No, the scratches on my face, neck, and arms aren't self inflicted, thank you.

There's always something interesting to do at the zoo. Today it was gardening, because the paid gardener doesn't actually work. (I like how my taxes are going to pay someone while I'm doing his work.) Next to the cheetah yards, there's a Predator and Prey Trail between the fence and the main walkway. The premise is that you're a hunting cheetah mom (the zoo has two litters of cubs, hence the "mom" :). You start on the path and hide your cub (cutout statue) in the bushes. Signs give you directions, and facts about cheetahs. There's a rock to stand on and survey the terrain for prey. A little farther down the trail, and you see, hiding, a gazelle standing. The signs say to run, chase down the gazelle (this is the point where the kids run, it's really a very cute underutilized interactive trail). Then you see a running gazelle. At the end of the trail, you spin a wheel and find out if you've caught the prey, or if you've been hurt or your cubs killed.

Weellll, it was quite overgrown. And some idiot landscaper planted bamboo. In the 5-foot space between the path and fence, where the gazelle cutouts are. Mamie (the sunday cheetah volunteer) and I got the wonderful task of clearing the walkway, signs, and gazelle areas of bamboo, poisonous, prickly, and overgrown plants (so people can actually see stuff). It was a fun 2.5 hours. Really.

Not that I mind; I got to help a little with the cheetahs today, and watched the young cubs eat. Cuteness! And I love how people say "Look at the lady! Awww!" when I'm feeding AC (a geriatric kangaroo) his daily banana slices and scritching him.