Naples... the Zoo.

I love zoos. But only good ones. I think I've said all this before in my "Into the Oakland Jungle" post, so I won't repeat it here. The Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens is a good zoo, so good that I want to visit it every time I come to Naples. Also accredited as an arboretum, this lush tropical zoo reminds me most of the Belize Zoo (which you should go to if you're ever fortunate to visit that beautiful country). The best features of this zoo, included with admission: great walking paths with labeled plants; a guided boat tour of the man-made lake that contains barrier-free islands populated by gibbons, lemurs, and monkeys; and a twice-daily Feature Show.

The Feature Show is my favorite part of the zoo. Usually I find zoo show schedules detract from my seeing all the exhibits I want in the time I have because parks can be large, and theaters are usually inconveniently located. But this park is not huge, so it's easy to see a few exhibits before and after the show without spending a lot of time retracing your steps.

But back to the show. Zookeepers use the show to introduce attendees to animals that are never on public display, to educate us about wildlife conservation, and to entertain. The presenters are funny and informative, keeping kids' attention without condescending. And the whole program is very integrated. It doesn't feel like a show and tell plus a separate lecture on wildlife-inspired medical research. Also, I've seen the show twice - once a few years ago - and they brought out different animals each time. So it's worth seeing each time you're there.

This show they featured a screech owl ("one of the fiercest predators in the wild"), two-toed sloth (absolutely adorable as she clung to her keeper), a large bird of some kind that was trained to tap a red frisbee for treats, a gila monster (filled with deadly venom that may hold the key to curing Type 2 diabetes), and a fosa (pronounced "foosa"). The fosa was crazy.

Josh and a screech owl. This screech owl can take down other birds and small mammals as big or bigger than itself. Fierce indeed.

Surprisingly, I had a difficult time getting a good picture of this two-toed sloth during the show because she was moving too fast. Or maybe it was the zoo keeper pacing quickly in front of the audience...

This is Josh with a fosa. This is not a Scott, the other zoo keeper in the show. This fosa thinks that a Scott is a tasty, tasty morsel. So you would never be able to takes picture featuring both a Scott and a fosa because Scott spent the whole time trying to avoid the fosa, who was usually straining at her leash in a Scott's general direction. How did I learn this? A genuinely fearful Scott told me so. Just like this. In real life, fosas live on Madagascar and eat ring-tailed lemurs. A Scott must smell like a ring-tailed lemur. Don't think a Scott should be afraid of this gal looking so cuddly with Josh? Go find some nature documentaries. You'll be glad you don't smell like lemur. Or do you? Be careful in Madagascar...