Snow Leopard's Lament

Snow Leopard's Lament

Most walk right past me

though I'm right here in plain sight.

They glance my way

and then look away.

Do you understand my plight?

No one speaks to me! 

No one! Not one word!

I'm never noticed, never seen,

never heard.

I'm here in the shadows

in the grey and the black and the white.

I'm not trying to hide,

and I promise I won't bite.

(Unless, of course, you are a bird

or some other tasty dish

like a rabbit or a goat 

or... perhaps a fish.)

This is a picture of a snow leopard that I saw at our local zoo. This is a color photo, although it looks like a black and white. I was impressed with how well this animal blended in with the rocks and landscape around it. At first glance, I thought there were no animals in this area of the display. Once I saw it, I thought it looked kind of lonely, so I tried to imagine what it might be thinking.

You Can Call Me Cuddles

You Can Call Me Cuddles

My ears are small.

My nose is wide.

I have squinty eyes,

big webbed toes,

and wiry-bristled sides.

My cousin is a guinea pig,

but I'm MUCH bigger than he.

My body's like a barrel.

There's no bigger rodent than me!

I lay around on the ground

and eat lots of grass and fruit. 

I whistle, squeal, and squeak,

and though YOU may not think I'm cute,

the Mrs. thinks I am.

In fact she's in love with me.

She calls me her Old Whiskery Ham,

and I call her my Dear Sweet Pea.

When I saw this Capybara at the zoo, I recoiled a little, shuddering and thinking about how much it seemed like a giant rat. Right after I snapped the picture above, a little girl who was maybe four or five years old came up, saw the animal, and squealed, "Oh, he's sooo CUTE! I wish I could have him as a pet!"  Her mother and I exchanged amused glances. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.