There was some Meerkat show awhile back that was very popular - I tuned in once and the mommy meerkat was eaten or something and I thought (once again) real nature is way to rugged for me. I like fake nature like gardening books and the botanical garden and looking out the car window at anything bigger than a breadbox, especially if it has teeth.
However, to be sure, they (Meerkats) are cute. I mean top notch cute. Freaking crazy cute. They run around like our faux miniture poodle with his little bichon mix teeth sticking out, very distracted and energetic (like Tucker) cute. How they fit in to a maritime theme is anybody's guess - the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk has an African exhibit of fish - and somehow wangled a bunch of Meerkats in for the big draw (yes, way cuter than fish). To be fair they also had a pet the nurse shark exhibit which was probably a huge drag for the nurse sharks, two of them, who appeared very sulky, and was entertaining for the fact of the Maritime employee standing next to the "Nurse Sharks are Harmless" sign (I kid you not) shouting above the din "touch them only with two fingers, no, NO! NOT THERE! They don't like being touched there. NO NO NO NOT THERE EITHER! He had this ongoing list of warnings that was very entertaining - exhausting for him no doubt. This was a man bound for laryngitis going home to a nice mug of hot tea with honey and lemon. Add to that the woman from my town, a state away, who recognized me as a librarian and wanted me to pony up names of good books for her child standing a foot away. Not just a little request. A several times request and a "you can't think of anything else" after she shot down my initial off the cuff suggestions as the son was uninterested in them. "Not on my day off", I cheerily replied. Cheerily because we were stuck on the shark line and I did not want to have to stand in stony silence watching the shark employee hyperventilate "NO! DON'T TOUCH THE SHARKS THERE!". Anyway that got her to stop. Or maybe the tone of false cheer sounded a bit alarming as false cheer so often does.
So where was I? Oh, yeah. Meerkats are really cute. Even toy ones. Except the big giant balloon one hovering over the entrance to the Maritime Center. That one was just creepy.
2 comments:
I think the fact that they routinely stand upright helps us anthropomorphise meerkats. "Meerkat Manor" was the show. They lost me when Shakespere got bit by a snake crawled into on of their burrows and was never seen again. My life has more than enough angst without me angsting over a television show.
I'm with you! I love those adorable meerkats -- except for that creepy balloon meerkat you've shared. I used to watch Meerkat Manor too . . . but after awhile, I could predict when one or another was going to get killed off and it was just awful. Whenever Uncle Youssarian - who was a little "off" - was left in charge of the young ones, you knew one of them was going to bite the dust. I think I lasted a little bit longer than WOL, but the loss of Shakespeare was tragic. Nature is indeed rugged - and Meerkat Manor was like watching an opera.
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