Lemurs leaping over my head

Every Saturday for the past three or four years, I have been a volunteer at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary here in McKinney, Texas. It's a beautiful place, gorgeous at certain times of the year, with indoor and outdoor animal exhibits, walking trails, picnic tables, dinosaurs...

Yep, dinosaurs. They're pretty cool, too. Once a year the Heard has them on display, and they're quite the attraction, especially for families with young kids. They roar and move and one even spits a stream of water at you that can get you drenched if you're not careful (the dinosaurs, not the kids. Although...). There's even a life-size T-Rex, which is easily the star of the show.

I started volunteering when my daughter was offered a paying job there to take care of the outside animals. I'm not a "helicopter" parent who hovers around trying to control everything in their children's lives, but I wasn't about to have my daughter work there alone. It's a lot of work for one person. Yes, there are community volunteers who can help out a lot, but they're not always there, and I have no idea who they are, and I don't want my daughter to have to work preparing food for the animals with some stranger in an outside shed, and what if one of the animals bit her, and what if, what if, what if...

Maybe I hover a little bit, but I'm just trying to be a good father.

So I help my daughter. In fact, I report to her. She directs the show, let's me know what she wants done, and if she's not happy with the way I've cut the food or placed a food bowl in a cage, she will and often does tell me about it. She will make someone a great supervisor someday.

Right now it's late January, and some of the animals are outside and some are inside because of the weather. Even though it was in the 70s yesterday, it was in the 30s early this morning. It's just a matter of time before we have an ice storm. With all of this warm weather, we're bound to be punished soon by Mother Nature. It's life in Texas.

Outside, there are two cavies (which look like giant rabbits but are really rodents), two racoons (one of which is an albino), a pair of mongooses, a pair of white-tailed deer, and two capybara. The capys are the biggest rodents in the world. Last year, the female had a litter of baby capys, and they were the cutest little creatures in the world. At that stage. Later, when they get big, what a mess they make. I hear some people have them as pets. I just can't imagine it.

Many of the animals that are usually in outside cages are inside at this time of year. These include three coatimundi, a male cockatoo named Crystal (yes, Crystal the male cockatoo. I didn't name him. It's kinda like "A Boy Named Sue."), a macaw, and two lemurs named Pops and Uno. Uno was born at the Heard, and has more energy packed in his little frame than can be believed. When he sees us approach his cage, he practically flies around from one side to the other, springing repeatedly off of one wall to land on another, back and forth, back and forth. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Usually there's an audience of children watching all of this activity, and they get almost as excited as Uno and Pops. The lemurs know they're about to be fed, and it's the most exciting thing imaginable for them. Just like some people I know.

This is a photo my wife took of Uno when he was a baby, holding onto his mom not long after he was born. He's as big as her now. It sure didn't take long. Uno's mom and dad were both on loan from another animal facility, and have since gone back to their owners. Uno is still there, with his friend Pops, happy and content while he's waited on hand and foot by hard-working Heard employees and volunteers throughout the week.

There's a lot more to say about the Heard. I'll expand upon it in another post.