Putting Rachmaninov in the Zoo?

Someone donated most of the money to purchase a baby grand piano for the Methodist Church recently, and it was dedicated today. My mom played Rachmaninov's Concerto in C-sharp minor, one of my favorite pieces. She needed a page-turner. Someone else could have done it, but I wanted to hear her play the piece. She was panicked about it all week. It wasn't perfect, but hopefully no one who wasn't familiar with the piece noticed. :^) The rest of the service wasn't too bad, as I ignored just about everything except the hymns, and on those I played around trying to make up harmony. Also, it was dedication day for the Sunday school classes, so the kids got up and did a few songs. It was also communion, which I also ignored (if for no other reason, because I can't eat the bread). The sermon was mercifully brief.

After lunch, I went to the Pocatello Zoo. I haven't been there in a long, long time. They've been expanding the zoo quite a lot, and making habitat-appropriate exhibits that are better for the animals. The older exhibits are rather small cages where the animals don't have enough room. There was a grizzly bear who very clearly wanted out. He kept pacing and pacing and pacing... He'd get to one corner and do a funny spin rather than actually turning. It would have been entertaining if it weren't so sad. The cougar was just waking up, and was quite adorable. The lynx and bobcats were a bit more active, and the bobcats were absolutely gorgeous.

There were peacocks everywhere, and any place where there was an open pond, there would be ducks, and usually geese. The fox exhibit in the upper level was new. I only saw one fox, happily asleep in a tree (and I didn't know foxes could CLIMB trees). There was also a new prairie-bird exhibit. Can't think which kind of birds, but they were on the order of quails and grouse. They've also got most of the infrastructure in for a new wolf exhibit, and (according to the map) a better place for the lynx. A better one for the bears is in the works, too.

The coyotes were all in their den, or hidden behind brush. Did I mention there were several cloudbursts while I was there? :^D I'm guessing they went in to get out of the rain. What else... The raptors were in small enough confines that I really hope they are taken out sometimes, someplace where they can stretch their wings. One of them, a redtail hawk, won't be able to fly. I'm guessing he must have been a rescue case. Half of his left wing is gone. There were also some golden eagles, a prairie hawk, and some other type of hawk.

Actually, my favorite part were the animals who had come in on their own. There were lots of starlings, a few blackbirds, and even a magpie or two. There was a squirrel stealing food from the bears' dish. The one who kept pacing watched the squirrel for a moment and went back to pacing. There were also several...weasel-like animals going in and out of various enclosures. They reminded me of rockchucks, but didn't move like rockchucks. They also had bushy tails. I never got a very good look at them, though.