New Favorite Animal

You know when you’re SUPER bored and just online doing nothing? I’m one of those people pretty often. Typically I’m on Pinterest. If you haven’t heard of this site I don’t know how but now you have. It’s amazing. Check it out sometime. Feel free to follow the shit I post.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because today I was on Pinterest, looking at the “Everything” page and I saw this VERY awkward looking animal. Pictured here:

The caption read: Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a wolf at all, nor is it a fox, coyote, or dog. It is the only member of the Chrysocyon genus, making it a truly unique animal, not closely related to any other living canid. One hypothesis for this is that the maned wolf is the last surviving species of the Pleistocene Extinction, which wiped out all other large canids from the continent.

Now I’m like WOAHHH WHAT?!?! That’s nuts right? Plus this guy looks super creepy but if I gave him a cookie maybe he would let me ride him. Seriously though, I love animals and facts and nature and learning and I clearly now have to know EVERYTHING about this animal which is also known as the Maned Fox. Also when I first was reading it I was reading it as manned. Like man’d. Then my far more intelligent boyfriend informed me it’s pronounced main’d. Like since it has a mane and shit. Whatever. I honestly like manned wolf better.

I start researching this cray animal and I’m kinda dying. They are outrageous looking and hilarious and adorable. So now I’m like I HAVE to see this animal in RL! (aka real life) Guess where they have one in captivity? FUCKING CONNECTICUT! Bridgeport’s Beardsley Zoo. I have literally never wanted to go to Bridgeport until now. Then I get upset and think, shit I really hope he doesn’t die before I can get there. 

At lunch I tell Tom that this weekend we are going to Bridgeport! Tom’s response is “ok.. why?” aka “you’re absolutely insane but I’ll entertain the idea in case you actually want to do this and it’s not just one of those ‘oh my god we should totally go roller skating!’ and then forget about it 4 seconds later things.”

I’m like “Why? How is that even a question?! They have a zoo! AND do you know what animal they have there?!” He’s like “um?” and I’m like “a fucking man fox!!” (I forgot what they were actually called..) and Tom’s like “that’s not a thing” and I’m like “yea it is! It’s a fox on stilts!!” and he googles “fox on stilts” and that is when he tells me that I was pronouncing "maned" wrong. I tell him that regardless of how you pronounce it we have to go see it at the zoo. So he looks up the site for Beardsley Zoo and finds a list of animals. (don’t worry manned wolf is a current resident) and the list is insane. I made him read off all the animals and I made a list of the ones we CAN NOT miss. I have included the list here.

NOTE:

"CHICKEN” is listed as Black Cochin Bantams (which Tom thought were huge fighting roosters but they are pretty much the Shih Tzu’s of the chicken world.) **shout out to Katio- they have these in a fucking zoo. You had them at your house.

“PHEASANT” is listed as Blue-eared Pheasant. Bird with ears? I’m in.

“HOODED DUCK” is listed as Hooded Merganser but based on the way Tom pronounced it I couldn’t spell it. It may not even be a duck, but it is shady.

“MONKEY FROG” is listed as Waxy Monkey Frog and is a frog, not a monkey.

“TIINY GOAT” is listed as African Pygmy Goat. Pygmy = Tiny.

“POLKADOT BEAR” is listed as speckled bear. I’m assuming this bear is blue with purple speckles.

“KITTEN” is listed as domestic cat. Not joking.

“PRONGS” is listed as Pronghorn aka Harry Potter’s patronus and his father’s nickname.

“TINY MONKEY” is listed as Pygmy Marmoset. Again tiny.

“DRAGON” is listed as Inland Bearded Dragon. So basically tiny dragon.

I’m gonna have a post of all they cool animals we see! ESPECIALLY THE MAN WOLF FOX. I’M SO PUMPED.

-A

p.s. this is my favorite picture of a maned fox. It reminds me of Lil