I have a wildlife zoo

The rain had just stopped yesterday, the air carried a refreshing coolness, and wet puddles could be seen scattered across the ground.

Zhuang Xiaobai strolled along the edge of the lawn, looking at the verdant grass and lush trees, listening to the "chirping" of birds on the roadside trees, feeling the cool morning breeze on his face, and feeling much clearer in mind and more active in thought!

Unconsciously, a smile spread across his face, coming early was indeed a wise choice.

There were not many visitors yet, so the noise was absent, giving a feeling of having the zoo all to oneself!

From a distance, he saw a flock of peafowl on the lawn and immediately took out his camera from around his neck, ready to take some photos.

Moving closer, he noticed the peafowl were grooming their feathers!

A male peafowl with a long green tail took a couple of steps, shook himself, fluttered his wings as if trying to shake off the dew from the leaves stuck on his feathers.

Then he slightly lowered his body, stretching his velvety, long, blue neck back, the crown on his head wobbling as he elegantly and carefully started to tidy his beautiful tail feathers.

First, he pecked at the base of the tail feathers, then grabbed a disheveled feather with his beak, stretching his head down to comb from the base to the tip meticulously, making sure each feather lay straight again, before continuing patiently with another feather.

After grooming a few feathers, he shook himself and pecked at his tail, continuing the grooming.

In between, he raised his head and saw the visitors outside, but he showed no interest in them; grooming his feathers was the most important activity of the morning.

Some of the peafowl that had finished grooming early began to stroll leisurely on the lawn, singing their distinctive, melodious calls, "oh, oh."

Click, click!

Zhuang Xiaobai enjoyed the scene and took a couple of photos from an angle he liked.

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Around the Peafowl Lawn, some new small display signs had been erected, walking forward, he noticed one sign depicted a peafowl grooming its feathers, accompanied by an explanation, "Peafowl use their beaks to take oil from a gland at the base of their tail and then spread the oil evenly along each feather, making the feathers waterproof and insulating.

At the same time, under the warm sunlight, these oils can be transformed into vitamin D, which peafowl can absorb while preening, thus preventing rickets."

"So that's why they keep pecking at their behinds while grooming," Zhuang Xiaobai found it quite interesting; he had come simply to appreciate the beauty of living creatures but had also gained new knowledge.

He didn't pay much attention to the other signs; he had looked carefully at this one because the picture and the peafowl's behavior he was observing matched up.

Just as he was about to move on, he suddenly caught sight of a brownish-yellow bird perched on a tree trunk in the middle of the lawn. Could it be an owl?

Out of curiosity, he adjusted the lens to zoom in for a clear image and indeed, it was an owl!

Its sharp claws gripped the bark, and its body curled up like a fluffy ball, apparently deep in sleep.

ΘvΘ

The head hung slightly, both eyes were half-open, the right eye, though the lid was raised, was covered by the nictitating membrane, and the left eye revealed yellow, slowly closing.

The nictitating membrane is a semi-transparent eyelid that can moisten the eye and also block wind and water during flight or swimming without obstructing vision; if the eyelid is like thick armor, then the nictitating membrane is like a transparent windshield.

After a few seconds, the left eye suddenly opened to scan the environment! And then slowly closed again.

It was so groggy yet still struggling to keep its eyes open, just like a student utterly bored by the teacher's lecture but too afraid to sleep.

Zhuang Xiaobai was a bit surprised; he had never seen an owl with his own eyes!

He muttered to himself, "Is this owl free-roaming within the zoo or is it wild? If it's free-roaming, wouldn't they be afraid of it flying away and getting lost?"

After searching around and not finding any signs for the owl exhibit, he was convinced, "It must be wild, I suppose. It's impressive that the environment is so good even owls are here."

He found it amusing to see the owl nodding off and took a couple of close-up shots with a chuckle.

Birds don't completely close their eyes when they sleep!

They usually sleep with one eye closed and the other open, watching for any movement in their surroundings. Their brain hemispheres take turns resting, a sleep method known as unihemispheric slow-wave sleep.

If a bird is sociable and has companions nearby, it might sleep more relaxedly, with the frequency of eye-opening decreasing.

Nature's creatures can't just lie in bed and sleep profoundly without being on the alert like humans. Otherwise, they might be hunted down by predators in their sleep.

The pristine morning light filtered through bamboo leaves, becoming more subtle and restrained, which made the bamboo forest appear even more serene and verdant in the early morning.

A breeze carrying the fresh scent of earth after rain mingled with the subtle fragrance of bamboo swept by, invigorating and refreshing, stirring the delicate umbrella bamboo leaves into a dance of fluttering and rustling sounds, complemented by joyful bird chirps and the clear babbling of a brook.

Zhuang Xiaobai couldn't help but slow his steps as he walked through the bamboo forest, his mind emptied and his gaze intoxicated by the beauty, listening to the splendid sounds of nature, almost feeling as if he had arrived at an isolated abode of immortals.

As he snapped back to his senses and shivered slightly, he began taking photos with his camera left and right, and in a matter of a few short minutes of walking, he unwittingly spent a whole 20 minutes on the path.

Entering the red panda exhibit, Zhuang Xiaobai immediately saw several little red creatures behind the glass wall. His eyes widened with delight, further convinced of his wise decision, "Indeed, the early bird catches the worm!"

He had read the Linhai Zoo guide beforehand and knew that the red pandas here weren't completely in plain view.

They might be hiding up in trees or around rocks, necessitating a careful search.

To his surprise, he didn't need to search at all and immediately saw several of them!

Since the red pandas had been cooped up in the back for the past few days without coming out to play or bask in the sunshine, they were understandably restless. Now that they could be outdoors, they all scurried out at once.

Arriving early had another advantage: there were fewer visitors, so the red pandas didn't feel watched and didn't deliberately hide, which made them more active.

Some were climbing, some were washing their faces, and some were playing!

Shuaishuai was the happiest among the red pandas, excitedly lying on the grass, belly up to the sky, revealing its dark stomach. Its little short arms were raised beside its head, showing off the pale paw pads, trying to get a clear view of its tail. Thus its head and butt were both striving to lift upwards, as if attempting sit-ups.

But its round and plump body limited its movements; it could barely lift a little before getting stuck. Kicking its chubby legs, it wobbled like an upended clumsy turtle for quite some time, its fuzzy ringed tail sweeping back and forth on the ground, but its head just couldn't see where the tail was.

As it wobbled, it ended up rolling onto its side.

Shuaishuai was instantly thrilled—there was the tail!

Struggling mightily, it clumsily flipped over with its back as the axis, its head pressing against the grass.

Huh?

But once it managed to roll over, the tail had vanished again.