hello tweets.

if you are like me, you will spend at least some time this
summer, thinking wishfully about that great trip you want to
take to australia or to the lovely islands of the south pacific
ocean. i think about such a trip each and every day, even
though i am fully aware that this imaginary trip is clearly
impossible.

or is it? perhaps i can experience this excursion without
spending thousands of dollars that i don't have, without
experiencing jet-lag, customs hassles, and dysentery. and so
i went to the point defiance zoo this past weekend to visit the
interactive lory exhibit.

as you all probably know, lories are birds native to the islands
of the south pacific, including australia. they are
brightly-colored, small- to medium-sized parrots that eat nectar
and have brushes on the tips of their tongues.

the point defiance zoo constructed an interactive exhibit last
year that features a large walk-in aviary full of free-flighted
lories. the general public can enter this exhibit and, for a
buck, purchase cups of nectar to feed the lories. these birds,
all of which are very tame, will land on visitors inside the
aviary, frequently when they don't have any food to offer. the
general atmosphere is quite festive, with colorful and noisy
birds flying around, and guests of all ages talking and laughing
excitedly. visitors are encouraged to take lots of photographs
of their loved ones playing with the lories.

the lory exhibit was enlarged this past winter and was just
re-opened a week ago. last year, there were 26 lories on exhibit,
but this year there are 49 lories of nine species, all of which
are domestically-bred birds (no wild-caught birds are in this
exhibit). the interactive lory exhibit is open during normal zoo
hours, with a small lunch break for the birds between 100-230pm.
the cost of admission to the point defiance zoo is $7.50 for
people who are not residents of tacoma.

i highly recommend a trip to tacoma to see this exhibit during
the summer. you'll be glad that you did it!

[by the way, i am not an employee of point defiance zoo, but do
love lories! i would also be willing to tag along with any
tweeters who invite me to come along, by the way.]

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
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