Friendly Communication With Birds And Plants
On Thursday kzi and I took a magical trip to the Kakegawa Kacho-en, a bird and flower park boasting several greenhouses filled with magnificent plants and birds. “Oh, like a zoo,” you think, but nay! Better than a zoo! From the website:
“We feature a variety of birds and species which belong to owls, parakeets, toucans, penguin, emu and waterfowls etc. Most of the birds (except owls) are unleased and fly free within the huge greenhouses. Do not hesitate to touch them! You can even feed them directly from your hand! Perfect satisfaction is guaranteed to all the people who truly love birds and nature.”
As someone who truly loves birds and nature, I can testify that yes, perfect satisfaction is indeed guaranteed. Is it possible for anyone to be unsatisfied after touching a penguin, feeding emus, and being accosted by an endless succession of small yellow parrots? In order to avoid a rather bland step-by-step narration in the style of family photo albums that will utterly fail at conveying my excitement and wonder for the bird park, I’ll just post a couple photos and a few words for each. The remainder of the photos will wind up as a photoset on Flickr (note: there is currently only a placeholder for the Kacho-en).
I’ve never seen an emu before in real life, and was a little timid around their very wide beaks and prehistoric looks. But after watching a couple of old women in wheelchairs feed them, along with some prodding from kzi, I fed a couple without losing any fingers. I thought my anachronistic parasol complimented the prehistoric creatures nicely.
These little guys loved kzi. As soon as we set foot in the spacious lilypond room, they descended from the trees and lit upon his shoulders. Even more mischievous than they are cute, a group of these little birds was with us for the majority of the time. Enjoyable, and ultimately as draining as babysitting.
We didn’t have any interaction with this couple, but they were quite attractive and deserving of a photo op.
Flamingos are really, really ugly birds. This one was waiting right inside one of the doors, prime spot for acquiring fruit from wary travelers. After wiggling its head at us for several moments, we gave in and fed it.
African Grays are one of my favorite birds. They are also extremely smart and crafty animals, and this one was no exception. When I wasn’t paying full attention (being bombarded by little parrots), this Gray took my entire fruit cup and flew off to a high perch to enjoy his spoils.
Be warned: if you ever come visit us in Japan, we’ll be dragging you to the Kacho-en.
yyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!