Last year I happened to notice the Kansas City Zoo advertising their Pumpkin Smash Day, so I recruited a friend and went to see what it was all about. It was so much fun that we went again this year and brought along two more friends.
So without further ado, here are photos of cute animals eating (sometimes eating from, as the zoo folks fill some of the pumpkins with stuff the animals actually enjoy eating) and/or playing with pumpkins.
The lemurs don't like pumpkins, but they certainly enjoy the frozen grapes and blueberries the zookeepers put inside this jack o'lantern.
The meerkats were hella serious about eating their pumpkins. Their keeper said they would eat until they were stuffed and round-bellied, then have gastrointestinal repercussions all day tomorrow. Apparently it's all okay since it's only once a year.
I didn't catch what kind of monkeys these were, but this one was pretty focused on its pumpkin.
This prehensile-tailed porcupine did not wish to share with his monkey neighbors.
Last year the baby golden lion tamarin was very tiny and still clinging to its mother's chest. This year it was the first to investigate the fascinating and delicious pumpkin.
The African wild dogs were mostly interested in the pumpkins because the zookeepers put some chunks of meat inside before they chucked them over the fence. There was a little bit of growling involved.
The hippos each ate a whole pumpkin. I didn't get a good photo of that happening because they got out of the pond to get them.
Penguins don't care about pumpkins, but it's still fun to watch them swimming.
Same goes for jellyfish.
So that was a fun start to the day. I made it home in time to have a meal with my husband before he left to play a gig and now I'm looking ahead to an evening at home with an open agenda. Possible activities for tonight include starting the long book I need to read for a book club meeting a week from tomorrow, baking some pies, and doing laundry. I lead an exciting life, I tell you!
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