunder storm. I love them. It is so cool and scary when the house shakes from the thunder. Lightening is also interesting to watch. So probably the scariest weather experience I've had was when I was driving along the interstate on our way to the black hills, and I only just started driving a month ago, when it started to down pour like no other. It was thundering and lightening and I was driving my dad's little car. I was scared and so we had to pull over. Another time when I was young we were going on a camping trip I was with my grandma and brother in the truck/camper thing and my dad goes speeding on ahead while going over this almost flooded bridge and I was so scared that we were going to fall over into the water. I think that I like bad weather and scary nature because of the unknown and the thrill factor that it presents.
Many people find nature and storms fascinating.My grandpa used to chase tornadoes as a hobby. I find them intresting because the posibility of danger. Deep inside us we like the element of being frightened. Storms have so much science behind them. Did you know that lighting strikes from the ground up?
The most scary moment that I experienced from an animal was my own dog. A friend of mine wanted to pet my dog and was walking up behind me. My dog was out on a chain. He misunderstood that she was a friend and started bitting her when she reached out her hand. I had no idea what to do, luckly she pulled her hand away and only had to get a few stiches. But that was not the last time he did that. About a year later he bit my dad instead of the vet. The vet suggested we put him down. Sadly we had to that but still to this day I cannot get that image out of my head.
What i think is impressive about the zoo is that everyone can go and see something they like. There are so many animals from all over. When i was like 7 i was at the Omaha Zoo and we were looking at the monkeys and apes. I desided to sit down for a little bit so i sat next to the glass to the gorilla cage and as i was siting there the gorilla came running out and pounded on the glass it scared me to death. I remember the sight of that gorilla running right at me when it was happening i forgot the glass was there and thought i was going to get hit. Awhile later i sat next to the orangutan cage and the orangutan came up and sat next to me on the other side of the glass at first i was scared but then i calmed down. I put my hand on the glass and the orangutan put his hand on the other side of my it was really funny i was i could find the picture. Nature is an intresting thing i mean look at our weather it goes from like 80 degrees to snowing in 2 days. Weather and nature dont really scare me. A couple years ago i was staying at my dads for the summer and on one night it stormed, the creek floaded over there was water everywhere the sky was like day because of all the lighting strikes but i still went with my dad to make sure everything was running that needed to be running. It was so much fun flying through the water and mud puddles. One time i was with some family in minnesota and there was a tornado like a mile away and i just sat in the window and watched it.
I think that the most impressive thing about the zoo's is that the loins and the monkeys. They could get out of there cages if they really tired but they don't because they know that it wont be good for them. Also if they broke out, they would not get feed as food rthey will have to get it themself. I think that the most intriguing thing about nature is all the open land we still have left in the smaller sites. I like being outsite in the summertime because its so nice to be active then. Also i like fall because of all the pretty colors the leaves are on the tree.
The most scary moment i had with an animal was when i was up at my grandpa and grandmas farm helping them out and then i saw a timber wolf. It was not a fun time in my life, i don't think i ever ran so fast before in my life. It never did chase me but still its the fact is could harm me very fast.
The most horrific thing i was ever in was the blizzard of 1991 in MN. I lived by Duluth Which got about 37inches there. It was not good no one could travel on the roads.
I have never been to the Omaha zoo, but i have been to the Como in MN which was a really fun zoo and they did a really good job there.
Sounds idyllic, Diana. Wish I had those experiences growing up.
Some of the most impressing/intriguing things in my own opinion we can find in zoo's. the reason for this i think is because at the zoo you can see a variety of different assortments of animals you would never see perhaps your entire life unless you had visited a zoo. for one thing you get a chance to really see how some interact, of course its not exactly like mother natures nuturing making them wild but its still kind of neat to see different animals even if they are not in that environment. i mean honestly where could you go to see a pink flamingo or a siberian tiger around here(the us) without being in a different country that is native to these animals. besides this you get to be caught if you will in the animals beauty which might be the most impressive thing to see at the zoo yet still be safe. also, i think one of the more intriguing things is like yann described in life of pi, none of the animals really seem to want to be out of their enclosed habitats because they have it better in a lot of ways they just stay there even if they have the chance.
The weather and nature as a whole has always seemed to be intriguing to me. personally how it changes so rapidly from day to day is kind of amazing in many ways. i remember a few years back maybe my sophmore year when it was around 80 degrees out here(east river) as appossed to around 90 out west river and the next day it was snowing out west river... its just kind of mind boggleing that this sort of thing happens even though it seems perfectly clear that it shouldn't be acting like that.
personally, i dont try to mess with animals, especially if they are wild... in my own opinion wild animals should stay wild and people should just leave them be, we were watching some tv show of peoples home movies and these hunters were out trying to bag a lion in africa. well they took a shot.. hit it and wounded it and needless to say it was pretty mad it got back up and came running at them full speed nearly killing a man before being shot less than 3 inches away knocking the man over and breaking a few of his bones. its just kind of like why mess with something that can end your life so quickly... whats the point of doing it. aside from that being said i think my scariest expieriance with an animal would have to be when i was 6 maybe seven... (it probably wouldnt be so scary anymore if it happened later than those ages and ive probably had scarier events that have taken place since then if i were that age again) well i was at my cousins wedding in colorado and there was a huge lake that just happend to have a bunch of geese swimming near the shore. well i being the genious i am at age 6 or so decided to taunt the geese tossing small rocks and such near them... most swam off but one stayed behind... well i decided to throw one more rock and actually hit it square on the head... he was pretty well agitated might not be the word but maybe furious(who wouldnt be if some punk kid threw a rock at you and hit you in the head) well he quickly got out of the water and charged and attacked me biting me in the leg in all his huge white glory. once again i think... it proves at least to me not to mess with wild animals... you never know how they will react.
i think one of the scariest moments in nature was when my sister one summer was having a little bon fire with some friends at my house. a few were drinking Kris Kriech and maybe Dan Gile but most were just hangin out sharing stories of the past etc. normal college kid/highschooler reminicing. anywho it was a typical sodak summer with loads of thunderstorms throughout the weeknights and really hot humid days. well around midnight or one a thunderstorm decided to roll in with hail and maybe 50 mph winds, it was pretty much a tornado without the tornado. there was enough force to lift our trampoline and fling it around like a doll and enough rain to put the fire out in 2.187 seconds(it seemed)well since so many of my sisters friends stayed at our house, pretty much forcefully of course me and nick pretty much got stuck sleeping on the porch, all with windows all the way around and not the best weather stopping abilities. its just one of those nights i will never forget.
Zoos allow you to view animals that you might not normally see on in average day depending on the area that you live. It is always exciting to go to the zoo just to see the ways that the animals act in an almost everyday situation. It is just so interesting to sit and watch these animals and how they behave.
Nature is almost forbidden at times. There is always excitement in the fact that there will be a storm. You never know what may come of it. It is frightening and beautiful at the same time. The more dangerous the better it seems.
This time to the zoo was not scary but funny. We were at the St. Louis Zoo and in the penguin exhibit. If you have ever been you know that the penguins are not enclosed but right there next to you allowed to go were they want. At the time there was one right by the door. When my sister came in she did not notice it, when it squawked she jumped. The other incident was at Yellow Stone Park. There were these buffalos in a field and a man decided to taunt one. Well after a little while it charged at that time it was a mad dash for the cars near by.
My favorite type of storm has always been the one with the pretty green skies. My mom did not like this since it I always sat by the window to watch. It was always amazing to see just what was going on. Once there was a down poor and not five to ten feet away there was no rain but sunshine. It was quite funny.
When I was younger, my family, some friends and I were at Terrace Park when a thunder storm came unexpectedly. It started raining heavily and the once sunny sky became a blanket of darkness. We ran and hid under the nearest shettler because our car was parked too far away...the shelter was way too open to protect us from the rain or wind, anyways, we were soaked and cold and miserable. Then, one of the other mom's squealed, "Where's Michelin?!?". Michelin, about 3 years old, was still in the playset, about 30 or so yards away, isolated with terror inside the plastic spiral slide. My sister got up and ran to Michelin, trying to be a heroine. It was one of the scariest moments watching the back of my sister run farther and farther away from me...Paige was 7 at the time. It was too windy/rainy to see them for a moment, then they appeared in the shelter. Almost simultaneously, a bullet noise shot through the air, and it there was a blindly flash of light. The tree beside the shelter was struck by lighting...there was a huge, black scar jaggedly down the middle of the tree...and smoking...
I remember when I was in elementary school, I was over at one of my mom's friends house swimming in their pool and it was a little cloudy, and within an hour it was down pouring and storming so we went inside and watched the news in the basement for ever and I remember looking outside from their walk-out basement sliding glass door, and it was about three in the afternoon, and it looked like it was ten at night, it was all dark blue outside and everything was hazed over with wind and rain. This house was in the country so when i looked outside i saw tumble weeds and branches from trees, and leaves flying everywhere, it seemed as if mother nature put the outside into a blender and everything was being spun around.
I think zoos are facinating in that there are so many different animals there. Zoos have so many of the same kind of animal but have different kinds of types the that same animal. I like to go to zoos when the animals will do something instead of just laying around sleeping. I love to see the penquins and the polar bears the best! They are so cool.
My scariest moment at the zoo would have to be when I was little and I was watching the polar bears and all of a sudden one of them like got really close to the glass and I thought that they were going to break the glass and come after me. But I was little then and now I know better.
I hate storms and bad weather. Thunder and lightning scare me especially when they are put together! My dad and brother will go out into the storm because they think it is so cool and it freaks me out because I think something bad is going to happen to them. I also hate tornadoes. I don't like it when there is such bad whether because my cat, Snuggles, will run and hide and that makes me nervous.
Zoos are interesting because they give you the chance to see animals that you usually wouldnt be able to. Most of the animals seem to be from foreign lands and I would like to see a little more regional animals like the buffalo even though they are native to our area you never get to see them. I also like to read about the animals that are held there to get a sence of the natural habitat and comapare it to the climate that they are held in captivity in. But I also think that these zoos take nature away from the animals because they arent allowed to run free like they would be in the wild.
I think that zoos are so interesting to people because they get to see different kinds of animals from all over the world by making one short trip instead of having to travel the world to see them all. Sure people see animals probably everyday, but when they get to see things like lions, tigers, or chimpanzes it can get them excited and it can give people a whole new experience in life.
When i was youger i went to a zoo with some racing friends in Kansas. We were at the go kart nationals and were looking for something to do that would intertain us for some time before the races. We decided to go to the near zoo. While visiting the animals, we came acrost a tigar that had a viwing window in a cave like atmosphere. To our surprise when we entered the cave and came upon the window, the tigar was within a few feet away!!! It was exciting to see such an animal close up and in person. Since he was so close we stayed and viewed the tigar longer than normal. Within a few mins the tigar started to come closer to us!!! He was face to face with us then turned around and began to urinate on the viewing window!! The funny thing is that we were video taping this event. (my mom sucks at taping bc she got more of the younger ones laughing than accually of the tigar). That was quite the experice for me.
We also went to a zoo in Ph. Arizona. That was possibly the best zoo i have ever been to. They had great animals and neat surroundings. A zoo is always better when you can see the animals up close and in person, which this zoo did a great job of.
I agree with Pi how it is ridiculous that people think it is animal cruelty by keeping animals in zoo's, because obvoiusly they are not going to put a big elephant in a small room, they give the animal as much space as they would use in their regular habitat and all the things they would need, except the preditors, so they are actually living a safer life in a controlled enviroment. In a way I think we can relate to how we live in a zoo, and our parents are the zoo keepers, they give us what we need, but protect us from the danger, until we move out on our own, we then move out on our own in to the "wild" and still have all that our parents provided, or what we need, but instead we must learn how to protect ourselves from every day danger.
The scariest encounter i have ever had with a wild animal is one night up at my grandpa's shack. We were all sleeping when a bear came up and put its front paws on the window, trying to knock down the bird feeder. The paw print that was left on the window was the size of my hand. It was really scary.
I love rain storms and thunder stoms that are during the day, and i like to take naps during them. Wheather is very interesting, you never kno what to expect, on day it can be really sunny and nice, and the next day it can be snowing. But..welcome to south dakota!
The most impressive thing i have witnessed from the weather is standing out side, watching tornados tear across a corn field in the distance, it was sorta intimidating, but at the same time really cool to see.
My mom told me while she was in Iowa, where she used to live, she was at a friend's house and her car windows were down. As it started to rain she ran outside to roll up her windows and as she was doing that the tree right next to her was struck by lightning. The bark from the tree went flying everywhere and towards her as she was running back into the house. I never witnessed it but I always remember that story when it storms now. I also love the rain and thunderstorms when they come in the spring and summer. I love to stand outside and watch all the lightning. I always find the lightning strikes intriguing as the rain falls down and the lightning strikes close by and then the earth shakes. It's the most intense feeling when I watch thunderstorms.
The scarest moment with an animal was when I was out turkey hunting in the Black hills and I came across a deer that had been killed by a moutain lion. I never saw the cat but the blood was so fresh that it was still running out of the deer. I looked around and saw a spot on the ground that was disturbed by a struggle for life. There was only the head and rib cage left of the deer when I got to it.
Zoos have unfamiliar animals to the average person. It is not every day when you walk out of your house and see an elephant, monkey, or giraffe. When we visit the zoo, it's almost like we're visiting a tiny part of foreign countries. Looking at things you don't always see can only braoden your horizons and give you a mental advantage. Because even though it's something as small as going to the zoo, it's exciting and it stimulates your mind!
I think the only experience i remember in a zoo was getting sort of nipped in the back of the leg by a goat, but i do know of many stories like once when my sister was there the chickens chases her around, or maybe it was geese but it doesnt matter because now she is scared of both. As far as weather goes I think that it is massively impressive. Just the other day i was driving home pretty early in the morning and i saw something really huge and red and i couldnt figure out what it was. It was right in between the two radio towers just south of Brandon if you follow Highway 11 out of town. After i got closer to brandon i realized it was the moon but it was shocking because it was blood red. This was on Saturday the 26th, and it was a total lunar eclipse, or when the earth's shadow completely covers the moon. I stopped and tried to take a picture but none turned out.
Once my sister Jenna and I were standing outside about to go to some event and through by car windshield I saw this huge bolt of lightning hit the ground behind us and then a HUGE boom followed and then we looked and hte umbrella jenna was holding was flipped completely in the opposite direction, straight up. That was scary. I love zoos. Im actually a member in the Zoo Crew. It consists of emily fint, megan mudder, angela mccoy, kristin satterness, and me. We took a roadtrip to omaha just this year and we went to the zoo and so we got the name hthe zoo crew. it was amazing. Sloths are the best creater on the planet. I did feed alot of the animals skittles though so after reading this book, I feel bad.
Once when i had just started out pheasant hunting and i was about 13 years old probably and it was getting towards the end of the day and we were in the middle of walking a field when all these spiders came out. they all crawled up on the tips of the cat tails and prairie grass and started spinning these "pocket webs" is the best i can describe them and soon as i looked over the field there were hundreds of pocket webs catching the air and floating off over the field, it was the craziest thing i've ever seen a spider do.
Another really weird thing that i've seen out of spiders is that one time when i was prob like 8 or 9 my cousin and I were out playing in my grandpas barn and we found this really big spider that was about the size of a quarter and we went to the garbage bin and pulled out a can of Spam spray and we started spraying this spider and all of the sudden the spider cracked open right down the middle and a smaller spider that was the same color crawled out. we kept spraying the spider and it kept on cracking and a smaller spider would come out. we did this until the spider came out to be the size of a piece of rice. and then we got bored and just left if alone but now that i remember it from my childhood, it's kind of weird.
I hate storms. Whenever it rains it makes me sleepy. But I do like it when it rains when the sun is out, it's pretty cool. I've always had bad weather experience. I've been through tornados, floods, hurricanes, etc. The scariest weather storm I've been in was when my family and I were driving long distance and we got stuck on a bridge from traffic. The weather changed faster than you could blink. The sky was blue and the sun was out, then out of nowhere, giant, black clouds cover the sun in a deep fog and it begins to rain. I'm thinking, "cool, no problem." Then, I saw a water tornado form not even a mile away. It only stayed about 15 seconds, but that was terrifying.
The best thing about zoos is seeing all of the great big, beautiful beasts roaming around their cages. What is intriguing to me is that the animals probably don't mind being there at all. They are provided with food and shelter every day and they are always taken care of when they are sick. Visiting zoos is a great experience and a lot of fun. I love seeing all the bigger animals and viewing how they move and interact with one another. I am not very interested with the birds and other smaller reptiles because we have a lot of those around here. I also don't like seeing deer and buffalo in zoos because I can just drive across our state and witness their presence. The zoo is not only exciting but it is a learning experience for all who attend. This summer, Andrea Pollard and I traveled to Bear Country in Rapid City and we got up close to some great animals that roam the Black Hills. We saw everything from wolves to mountain goats to even full grown brown bears. The bears were not shy of our car, they came right up to the glass and started licking it. I was a little nervous at that point because I didn't want the bear to jump on top of my car. Another reason I was scared was because Ms. Pollard happened to be driving the vehicle. Also, while we were there, we witnessed the mating season of the brown bear. It was interesting and a great experience. The worst experience I have ever had at the zoo was when I was down at the Omaha zoo. There was an under the sea exhibit and my dad was sure I would love it. As I walked in, I noticed it was a giant tube with all of the aquadic life swimming around you. I am petrified of sharks and right as we walked in, a giant Great White Shark swam right over top of us. I was so scared I almost cried.
Zoo's are intriguing because zoo keepers have to know exactly how an animal needs it's habitat, and all the conditions that go with it for each and every one. They also need to know what each animal can and can't eat. If a zoo keeper changes the environment of which an animal lives, it can get depressed or angry, or even get sick and die. It would be really neat to be able to interact with so many different types of animals, especially the rare and dangerous ones. It's impressive that humans can learn to interact with each animal while keeping harmony between the two. It is also intriguing when an animal ends up living with another animal that normally wouldn't be paired together. Like in Life of Pi when the Rhino lived among the goats.
Almost everything about weather is intriguing. Especially in South Dakota. I remember when it rained, snowed, and was sunny all in one day. Storms are interesting to watch. I enjoy watching the light shows during thunderstorms, the streaks are impressive. Tornados scare me. It's weird that they start from the ground up. Kersten told me about a time when she was younger when she actually saw one begin looking out the window of her car, and her mom had to outrun it. If I was in her situation, I would have been freaking out. I'm glad I've never been in a hurricane, it's remarkable how much damage they can cause. It's impressive how many different types of whether and storms there actually are.
I think people are intrigued by the weather so much because of the unknown that comes with weather day to day. Sure we have weather men/woman who try to forecast and give us a pretty accurate reading on what weather we should be expecting for our near futures. However rarely are they exactly right and especially living in South Dakota it can change on you in a matter of minutes. And with that possibility of a quick change it can pull people in to wonder and be interested in the power of nature and weather and how it can never be perfectly predicted or confidently expected.
Zoos are intriguing beause people are probably fasinated with with anmimals and probably like to know how they live inside captivity and we are always wanting to know what they do in their spare time. also, we like to see how other specis live and compare them to us. also, help people study anmials and their behaviors....the weather intrigues us b/c we can't copy it. we can't make anything happen spontaniously like nature can. it can change in an instant and keeps us wondering what will happen next and what it'll do in the future. i've seen a tornado happpen and we've had some pretty bad winter storms in the black hills and i was out there for a big blizzard one year.
The most intriguing thing i find about zoos is just seeing all the animals. Everyday we see robins, rabbits, squirrels, dogs, and cats all the same old same old. You can compare it to traveling to a new city, country or continent. Its not something your used to. your transformed into a whole new world. When im at the zoo I dont feel like im in regular old South Dakota e feel like im somewhere far far away. Its just grand.
The most intriguing thing about weather is how quickly it can change and how devastating it can be. Take just a couple of days ago in i think it was Greensfield Kansas. A town of i think 1500 was wipped out. No houses or buisiness or schools were left. The weather came throught and left them with nothing killing 11 people in the process. But it can also be beutiful too. It can be 75 degrees out with a cool breeze, just a perfect day. Its crazy how it can be so good and yet so bad at the same time.
The scariest moment involving an animal would probably have to be when i was really young liveing in my old house at brandon. I was riding my tricycle around the neighborhood when I stopped to go pet some dog. Wrong move. The dog jumped at me when got me on the hand and almost ripped my pinky off, at least thats what it seemed like at the time, but it ended up being just a little cut. But still, I freaked. I sprinted home crying for my mammy. But later the owners of that dog brought me some coloring books and some kaleidoscopes so it was all good in the end.
The most scary thing i have witnessed involving weather would probably have to be when i was really young too. We were at my old house in brandon when the tornado sirens went off. I was calm at first until my mom started freaking out cuz she couldnt get a hold of my dad who was on his way back from work. She freaked, i freaked, my brothers freaked, it wasnt a good time. We ended up haveting to go get into the fetal position under my stairs only for my dad to come home and a little bit and the weather passed without any rain even i think.
The Henery Doorley Zoo is awesome. I took a road trip last summer to that place and had a grand time. We took the whole day there and saw every animal. I like how the animals are free roaming and not sitting in cages. At least most of them are like that. Its a really good place. Im a big fan of zoos and hope to work in one some day.
The most intriguing thing i find about zoos is just seeing all the animals. Everyday we see robins, rabbits, squirrels, dogs, and cats all the same old same old. You can compare it to traveling to a new city, country or continent. Its not something your used to. your transformed into a whole new world. When im at the zoo I dont feel like im in regular old South Dakota e feel like im somewhere far far away. Its just grand.
The most intriguing thing about weather is how quickly it can change and how devastating it can be. Take just a couple of days ago in i think it was Greensfield Kansas. A town of i think 1500 was wipped out. No houses or buisiness or schools were left. The weather came throught and left them with nothing killing 11 people in the process. But it can also be beutiful too. It can be 75 degrees out with a cool breeze, just a perfect day. Its crazy how it can be so good and yet so bad at the same time.
The scariest moment involving an animal would probably have to be when i was really young liveing in my old house at brandon. I was riding my tricycle around the neighborhood when I stopped to go pet some dog. Wrong move. The dog jumped at me when got me on the hand and almost ripped my pinky off, at least thats what it seemed like at the time, but it ended up being just a little cut. But still, I freaked. I sprinted home crying for my mammy. But later the owners of that dog brought me some coloring books and some kaleidoscopes so it was all good in the end.
The most scary thing i have witnessed involving weather would probably have to be when i was really young too. We were at my old house in brandon when the tornado sirens went off. I was calm at first until my mom started freaking out cuz she couldnt get a hold of my dad who was on his way back from work. She freaked, i freaked, my brothers freaked, it wasnt a good time. We ended up haveting to go get into the fetal position under my stairs only for my dad to come home and a little bit and the weather passed without any rain even i think.
The Henery Doorley Zoo is awesome. I took a road trip last summer to that place and had a grand time. We took the whole day there and saw every animal. I like how the animals are free roaming and not sitting in cages. At least most of them are like that. Its a really good place. Im a big fan of zoos and hope to work in one some day.
Typhinie's right: We cannot copy weather. It is spontaneous! Tell us details about this tornade, the Black Hills storms, and the blizzard.
I think the most fascinating element in our world or universe, is the nature and the unknown. It puzzles me how things work sometimes like, lightining and how it comes to form. I'm not quite sure how storms and everything come about but I think it has something to do with electricity. But I still dont see how it works and is created it is mind boggling. The other fascinating thing would probably have to be all the different species of animals. I am just amazed of the many different kinds of animals we have on earth. When I go to a zoo I am in awe of all the animals. Sometimes i wonder if they like the zoo or dont like the zoo. I have thought before that they dont like the zoo because it takes them out of their natural habitat and away from all the other animals of the same kind. Also it takes them away from their family, but I'm not sure if they stay close to their family as they get older unlike how we do. We are always in touch of our family and relatives I'm not sure how we would do without them. But then after reading some of Life of Pi I have changed my view somewhat of zoos and how much they provide for the animals. In the wild those animals could be killed by naughty hunters or they could starve to death becuase there might not be enough food to all go around. Brett Daly has a film called Planet Earth that shows all of the terrains and habitats on earth. From the desert to water to moutains it shows everything. When I watched it with him I was in awe of the camera work becuase they followed of pack of hyenas that killed an antellope. Hyenas are so brilliant there was an overview of the attack. There were about seven of them and they all took different posts and hide outs around the antellope. One was on each side and the leader was the one who attacked it. The antellope took off running in a direction but to no avail it was brought down becuase the hyenas surrounded it. To sum it all up I am amazed and love all the animals on earth and I wish others would respect them as well
I went to the Omaha zoo last year and had the time of my life it was fun to see all the animals. My legs and body were sore from walking all the way around the zoo. The last part that we visited was the dark exhibit with the bats and alligators. It was shocking to me because once I got in there I couldn’t see a single thing. I was bumping into small children and hitting strollers it was terrible. I always wondered if maybe I had night blindness but I never thought it would be that bad. I asked my boyfriend if he could see anything and of course he said yes. He told me that my eyes were just adjusting to the dark but soon realized that it wasn’t getting better after the third toddler was bumped over. It was scary to be in a place that you knew that there were dangerous animals and that you couldn’t see anything. I had to hold my boyfriends hand and have him lead me through the exhibit. I was really upset because I’ve heard so many good things about that particular one and I was excited to see it…. Too bad I couldn’t see it.
I think that Pi is a great person who understands alot of things not only about life but a zoo. The things i have learned in this book is adding up. This book has alot to offer not only by reading it but by exploring it.
i have alone been scared of nature once and this happen sixs years ago at my uncles house were me and my friends just got back from a movie and we wanted to go out side but my dad and uncle said no so we went in for the night and later taht night we saw why we could not go out side because the wind picked up and the rain was falling hard. we stayed up longer then we are use to, right when we were about to go to slepp we heard the loudest bang ever, it was lighting and it had hit the next doors tree. right after that we heard kids screaming because there were in the shed watching the lighting with out there perants knowing and the tree fallon them. my dad and uncle went out side to help and so did the parants and the kids were fine because there was a old van in the shed that keep the tree from killing the kids. this moment scared me bad because i thought those kids died and since then lighting always make s me look around and see if it hit anything.
I agree with Pi in that zoos are like a hotel for humans except the animals don't have to pay to stay there. I think that the animals like zoos because they don't have to chase down their prey to have food for the day and the prey don't have to run for their lives every day. The animals are cared for by having their food brought to them and if they are sick they have a vet to make them feel better. Animals also don't have to defend their territory from other animals because they have their own cage. Animals that need a companion can get that in a zoo also such as the hippos and the goats. The animals that do escape come back eventually as Pi pointed out because they are afraid of the unknown. I think it is that fear of the unknown that makes Pi not want to move to Canada.
I really like zoos, i think they're pretty cool. but i haven't been to one in forever. And i'd have to say my favorite animal at the zoo would either have to be the tigers or the gorillas. The best part is that i have stories for both. i think i'll start out with the tiger story first though. So one day i was at the zoo in sioux falls and i was next to the tiger enclosure. i was in the process of reading the tablet about the tiger and just as i looked up the tiger was walking past me in the enclosure and there was a man about 10 yds in front of me taking a picture with his camera and the tiger stopped and pissed all over the guy. i laughed so and and the guy was really angry cause he thought his camera was ruined and he smelled like really strong cat pee.
My story about the gorrillas takes place at the Omaha zoo and i was having a good time checking out the reptiles next to the indoor enclosure for the gorillas and i had been looking for a while and went to the window to look at the gorillas and i saw one of the male silver backs it was just looking at me and we saw eye to eye, it was really intimidating. we sat there and looked at each other in the eyes for a while and i got bored and turned around to leave and i had just started walking away when i heard an extremely loud BOOM and i looked back at the window and the same gorilla had hit the window and was pounding on it. and i remember just while i was looking at the window to see how thick the glass was and im glad i heard later the the glass is bullet proof so as sure to not let out the creatures. but i was still scared out of my wits.
For about 5 years I lived on a farm, so I've encountered several animals in my life. I've been chased by cows because I was being stupid. I learned that when you've got a litte bit of food and a lot of cows, it gets a little dangerous. I've been chased, bitten, scratched, by geese. I hate geese. By far, the worst animal encounter was when I was 7ish and I saw an alligator out of the water. It was in my backyard, and you don't really see it until you're a foot away.
have many different stories of how cruel nature can be to animals even here in South Dakota. A few years back i had a dog that developed athritis in her hind legs she was getting old and hated thunderstorms. So one night there was a storm and the next morning I woke up looked to her pen and asked my parents where she was. They said that they didnt know and when we went out to find her we saw something hanging from the fence and realized that she had hung herself.
Another time I was going outside to shoot hoops in my driveway and when i opened the garage door i saw that a cat had gotten caught under the garage door and had been decapitated.
In the spring a couple years back a cat of ours had kittens and we couldnt find them so once we finally did they were evil and didnt like us but one day one of the kittens came up to us and started whinning i thought that it maybe became nice but I soon quickly realized that it was in horrible pain. When I picked it up I looked at its belly and it had a bunch of little worms all over it so I tried to wash them off with the hose but then i realized that the worms were coming from the inside and that it was full of them so all we could do was put it out in the pasture and leave it for dead.
Two years back we had a predator that would come into our barn at night and kill off the cats. It seemed like at least once a week we would find different decaying body parts from another cat. In fact one time all that we found of one of the cats was a hind leg and the head. We never found the predator but I hope that it went away and we havent found any parts since.
So nature has a very cruel way of taking the lives of living things and these are just a couple of the numerous stories of natures brutallity that i have.
Ashley grew up in a zoo, so it sounds!
Ashley grew up in a zoo, so it sounds!
By far my scariest moment in nature was when I was around three and a half years old. I was in my front yard playing when a beyond lifesize dog came up jumped on me and started biting me! To this day, I am still afraid of most dogs...all because of one incident that happened many years ago.
I love zoos, but I hate aquariums. I've never been attacked by a shark, but I'm running and screaming scared of them. I remember going to the aquarium and seeing the sharks in this huge, wall tank. There were 20 to 25ish bull sharks, and a couple tiger shark. I didn't say anything I was so scared.
Zoos are a class all their own. We have created a "safe" enviorment for us humans to view animals up close that has lead some people into thinking they are docile, subdued, overgrown house pets. This kind of ignorance is what gets people hurt because they underestimate the basic instincts the animals still have. Just because an animal has been trained does not mean that the animal is then "safe." There is insticnt in all of us, with people it is human nature, with animals it is cold hard animal instinct. We should never trust any animal because of this reason, we can not, nor will we ever be able to rid an animal of its natural instinct. This is what puts us at the bottom of the food chain in certain cases.
The thing i find most inmpressive about mother nature is the utmost omnipitance she has. Some of our worlds greatest tragedies have been the aftermath of mother nature; mudslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods, to name a few. These events are all things that we as humans can not ever prevent from happening. The only thing we can try to do is predict when they will happen so that we can get to somewhere safer, and this is not always accurate. Another thing that is intrigueing about mother nature is the shear unpredictability that these natural disasters can happen. I will always have a great respect for animals and for nature because they are what has been around for millions upon millions of years and we humans have just recently been here and we need to remember that.
The scarriest encounte i remember having with an animal happened when i was about 7 years old. My mom and I went to pick up some sheep for market from a mans house who we had often done buisness with before. While my mom was talking to the man i was sitting across the yard petting his dog. All of a sudden without warning the dog attacked me. I was down on the ground trying to cover my face while the dog was biting my arms and trying to get to my face. I was extremely terrified and just kept thinking that i had to keep my hands by my face and curl up in a ball to keep my neck protected. My mom heard what was going on and she ran across the yard and was trying to pull the dog off of me. She finally got the dog off of me and i was crying hysterically because i was so scared. I remember my mom taking me to the car and then we left. I dont know what happened to the dog or the man because we never went back there to buy sheep. Since that day i have always been very cautious toward dogs and tend to stay away from them unless they are our families pet.
Zoos are a great place to go and view natures creations. You can go just about when ever, no matter what the weather is like and go and see the animals. I find it interesting to not only go and visit on the nice and sunny days, but also days where it is raining out or is cold and ugly out. Then you get to see the different sides of the animals and how they react and what their moods are like. I also find some zoos rather degrading. Some of them might have exhibits that are to small for the animal they are displaying, or it doesn't have the proper enviroment setting for the creature. Another reason why I might not like them, is that it sometimes makes me wonder what those animals would be doing if they were in the wild. I often have to think about the otherside and how zoos can also help them (being rescued from the wild, endangered species, etc).
Weather can be an interesting subject since it can be both enjoyable and destructive. A lot of people like the weather that is calm, nice, and suits to their moods. Then there are a select few that are more on the extreme side and love when nature shows her power (thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, etc). I believe weather has a lot to do with how we feel. If it is nice and sunny out, we will be in a better mood, and more willing to do things. If it is raining, and dark outside we will tend to feel more gloomy and depressed. Another great example on how the weather effects us is the winter time. People feel confined to themselves and locked up because of the elements outside. There is also a higher suicide rate in the winter than any other season.
The most scariest moment with an animal that I have come across would have to be when I was hiking in the Black Hills. I was out hiking with some family friends kind of near Spearfish canyon. It was somewhat of a nice day out and we were tired of going on the normal paths that most of the tourists would go on. Some of the friends we were with with locals and knew about some shortcuts or trails that would be more interesting but might be more dangerous. Being adventurous, we took the "locals" trails. We got into about a mile or two down the trail and came a darker wooded area. We decided to take a break and go look around. While doing so, we came across an area where there were mountain lion cubs. Being an avid hunter, and nature enthusiast, I knew that even going near the cubs would anger the mother and would leave our presence. So we turned around and started walking back to our gear when we heard something running towards us. It was the mother running down a hill at us because she had just seen us by her cubs. Thankfully one of our party members had a concealed pistol on him and turned around and fired a warning shot in the air. It froze the mother and reminded her of who was in charge. She halted and turned around to go to her cubs, charging at us no more. We then came back to our stuff and high tailed it back to a different trail.
The most scariest moment involving weather would had to have been when I was out coyote hunting with two friends. I was with two friends that graduated a couple years ago from here, and one of them was going to be leaving for the military soon, so we decided that we needed to go on one more group hunting trip. We went up near Brookings and had some private land to hunt on so that we wouldn't be bothered by other people. We had tons and tons of open land to hunt on which as good for what we were hunting for. When you hunt coyotes you usually carry and high powered rifle and shoot at them from long distances. Anyways we had walked about a mile to our spot and go settled in. We settled in under a few trees on a hill out in the middle of a field. We figured that if we did this, we would be concealed and protected from the elements. We had been out there for an hour or so and bagged a nice coyote when it started to rain a little. The forecast had said that it was supposed to rain a little but not till at night. We figured it would just sprinkle a bit and stop in a few minutes. We were under a canopy of leaves in the middle of a field, when it started to get windy, downpour, and thunder. Now we knew that it was going to get bad out and started putting our guns in our cases to protect them from any water that leaked through the leaves. We knew that we would have to wait the rain out since the field we had walked across was dirt and would now be a gaint mud pit. Eventually it would begin to hail rather big pieces of ice (about the size of large marbles) and would begin to lightning and turn into a nice storm. We just huddled under the trees and hung our coats up to act as a barrier from the wind, hail, and ocean of rain. About 20 minutes later the storm would die down to the point where we could at least walk with out getting hit by hail. We trudged in the field of mud until we got back to the truck.
The best experience that I have had with nature is when I went on a hike in Colorado last year. I went with my brother-in-law and we tried to Mt. Tweto (elevation 13,672 ft). The trip was longer than I thought because it took us about 11 hours to complete the journey. The first part of the climb wasn't very exciting becuase it was just tree after tree. I wanted to stop but my brother-in-law said that he wanted to show me something. So I agreed to keep hiking becuase I wanted to see what he was going to show me. A few hours later we made our way through a clearing in the trees and came across a lake!!! This wasn't just a normal lake because the water was so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom of the deep lake. It amazed me that such a pretty lake was nestled in all of those tree. I then realized that all of the hours of hiking were worth it and sometimes the best views require some physical effort. Even though I was happy to see the lake, I still wish that the rain wouldn't have stopped us from reaching the top of Mt. Tweto. My hike showed my just how exciting and unpredictable nature can be because you never know what is on the other side of the trees or through the next clearing.
One of the reasons i love living in the country is how close to nature i am. I have always been intrigued by animals and now i can go to my back yard and see wildlife. I grew up and Omaha so of course we went to the zoo a lot. The wide array of animals at the Henry Doorly Zoo is what really impressed me. There are so many creatures and plants that i would probably never have seen outside of the zoo. People no longer have to travel to see different parts of the world. Although it's not nearly the same it is great because instead of going to different continents to see foriegn animals we can casually walk through our town.
I would love to live in the country, too, Cory. Good for you for noticing and acknowledging our "one-ness" with the natural world.
I have not been to the zoo in a very long time. But when I think about going, it makes me wonder. Are we observing the animals or are they observing us. Or is it both? You can teach animals to do things, right? So are they learning from the people that go to the zoo?
I love going to zoos, you get to experience something that not in you nartural setting. When you go to a zoo you get to see how animals act in what probably is their natural habit. The first time i went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, it was my nieces first visit to a zoo, in her life. I was great to watch her eyes light up when we went though the Desert Dome. When we came to the polar bears, she freaked because the polar bear was swimming so close to the glass she though it was going to break though. Now she a little older and i cant wait to take her back to see how see reacts with a little more life experience.
The weather is amazing, and unpredictable (as we should already know). I can recall several summers where my sister, brothers and myself were locked up in the frightening dark of our hidy hole (what we call the closet beneathe the stairs). Once we were so scared and frightened that a tornado was heading our way we just sat there... hoping that mom and dad would soon join us, and that they might bring the cats with... they were often running around the house oblivious to our terror. We would stay in the hidy hole for hours, as i would watch my brothers sleep and listen to my sister prey on the rosery. Luckaly the prayers were answered. The tornados never did end up at our frount doorstep. But i never felt so close to my sister in my whole life as those times of terror. You can be frightened of the weather like i was when i was younger. My dad is a bit of a storm enthusiest. So often times he would stand their out in the dry electric air. I hated it when it was just lightning... the only time i could bare it was in the rain. Though i know it makes it more dangerous in the rain i see it more as a syphony. The rain becomes a steady beat at first then the lightning claps and the wind blows and the rain comes down faster and slower, and you can feel the rain on your skin and hear the little peices of ice as they hit the top of the roof... then it would quiet down the thundering would quiet down and the rain would keep its soft beat until the sky was finished watering and washing the world. I used to think of these calmer nights and i remember what my mother said about them. When the thunder booms their was another angel in heaven that hit a strike. i thought it was a funny little saying. Even more magnificent was a snowfall we got this year. it was a day before my birthday... the day of jennie's birthday... the snow was so thick and so beautiful. it wasn't in any hurry but it seemed like it just wanted to envelope you with warmth. i don't even think it was at all cold that day and it helped me look at it and think... this is a sweet birthday present.
Ever since I can remember, during thunderstorms, my dad and I would sit outside and watch the lightning. At first, when I was younger it scared the crap out of me. And I would hold onto my dads arm while we sat on the swing out on the porch. Every time it thundered I would sort of whimper. I would also go back inside of the house for a little while. But I would always come back out because watching it was so "cool". But over the years I have learned to love it. To this day I still sit outside with my dad sometimes during thunderstorms. But I am alot more comfortable now. Once, my dad and I even sat outside and watched funnel clouds form like right over our backyard. We've also had thunder crack so loud that it knocked decorations off of the wall of our house. I love thunderstorms.<3...
For me I believe zoos are a great way for people to learn more about animals, it is also beneficial in the way that people are aloud to get close to animals they would probably never see in real life, and be safe from harm. The most intriguing this to me about zoos is how they build buildings that fit to all animals types of living conditions. For example at the Henry Doorly Omaha Zoo, there was a building for the jungle, for the dessert, and for a swamp. In the jungle they some how made the entire building warm and humid. They also had tons of vegitation, and two levels at which you could view the animals. The dessert was hot and dry, much like a real dessert, and in the swamp building it was humid and warm. It is amazing to me how they can keep all these climate conditions stable despite they actual weather outside. One of the scariest experiences I have incountered with an animal was when I was in middle school and I went to my aunt's house to ride horses. I was a beginner rider and I didn't know much of what to do yet. So, to make me feel more comfortable my aunt picked the best, most relaxed, patient, horse out of the bunch. Everything was going along smoothly, we put the horses sadel and bridel on and then I got up on it's back. We then proceded to leave the barn. As soon at the horses face touched sunlight, it tansformed into a wild horse. It ran out and circled the pasture 3-4 times with me hanging on for dear life on it's back. The horse was in control and I couldn't do anything about it.
The most intriguing thing to me about weather/nature is that it is totally unpredictable, and is in complete control. Humans view themselves as the power of the world, which is for the most part true among species, but the most powerful thing on this earth is weather/nature. It controls everything. One of the scariest incounters I have had with weather is when I was younger and I was at one of my softball games. The clouds were pilling up in the sky and were getting darker by the minute. I didn't really think much about it untill I heard the tornado sirens go off. My heart started pounding, I instantly was worried that we weren't going to make it home, that I was going to loose all of my stuff, that my dad would be hurt in the storm, I was in complete panick. My mom, dad, and I eventually got home, went in the basement, and listened to the weather reports. No tornado touched down, but I remember I was very parinoid about the weather for a couple of months after the experience.
The Omaha zoo was lots of fun to go to! We saw lots of different animals. It was nice going with a biology teacher, then I could ask questions about all of the animals. The tiger there was extremely skinny. I really hope it wasn't sick, but it was too skinny. A few times the tiger yawned, that was amazing to see. I think it's crazy how cuddly a bear looks, but yet if you really did try to cuddle with it, the bear would eat you or hurt you horribly. I wish bears weren't so fierce. The guerillas seemed very friendly. They would come up to the window and interact with us. One guerilla was imitating Mr. Lovrein. I love the penguins! They are so fun to watch. When they went swimming, I realized that they are kind of fat, it was funny seing their stomachs under water, it really excentuated that part of their body. I saw an animal that I haven't ever heard of and it was interesting. The animal was a tree kangaroo. To me, the coolest thing about kangaroos is how they jump, so what's the point of being a tree kangaroo. Maybe they are more active and jump around the trees in the wild, but at the zoo they weren't very active. The weather was a perfect day for visiting the zoo. I get very scared when bad storms come. I am getting better, but when I was little I was really scared. One time, when I was about seven years old, we were camping and there was a tornado 10 miles away from us. The wind picked up, and the pop can that used to be in my sister's hand, was now blowing all over, the wind just took it out of her hands. So then one of my parents' friends came and picked me up and brought me into this tiny shed. It was all of my step dad's softball team in there, but the rest of my family was in the car. I was really scared. Then my step dad came and grabbed me from the green shed and I had to go outside to get to the car where the rest of my family was. It was so frightening going out into the horrible weather. After I got into the car, the weather started to get better and we headed to a hotel. I talked so fast the whole way there because it was such a shocking experience. I remember this event very vividly, and always will.
well... i don't have any zoo stories because i don't remember the last time iw was in a zoo. however, i have a couple scary weather stories. the first incident happened when my grandpa, my dad, and i were out fishing. i was probably nine or ten years old and had never been caught in a bad storm. i remember that the weather that day went from very nice to terribly threatening almost instantaneously. my dad immediately decided we needed to call it a day and head home. the waves were almost twice as high as our boat and kept coming over the top of the boat. i knew we were in a bad situation because my dad put a life jacket on. to this day, that is the only time i have ever seen him wear one. to make the story short, the trip home took almost two hours (a journey which took a half hour in good weather). my grandpa ended up hurting his back, jamming it down during one of the waves. i remember not knowing what to do or how to act. im pretty sure i didn't say a word until we were back at the dock where i knew we would be safe.
my other weather story inolves the lake as well. one weekend, my parents said i could bring a friend to the lake. i was super excited. well, the first night we were down there it started to rain so we couldn't go outside. my parents went next door to talk to the neighbors. suddenly, the winds picked up and conditions got really bad. my parents came and got us and told us we had to go down to my uncles. our cabin was on a top of a hill. his was on the bottom and we would be much safer down there. so the storm passes and we go back to our cabin. the neighbors deck had been picked up by the wind, flipped over, and flown into our cabin. i couldn't help but to think what might have happened if we wouldn't have moved during the storm.
i love zoos because you get to see animals from different places you normally wouldnt see if there wasnt a zoo. you get to see how unpredictible wild animals are and how beautiful they are. they help some people relize that we need to try and save the planet and the animals from going extinct. some you even get to touch. :)
weather and nature are also amazing. you never know what is goig to happen or whats beyond the corner. living in south dakota really shows that unpredictibility. weather is also gorgeous no matter how bad it is out is always seems to be nice out.
the scariest moment was a few years ago when there was a tornado warning out and it was only me my sister and her friend i was very young and the sky was yellow the wind was blowing and it was hailing softball size ice balls out. i was so scared being so young and alone but at the same time inpressed at the beauty of the sky and how the animals reacted before the storm.
i didnt go to the zoo this year but i went last year and it was great. i loved the gorilla. he was awesome. the best part was lovriens reactions to everything. not just the animals though i mean everything. if there was a new leaf or sign or color he would freak. it was great.
Every zoo I have gone to has had something impressive and fun to see. From the Seattle Zoo to the one by Lake Superior. I've always enjoyed going to them. Watching the animals and how they interact with eachother is pretty entertaing. Its funny how the questions sort of ask about zoos and weather both. This past Friday I had the chance to go to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, and normally when we go it is mid summer, and is so hot that you are running from building to building just to get away from the heat. Not this time however. Friday was probably the coldest time i had ever been to the zoo. We were running from building to building just so we could keep warm, I got in the Rainforest and didn't want to leave because it was so nice. It is amazing watching the animals also react to the weather, such as the polar bear, in the summer I always see it in or near its huge swimming pool full of water, but this last time, he was out of the water walking around enjoying the cold weather. The tigers that were outdoors were pacing back and forth trying to keep warm where as the tigers inside the cat building were lounging around enjoying being in the warmth. A lot of the outdoor animals had been put in their houses because of the cold, so we didnt get to see much so it was kind of disappointing. Although we plan on going back this summer after they finish the butterfly and insect house, so i have something to look forward to for next time.
One of the best things about spring and summer would have to be the thunderstorms. Me and my many brothers and sisters love to go outside and watch the storms come in. We love to watch the storms take place to. I think lightning is amazing and beautiful. Every storm is different, which makes them even more fun. No one in my family is afraid of thunderstorms except my younger brother Josh, he hates them, but eventually he will learn to love them. I havn't been to the zoo in a really long time. When i was younger i used to love going and beg my parents to take me. I think the worst animals in the zoo would have to be the huge spiders they have. Its kinda funny that the smallest animal in the zoo is the one that I dont wanna see. But some of them can get pretty huge and some are poisonous. My favorite part of the zoo is seeing the polar bears and monkeys. My older brother and sister would always take something from us and pretend like they were gonna give it to the monkeys or throw it in a animals cage. This wasn't to fun for me or my parents. It was always hard to bring my whole family to the zoo cause we were so big. There would have been eight of us total. So having to watch all of us and make sure none of us got lost or eaten was rather tough on my parents. I can't wait for the first real thunderstorm of the summer. There is nothing like the feeling of watching a thunderstorm roll in. But it gets kinda disappointing if you think your gonna get a major thunderstorm and all you get is rain. I think it would be really neat to see a tornado, just as long as nothing gets destroyed and no one gets hurt.
We as humans are amazed by weather because it is just that amazing to watch one of the most scariest but beautiful things in the world has to be the torando a it is nerve racking because you dont know if it will hit your house but beautiful because of the wind circling in a motion to form a perfect cylinder shape also the sky the color that it makes as the torando is apporching is just amazing my grandfather used to sit out on the porch and watch the torandos coming until the very last possible second so usually when the sirens go off i will try and stay upstairs as long as i can i even try to sneek out of the house to watch from outside. also the weater just creates beauty through the sky or on the ground some days the most beautiful thing in this state is a whole mess of snow and hearing Brandon Valley School District is closed for the day or on a two hour late start or on those very rare occasions getting out at noon, and who can argue that a warm summer night where you can go out and watch the stars in the clear sky is not one of the most gourgious things to look up at and wonder what is out there. Those are the kinda of days that you live for and the things that make this world great.
Another reason why weather is so amazing is that its unpredictable sometimes even though we have meterologists to help us figure out what the weather will do we would have never have thought on april 25th that it would being snowing snow was supposed to be done coming down by now because it is spring i bet if u asked any weather expert in july of last year would it snow on april 25th 2008 they would have said no are u crazy and i think that is our facination with weather as human beings we need to have a feeling of what is going on in this world we live in but some days we just dont know what weather will do most days
The most important thing that we have in this world is the weather and thats why i beilive that it facinates us it is a thing that everyone has in this world everyone has sunlight everyone has a night time some places are colder than other some places are warmer that others and so on but i beilive that the only thing everyone has in common is the weather people beilive in different things but there is always one thing that people have the weather if u want to complain about it if u want to say how glorious it is that is what we all have in common anywhere in this world and thats what makes the weather so austonishing!
Zoos are very intriguing simply because they are filled with a wide variety of things we don’t get to see/experience every day. As humans, it is important for us to learn new things every day. It not only keeps our minds young and energetic, but sparks our interest and wonder. We like to look at new, different, and strange things. Animals will often do the same thing. For example: if something new is placed in your yard your dog will look intently at it and sniff it. If a strange vehicle pulls into the driveway the cats will stare and the dogs bark. When we see an exquisitely colored bird or a monkey swinging on a branch in the zoo we too can’t take out eyes off of it. Things that we don’t see everyday tend to catch our eyes. This is why we like going to them.
The weather is also very interesting and awe inspiring. The shapes the clouds can make, the colors the clouds can turn, and the power of a storm are almost never the same. Weather is continually changing. Here in South Dakota you need to spend only a few days to experience it. It can be 70 degrees out one day, then snowing the next. The things I find most interesting to watch/look at though would be lightning and sunsets. They are always different and changing with intensity. There are many types of lightning. Heat lightning, ball lightning, ribbon etc… sometimes it may stay in the sky, while others it will make contact with the earth. After the amazing flash of light that is blazed, branching through the sky comes the great rumbling of thunder rolling across the plains. That is something I always love to hear. It is amazing the sound that is produced. My favorite ones are when you can hear it approaching, like a train, louder and louder. It hits you and the windows shake because of its intensity. That is truly awe inspiring.
When I was little, I was at my Grandpa and Grandma's house; my great grandmother was dying from just plain old age. I didn't know what was going on exactly, I understood the mood of everybody, and it was sad and gloomy like death. It was getting late, I was tired. My mother insisted on me sleeping in my own bed, my mother said, "The house is small and there is no more room for people to sleep." But I knew that wasn't it. My great grandma was going to die that night. As I was getting ready to go home, I needed my shoes. My parents were in a hurry to get me home and get back, so I ran to the door with my sneakers, and because of the mood, my great grandma's dog was extremely weary, scared, and was very protective that night. I was going straight for the door, and before I knew it the wiener dog was barking and jumping frantically, I was still running, It wasn't the dog's fault he was scared, but it wasn't my fault either, he jumped up and bit me in the stomach. I cried, and cried, I was hurt and bleeding, when I saw the blood oozing out of my body, I then realized what had happen, and nothing could get me quiet.
Since then I never had liked dogs, but I still love them. It is when they bark frantically and when they start to jump up and down is when I start to panic.
Then more recently, I was running with my friend Jason, we were in town jogging, up and down the roads. We have been running for 2.5 miles now, and out of nowhere this crazy big brown mutt comes running straight towards up, I didn’t know what to do, I knew what would happen if I were to start running, or if it thought I were scared, it can sense what I felt. I looked to Jason, he knew I didn’t like dogs very much, he told me to keep walking and don’t stop. This dog was foaming at the mouth. It possible had rabies, but Jason told me, maybe it was cold or something, I knew he was trying to calm me. Every corner the dog would stop and pee on a pole or a fire hydrant marking its territory. Then It would find its way back to use. I do not know why it was following us, but it did. My heart was beating faster then a running bull on steroids. Finally the dog was distracted by another dog, I looked at Jason and he looked back at me, we both knew what to do next. We ran, we ran like Forest Gump. I’ve never ran so fast in my life, I was going straight to the school, protection. Once I got there, my adrenaline rush was still active, I felt like a madman escaping the police. Then from there Jason and I hopped in my car and went to find the dog again, the last thing we wanted to do, but we knew we had to. Once we located the dog we called the police, they would be able to handle it. It is their job to keep the public safe. They came and contained the dog, I felt much better, because I didn’t get hurt, and neither did any other kids that day, from a lunatic afflicted dog.
I think it's impressive when a zoo has any animals you really like. I like penguins and flamingos I was excited when I learned that our zoo got them. I am impressed that we have meteorologists who can predict the weather and that they are accurate most of the time. I have always been impressed with what animals can do at the circus. The zoo in Omaha is great. I'm going there sometime this summer for my pre-college trip.
To me zoo's are very intriguing. I like going to the Great Plains zoo and that is very small with not a ton of animals. I would really like to travel around the United States and go to some big time zoo's like the Omaha, San Diego, Denver,etc. I think that people can learn alot by going to the zoo. Obviously there are dangerous animals in the zoo but there is only one that is the deadliest, Humans. Zoo's are a great place to take kids and for any age, i still like visiting zoo's because i am fascinated with animals, even reptiles, and birds. When i was just a little boy was notorious for getting into something. I was on a trip to the zoo with my baby sitter when i wandered away and ended up climbing the bear cage. She was lucky i didn't make it all the way because if i did i might have been eaten alive or dominated those grizzles. I like zoo's so much that i want to be close to the animals, thats why i love it when they come close so i can get a good look at them.
I realize that this is not a huge thing, but when i was little, probably about 7 years old, i lived at these apartments that were right next to a field. You could often find a variety of diffrent field spiders around. And one time a went up to my friends who were playin near the underside of the stairs and i realized that they were watching some spiders. One of the kids decided it would be funny to throw a rock at a spider, so the spider JUMPED and decided that it was going to chase me jumping across the very large parking lot. It scared the daylights. Enough to make me so afraid of spiders, that if i see a spider, no matter how big or small, i will flip out. Just that one small event did so much damage.
The most facinating thing about nature is its unpredictability. One min you could basking in the sun and the next you could be hearing the sirens screaming because of a tornado. I remeber one time the weather snuck up on us and hit us with a terrible storm. We were driving home from my grandparents house when all of a sudden it started to hail and lgihtning. We pulled over and sat there for a while while our car got plastered with hail. the next thing i see was the brightest light ever. Not 50 ft from our car a tree was struck with lightning and imediatly started on fire, even in the rain.
People of today have a complete obsession with animals. They are tied into the advertisements we see, the clothes we wear, and our sports teams almost always use an animal as a mascot. I think that people are intrigued by animals. They each have their own habits and special abilities along with the freedom of living "in the wild". Zoos give you the opportunity to see different animals that you normally wouldnt see in an environment made specially for them. I think that we are more interested in animals since several of them are fairly similar to humans.
I think the impressvie thing about zoos is that we get to see these massive beasts that are not native to our country interact w/ each other.
The intriguing thing about weather is the unknown factor. Besides the local forcast, the weather is very unpredictable. I think many people admire it because they have an ultimate respect for it (a.k.a. fear).
The scariest moment I have had w/ any animal was w/ a horse. I was simple riding around a stable and I wanted to go forward while the horse wanted to sit down. While I thought the horse was bucking me off, it was just taking a seat. Needless to say I havent gone horseback riding since.
The scariest experience that I've had w/ mother nature was probably when the big tornado ran through Spencer, Iowa. I was young and didnt know what to think...all I remember is screaming and thinking I was going to die.
When i was little i was so afraid of thunder storms, everything about them scared me. When i ws about six there was a huge thunderstorm, that knocked a tree down in our back yard and it hit our house and knocked out my dad and step moms bedroomm window. But that night my older cousin who had been staying with us took me out on the front porch and had me close my eyes and just listen to the storm. He wanted me to hear the excitment behind it instead of seeing the lightning, and it helped i was not afraid of thunderstorms as much after that. The only thing that still scars me is tornados.
Nature always captures our attention. It is something we can't understand completely, and it is something we haven't created. We can influence it, and predict it sometimes, but we can't out right control it. Nature is something powerful, it is beautiful and dangerous at the same time. A storm can bring much needed rain, and give life to a barren place, or a storm can be the kiss of death to a fragile ecosystem. I don't know if we can ever understand the full power of nature. We tend to think of nature as on earth, but it is else where in the universe too. It creates planets and stars and even galaxies. But nature seems to be balanced too, for every thing that is created there seems to be an equal force that could destroy it. The power of nature is to vast to understand.
I think the zoo is facinating because there are beutiful creatures there that you dont ordinarly see. My scariest moment witnesed with an animal is the time when my uncle was feeding the cows and he got to close to one of the cows calf, and the cow ended up chasing after him. The cow fliped him five feet in the air with its head and then tried to step on him, and the cows are not light they weigh about 1500lbs. I think. The whole time it was doing this to my uncle my dad was jabbing it in the face with a pitch fork but it was still coming finally he jumped the fence and got away with just a few bruises, instead of a broken rib cage or possibly death. The scariest thing in nature was when I was at my dads house and his brother which is my uncle's house got blown down by a tornado. Luckily we were safe because we were all ato my gradmas house who lives 4 miles away from my uncles house.
I think that zoos are very intriguing because you get to see all the different environments in one place. The zoos need to make sure that they are putting the animals in the right environment otherwise they will most likely have a hard time surviving. One of the scary moments that i have encountered with an animal is when i was in 5th grade my brohter and i were riding our bikes and there was a big dog that started chasing us so i stopped and my brother went to go get help i was outside by this house and was screeming and then these ladies came out and told me that the dog was harmless as it had me trapped inbetween a tree and my bike. When my brother came back with our bus driver the dog went under my bike and bit me in the ankle. when we got back to my house my dad called 911 cause the dog ran off and then all of the Split Rock Fire Department came out to my house cause they were in the middle of a meeting. It was pretty exciting but very scary too.
Zoos are beneficial to any person who is able to attend one. It gives a person the chance to learn more about animals and a chance to be able to be close to those that are foreign to our country or where they might live in the U.S. It allows a person to view the animal in a safe environment rather than sneaking up on one in the desert or wherever one might be. Weather and nature is always changing, especially in South Dakota, where it snows at the end of April. It's something unpredictable. Different animals adapt to different environments with different types of weather. My most scary moment i have encountered with an animal would probably be when I went to Gichi at night with Brittany Kane and we heard something howling from every direction around us and it kept getting closer and closer. I'm not sure what it was but in my mind i was picturing Godzilla or something. I knew that Brittany was in track so she would be able to run away and save herself but I was pretty much saying my last prayers. But we ended up running away and here I am today. As for weather, I just get scared when there are tornado warnings/watches pretty much. I went to the Omaha Zoo earlier this year with Andrea Pollard, Angela McCoy, Emily Flint, and Kristin Satterness and it was not only a sweet roadtrip but also a great and fun learning experience. We took some sweet pics with sloths and other animals that sparked out interest. I would highly recommend going to the Omaha Zoo at any age to anyone.
I have found nature to be a beautifal yet a unimaginably scary thing. I was in Yankton at the Lewis and Clark Camp Ground that day the tornados hit and we were but 500-600 yards away from one of the smaller ones. My family and i watched not in horror, but in amazment. I have never seen one so close and i was in awe. My girlfriend at the time was with us and she was more excited and amazed than all of us combined. She was thrilled to see such a site. Saying that, a few days ago i was at the school for the band concert and we were in the locker room. That same girls was there and it was cramped. Though her reaction to the same type of weather was the opposite of the Yankton situation. I think this was caused by the circumstances. Her environment was the exact opposite. The locker room was cramped and crowded and 30 degrees hotter than it had been in Yankton. In Yankton it was more open and we were outside surrounded by nothing but trees and water. It is also amazing what furocity wind can have. When looking around the camp ground we saw no damage to the campers in the path of the tornado but a whole trailer home, anchored into the ground with concrete, was uprooted and thrown 50 some yards. A neighboring tree that had to be 50 some feet tall if not more and 3-4 fet wide if not more, was too uprooted and laid on its side. This simply astonished me. I am not afraid of weather to the point of immobilization but i do respect the capabilities of wind and storms more than i did in the past.
I used to love to go to the zoo when we use to live around St.Louis i haven't been to the great plains zoo but have wanted to. Animals are fasinating because they are unpredictable, you don't know what they are thinking and it makes you wonder.
When I was little I always thought zoos were the greatest entainment anyone could offer since you could see animals that you dont see around here in South Dakota. But I always wondered up until this point that animals were unhappy being in a cage until I found out by reading Life of Pie that most animals are in fact right at home at the zoo. My best zoo I have ever been to is the San Diego Zoo because its so big and it has so many different kinds of animals. San Diego's Zoo has so much to offer to people of all ages who want to learn and discover different types of animals. When I was there eight years ago I had a blast but it kind of sucked since I could not go where I wanted to go in the Zoo because I was on a guided tour. So if you ever go to San Diego I recommend you take a visit at the San Diego Zoo and you will not regret it one bit.
I think people enjoy zoos because they like seeing the animals and being able to see them selves in them. I have only been to 2 zoos in my life but both were very cool. I liked the Omaha zoo more then the Sioux Falls zoo. The Omaha zoo was cool because it had a huge indoor jungle and you just walk through some doors and you’re in a South American jungle......its amazing. Also it was cool seeing the polar bears in the zoo because you can see them below the waterline and its intense watching them swim. One part of the zoo which was my favorite was the carp. The carp are so think in there pond that some one could probably literally walk across them. You can throw any thing at them and they will eat it. I kicked a cigarette butt in and they ate it like it was candy. In the Sioux Falls Zoo the coolest part is probably the bears and the tiger. There cool because you cant really imagine how big they are until you see them in real life. I think it would be cool to go to some of the big zoos and check them out.
The scariest encounter with an animal happened to me when i was a very young boy at the Omaha Zoo.
As we all know, at the zoo animals are kept in enclosures and cages, or at least that’s what i thought. I was walking around and i went around a corner and there i was face to face with it. IT WAS A PEACOCK! This thing was huge, probably 4 feet tall. i was under 3 feet tall at the time so this thing could have dominated me. So i screamed and took off running and it chased after me. Luckily once i got to my rents it stopped and left me alone. But that was my life and death situation with an animal
Chase said it best: respect the capabilities of nature.
I think the most impressive thing I have seen an animal do is when I was 7 years old my family and I were on vacation in Florida. We went to the zoo to check out the awesome reptile exhibit which was the main attraction. When we came to the Alligator and Crocodile tank I was amazed to see that there was not a single Alligator or Crocodile to be seen in the water. Then one of the zoo keepers broght out a bucket full of raw meat and dangled a piece or two on a rope just about the water's edge. All of the sudden without any warning a huge 17 foot Alligator dove up from the water and snaped the meat clean off the rope. I didnt want to go swimming for a week.
I think zoos are so cool because you get to see animals that you wouldn't normally get to see in your life. But they obviously don't act they same as they do in the wild.
The Omaha zoo was fun. We got to see almost all the exhibits. What I noticed was some of the animals didn't have that much space so they didn't seem very happy almost depressed. When we were looking at the gorilla's the smallest one was interacting with Mr. Lovrien! The gorilla would put his arm on the glass and Mr. Lovrien would copy him. He enjoyed it, I think and it was really cool to see one up close. I noticed how similar they are to humans, in there actions and physical characteristics.
Weather is so impressive and scary because we can not control it. People seem to be the most powerful things on earth, but compared to Mother Nature we are nothing.
It was Mother's Day last year when my family and I were on our way home from Minnesota. It wasn't bad weather but not nice at all. On one side of the highway was bright and on the other it was almost a black/green color. I saw up the road a small dusk devil and thought nothing of it, but as we got closer it got bigger. I was yelling at my mom and brother to get going... but they didn't think it was a big deal. Within seconds there was a real tornado right beside us. My mom hit the gas and we were going as fast as we could down the interstate alone with many other cars. We outran it but it was one of the scariest moments of my life.
i have four frightening moments with animals, all of which are horses, neither of which i was on top of at the time and thank god i wasnt
the first time happened just like any other day at the barn...i was cleaning stalls and the bossman went to get a horse out of his stall and was taking a neck wrap off of it and the horse bolted out of his stall to quick for the bossman to do anything. i saw the horse run down the alley toward the side of the barn i was on. for some reason my body's first instinct was to jump in front of the horse so it didnt go outside...i still dont know why my body told me to do this but i jumped over the wheel barrel and stopped dead right in front of the horse. he came to a screeching halt, his shoes leaving streaks on the concrete, and he reared up and kicked his front feet at me and turned and ran into the indoor arena and we caught him there.
we were trying to lunge this one horse who has never had any training whatsoever in his life. i was holding onto the lunge line which is like a 30 foot nylon strap that you wrap around there snout...it would not run in circles or even walk in circles at that. it kept running at us and trying to kick us. the boss was on one side of him and i was on the other and he started running at me and i stepped to the side and jerked the chain on his face and he turned on a dime and sprinted back at the bossman...i was scared out of my mind and thought he was going to die. the nylon rope slipped in hands tearing massive chunks of skin off my fingers on my left hand and leaving gashes in my palms and cutting fingers on my right hand. i jerked on the rope as hard as i could and the bossman was ok then i showed him my hands and he said he will be fine from there so i went and cleaned them.
we were free lunging a horse and he was really stupid and he would run really fast then turn and sprint right at me and almost trampled me twice in 10 minutes so i walked away and told the bossman he could do it himself
we were free lunging a 5 year old stud who had never been trained before and was the biggest horse other than the budweiser horses that i have ever seen at that point in time. he was a red roan bay and was furious. all of a sudden he started kicking out with his back feet and i jumped out of the way and ran. he kept running and kicking and throwing tantrums and then i watched his feet go through a wall and almost through the tin. i freaked out and jumped the fence and stood on the outside until i got used to him being a jerk all the time.
zoos dont scare me because the animals probably cant really get out of their cages. i think its awesome to see all of them in one place though...
nature is very intriguing. i love being outside and seeing everything it has to offer. i love europe simply because of its vast prettiness and amazing landscapes. storms amaze me and give me an adrenaline rush. i love being outside to see everything that happens during storms. the most scary moment is when i was 3 and we lived in sux falls and there was a tornado close by and we watched it on tv and went under the steps in the apartment building
Before I read Life of Pi I thought that zoos were like jails and a cruel way to treat animals. Now after reading from Pi's perspective I see that they really aren't bad. I've been to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha and liked it very much. It's facinating to see so many types of species, their habitats, and how they interact both with each other and with people staring at them all the time.
Awhile ago I had an interesting experience with weather. About 7 years ago my family and I lived in Michigan. One Wednesday we were about ready to go to Church when a neighbor called and said that she was going to stay home because the weather was suppose to get bad. We decided to stay home too and it was a good thing becsuse a tornado went right passed our house during that storm. We lived in a forest and our driveway was totally blocked by falled trees for about an eighth of a mile. I've never been as afraid as I was that night. Not so much for myself but for my family (who were with me) and my pets whe were outside during the whole thing. It turns out that they are fine and the only thing damaged on our house was a few gutters. The trees that could have falled on our house and newly built barn were all angled away like someone had turned them or put an invisible shield over our barn and our house. God was with us.
Amazing story, Emily. Just amazing. Glad I wasn't there, but at the same time, I'm jealous you got to experience all that and come out fine to tell the tale.
I've always heard people say that taking animals from their "natural" habitat is so horrible and its like taking away their freedom. I had never really thought about it before I read this book and now when Pi explains it I think if I was an animal I would enjoy living in a zoo too. However if the animals are in cages and being tested on or not put in a open enviorment similar to their natural one I don't agree with it. On the movie Jay and Silent Bob, they free animals that are in cages for testing and I think that is how it should be. People should not need to do testing on animals if it means harming the animals in any way. Sometimes I feel sorry for animals that are in shows like the circus, because they are whipped and put into make-up and costumes. Instead of taking my kids to the circus for entertainment I will take them to the zoo so they learn about animals. I'm not against the circus, but after reading some of this novel I have a greater respect for animals. Once in a while it looks like animals are either smiling or frowning. I know they have feelings and people should respect that like they would like their feelings and bodies to be respected.
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