Scenes from a Zoo

Good Friday is a holiday in most of Germany, and as a rule, Germans don't work holidays. I was the only one in the building when I went to the office this afternoon. I kinda liked it - not that I am in need of personal space here; I have plenty of that. It's just that funky feeling of rattling around inside a big, otherwise empty building, turning it from a sleepy little hunk of brick into the scene of productivity. Well, a little, at least. After a while I just didn't feel like being the only person in the city working today (OK, that's an exaggeration - restaurants are open, and people work there), so I gave up and walked home. On impulse, I decided to stop by the zoo on the way home.

My city is unfortunately a bit lacking in entertainment and other attractions, but the little zoo is actually quite cute, and also free, so I stop by occasionally to ogle the caged beasts.

My favorites, bar none, are the Erdmaennchen*. The "Little Earth Men" are always busy: digging holes that don't seem to lead anywhere, exploring their little pen, grooming each other. There's always one keeping watch, nose twitching, chattering under its breath - presumably warning the enemies to keep their distance. The adults switch off playing protector.

Kids love the Little Earth Men. The little dudes have so much personality, and kids love to anthropomorphize (almost as much as I do). "Daddy, look! That one's looking right at me! I think he likes me!" And the family lookout was ascribed such qualities as caring, suspicious, hard-working, curious. Really, it's pure instinct, what they're doing at the top of that dead log, but maybe it's one of our instincts to subsume animal behavior within our own rubrics.

I noticed the big people/little people ratio today: there were twice as many adults as kids in that zoo. I was the only person walking around by myself, and the rest were almost invariably groups of three: mom and dad in their late 30's, and Junior. (That's becoming the prototypical German family of this generation. It's actually a starting to be a problem - adults aren't reproducing enough to replace themselves, biologically speaking, which will put a big strain on Social Security and tax revenues in coming generations.)

For some reason, the snowy white owls who sleep all day in tree branches and the fish who circle their too-small aquariums ceaselessly are also big hits at this zoo. And for those of you who appreciate the subtleties of the German language, a l'il snippet:

"Papa, koennen wir jetzt zu die Fische gehen?"
"Zu den Fischen!"

I always wondered if kids ever made those mistakes.
OK. Let the rambling cease!

*meerkats