I've referred to this place many times as The Land of Misfit Toys, but I was thinking of the people. Evidently it refers to the animals too.
I was watching the local news, half awake, this morning and the screeching weather girl was doing remotes promoting the local zoo, called the "California Living Museum", or C.A.L.M. for short.
She'd pop up every ten minutes or so, interviewing the director of the zoo who'd feature a different animal in each segment.
The first one I saw featured and albino snake, which the director mentioned had been donated to the zoo. "Without it's camouflage" she said, "it wouldn't survive in the wild".
A few minutes later, they were back, this time with a red-tailed hawk. There was clearly something wrong with one of it's eyes and even the dim bulb weather girl picked up on it. The hawk, it turns out, had a cornea problem and had been donated to the zoo. "Without it's eyesight" she said, "it wouldn't survive in the wild".
I'm beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with ALL of their animals when the director offhandedly said "As you know, most of our animals are maimed or injured..."
Well doesn't THAT sound like a fun-filled afternoon. "C'mon kids, let's go check out the freakish, half dead animals!" It sounds like they find them all by the side of the road barely clinging to life.
As if to drive home the point, the weather girl closed with a reminder to come down and check out the new kit fox exhibit...
"They're all so cute, even if some of them are missing legs."
Perhaps the zoo would better be called the "California Barely Living Museum".
