Gharials!

Tommy stayed home when we went to zoo school this week. Normally, we all go together so we can go out to lunch afterwards, but Tommy and I had plans for the afternoon that meant we wouldn't have time for lunch.

The weather was much warmer than the last time we were there, when we huddled in the cafe to stay warm rather than wander the zoo, but I still went in the cafe first to sit down and read the newspaper inside where the pages wouldn't blow in the wind. That's where you can sit and watch the gharials through the window.

Two groups of people came in within less than ten minutes, both of whom insisted to each other that the gharials were not real but plastic! The second group, after one of the animals moved where it was basking in the sun, amended their opinion to, "Well, that one's real, but the rest are plastic." What the heck kind of zoo has plastic animals in its exhibits? (They also thought the water turtles were fake because they were sitting still next to the window under the water. If they had stuck around for a while, they would have seen a few swim up for air.)