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Show A winter trip byRONGEORG Record staff writer Usually, the biggest problem I have with zoos is kids. It's not that I don't like the small people-it's that I often don't care much for their parents' discipline methods. Every time I see a little one banging a cotton-candy cotton-candy stained fist on a snake cage, I just wish the reptile could get out long enough to give mom and dad a good nip on the butt so they'll pay attention. So when I was struck by the inspiration to go to the zoo the other day, it seemed like a great idea. On a weekday in winter, there aren't many people headed for the Hogle Zoo. And I was right-it was a great time to gain a different perspective on the zoo experience. What I couldn't imagine is the zoo turns melancholy when no one is around. I didn't notice it at the duck pond. Ducks, swans, storks and Klfll Ribs Ribs Ribs EARN 7! Guaranteed and Tax-deferred RAE ROCCO Insurance Broker 649-8723 HJv2 I M 1 1 I 1 MOUNTAIN LODGE StT JUS !r -.. 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PARK CITYS JUPITER PEEK Elevation 10,000 feet WITH TWO FEET PLAT "1 ED FIRMLY IN PARK CITY AT" DEER VALLEY REAL EST' ColdweU Banker Prcsiuents Club Professional Achievement Award f Park Gty Resident for 13 years ft Mr Mar o rut to the zoo mixes whimsy other birds looked perfectly happy in their little space. They can probably even get away if they want-but there's plenty of food, so they hang out. The sadness hit me when I walked into the elephant house. The pachyderms aren't used to snow and such, so they're stuck inside for the winter. As I walked up to the first cage, I couldn't help but remember Dumbo. The elephant stretched his trunk from between thick bars to try and reach me, but there was a fence between us to prevent just such a relationship. However, I was happy to see that the zoo has a white rhinoccrous, as well as an African elephant with full tusks. These creatures need protecting, and having them right there in front of us adds a measure of sympathy you can't get on PBS. Still, most of the sympathy in this case comes from their personal plight, not the troubles of their distant relatives. one Chef Alvin's )883'-255 BSI TWIN PEEKS "Twin Peeks." These new homes are found in the Historic District steps from the Town Lift Base and the bottom of Main Street Featuring 3 bdrms and 2.5 baths the homes have hardwood floors and solid fir doors. Lots of windows and skylights make these open and airy. Approx. 2000 sq. ft. Offered at $225,000 each. Please call Tom (owneragent) for a private showing. Call Tom Peek (801)649-4400 Toll Free 1-800-825-8889 TOM PEEK Elevation 6 feet 11, pi i '. 11. ki ir ,. 5 , ii ,$ y . ' - if , ' .:M :i 5 P4" I figured my next stop would help me through the pachyderm blues, and I was right. As soon as I approached the big dome housing the gibbons, the small primates set up a howling racket like a sports fan jeering a referee. They didn't seem concerned that I was the spectator, they felt compelled to comment on my presence. Spirits lifted, I continued on. Just down the path, there was a long shrill growl, almost in time and tune with the still-howling primates. I followed it to its source, finding a pair of cougars who obviously thought they were alone. Not enjoying the role of voyeur, I moved onthough the female's purring growl stayed with me for a while. The polar bears certainly didn't mind the cold. One of them was just getting out of the pool as I walked up. That sure would have cooled the cougars' passion, but the big bear just shook it off, stretching and scratching his back on the fake stone he calls home. I wasn't feeling too confidant about his captivity as the walls of his place shook with his scratching, but he didn't look like he was trying to make a break for it. Next door, his brown cousin wasn't going anywhere. I always thought brown bears didn't do This prissy chicken lives indoors all winter. PLAZA -3b ftggfr SHOE MON.-FRI. 7:00AM TO 6:30PM SAT 9:OOAM TO 5:OOPM 1890 BONANZA DRIVE, PARK CITY PLAZA, 649-6664 mm MD?0?0 and melancholy-but without the kids much but sleep this time of year, and this one confirmed it. He didn't seem at all bothered by his noisy white neighbor, the cougars, or the howling gibbons. I was back in good spirits again when I wandered into the next exhibit, the giraffes. Their building is necessarily unique. It's basically just a warehouse, but it's quite tall, with big, closed garage doors on the sides. Inside, a catwalk runs around about 12 feet up, so you can walk right by the giraffe noses as they nibble at suspended hay. They are huge, peaceful animals with big, brown doe-eyes. They are sad in the unnatural light and cement surroundings of their exhibit; they look like they need to run. Still, the view into the big animals' eyes is undeniably , fascinating. After the cat house, where big animals pace small cages, I spent a good deal of time in my favorite attraction, the climate-controlled building where they keep the reptiles. The first entrance opens onto the tropical section, which also holds a room of plants and birds. My camera immediately fogged up. That space is the most intriguing, and there's not much sadness to a caged rattlesnake or tarantulain fact, I prefer them innnm r -J DRY CLEANERS . SALES OFFICE IfAlTOI i r The winter doesn't that way (especially the spiders). In the bird area, you can roam freely among the fowl, which include a variety of birds from parrots to prissy chickens, Large tortoises also dot the area. Of course, when birds are on the loose, caution is advised. Around the perimeter of the bird space, exotic reptiles and mammals from tropic, sub-tropic, and desert climates are housed in small exhibits. There are frogs that look like bright green cow flops, or the two-toed sloths, which sit in wicker baskets looking like clumps of fur. That building cheered me up a good bit Still in high spirits, I wandered past the hippos and into the other area where primates are kept. These animals would leave me giggling as I walked out of the zoo. A mother and two children (two well-behaved children, I might add) were watching the orangutans. I walked up arid squatted next to the window, and one of the primates stuffed half and orange in his mouth-rind side out-and out-and ran at the window, waving his arms over his head. He pressed the orange rind and his nose up against the plexiglass, slapping his hands on the window and bouncing up and down. A friend of his saw 'the commotion and pushed a milk NOW OFFERING mm DROPOFF BEFORE ; TUESDAY, PICK-UPTHE FOLLOWING TUESDAY. Sil Peak A MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY An Independently Owned and Operated Member of The Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. OPEN DAILY IN THE CABIN AT , is . ' n bother this guy much. carton over so he could stand on it and get a better look. "They like you," the young boy at my side said. I think he was right-the orangutans weren't sure what someone with so much hair was doing on the other side of the glass. Maybe they thought I was a spy, casing the joint for their escape. In that case they were probably signaling me, trying to let me know when the guard comes around, or where he takes his nap. The primates, probably the smartest zoo residents, didn't seem too distressed by their captivity. In fact, many of them seemed to enjoy turning the tables-howling or mugging at the outside, making fun of us for being on the other side while they're safe in their abodes. Maybe that's just too hopeful an outlook, but it's the one I took with me from the Hogle Zoo. Sure, the zoo is a different place from when I was a kid. Back then, I wasn't so struck with the temptation to set all the animals free. The Hogle Zoo in winter is an interesting place. I didn't see the wolves who are billed as part of the winter exhibit, but it didn't matter. The whole experience was enlightening-the zoo becomes a more contemplative place in the absence of so much cotton candy. 6 6 Confused about life insurance? Rely on me to help you make the right choices. 9 7 CALL ME. Tom Ligare, CLU 1662 Bonanza Dr. Park City, UT 649-3332 State Farm Life Insurance Company Home Office: BUxmiington, Illinois Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. THE PARKWEST ENTRANCE. (3 V".. BSGHHSEUIai |