Animals at Edinburgh’s Botanics

It is now two weeks since I went to Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens. Argueably August isn’t the most obvious time to visit because it is an in-between time, when the best of the flowers are fading and the colours of Autumn aren’t yet with us (though judging by our recent Autumnal mornings and evenings they will be with us soon). The reason I went to the Botanics was to look at the animals. No, not the zoo, the Botanic Gardens…, and to prove it I have attached a few examples. Unfortunately the menagerie closed on Sunday, but here is the Jungle City website (I don’t know how long that will be up either, but judging by some of the pages on the web it could be around for years).
Yes, these are steel washers (stainless, I hope), each one welded to the next. Labour of love, or what?

Icelandic Saga

‘Penguins are at the zoo,’ the FYO said. ‘It’s where they come from.’ ‘They have some there,’ I told him, ‘but they come from a place at the bottom of the world where there is lots of ice and snow. It’s called the South Pole.’ (I thought Antarctica was a bit of a mouthful). ‘And polar bears.’ ‘Polar bears are at the North Pole. That’s at the top of the world. They have polar bears in other places too, countries called Canada and Greenland.’ ‘And in the zoo.’ ‘There’s a place called Iceland that has a lot of ice and snow, but I don’t think they have polar bears there.’ ‘I know. My other Granny has been there.’ ‘I didn’t know that. Did she go on a ship?’ ‘No, she went in her car with me. We bought a lot of food.’

Zebras Crossing

No, the zebras aren’t on the farm at Whitmuir Organics, they are at Edinburgh Zoo. I can’t say I’m a great believer in zoos, but they do have their uses when you want to entertain the TYO (still not quite four, he keeps telling me) for four hours on a chilly October day. We were walking past the zebras when I was asked if we could go to see the ogres. I reminded him that we were in a zoo, not a movie. It was only when I got home that I realised he probably meant gorillas.

Oh, and beech nuts (he waded through fallen leaves and beech nut husks) are called beech nuts because you find them on beaches, apparently. Not a lot of people know that.

He was impressed by the flamingos. Years ago I was told in all seriousness by a work colleague that flamingos were pink because they ate prawns. Presumably they had found a way of cooking them.