JUST LITTLE ONES

Maybe one last picture for now from the new dinosaur thing at the zoo. Ellie wants to go back this weekend so there will probably be more later.

I didn't make a note of the name of these nasty-looking little creatures. The display gives the impression that they hunt in packs or just like to go out for a frolic with their pals. I don't think they could climb trees with those limbs but then neither can I. Good thing they are made of resin.          

IT'S OKAY. IT'S A VEGETARIAN.

At least I think so. You can tell by the teeth, can't you? No sharp incisors here. Still, I wouldn't wear my floppy green hat if I were creeping in for a close-up.

The bony processes that look like fins on a stegosaurus' spine are spectacular. I assume they are for cooling with a function like the coils in a car radiator but I'm too lazy to look it up.                  

GOOD MORNING

Aren't you glad you live many millions of years after the last really big meteor hit the earth? Another one from the Dinoraurus exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo.                

DON'T FEED THE CHILD TO THE DINOSAUR

Some people don't have any sense. I wouldn't let my dog, if I had a dog, which I don't, this close to the chompers of a T. Rex. But of course it's all fake, unless the scientists at nearby Washington University have made a remarkable breakthrough. It's been a couple of weeks now but we took Ellie to this new thing at the zoo they call Dinoraurus. There are a number of these creatures that can shake around a bit and make fearsome noises. Kids love it.                     

MADELEINE MONDAY

There is more to see from the Origami In The Garden show but we haven't had a Monday visit with the kid in a while. We took her to the zoo on Saturday to see an new attraction with the rather silly name of Dinoraurus. (They had to make up an odd title to trademark it.) There are life-size models of many species that move to some extent and, well, roar. Children love it. One of them with fanciful colors serves as a seat for young dino jockeys.          

Okay, So Those Statues Were Getting Kind Of Dull

And now for something completely different... 

Um, I was getting tired of all those wet bronze heads, too. (Ever notice that Americans say "um" and the Brits say "er" when trying to fill in some vocal space?) Maybe every couple of years, when I don't have an idea in my head, I go by this hard-to-find place in the southeast corner of Forest Park. A major highway borders it to the south and a main boulevard to the east, with tall, steep berms down to the park itself. You can't get there from here.

Round a bend in a bike/running trail and you come upon T. Rex and a triceratops (not shown). At least they lived at about the same time (68 - 66 million years ago) in what is now North America. So you could have, in theory, seen them in a stare-down in a parking lot of what is now the Washington University medical center up the hill. None of their surgeons could have repaired the damage. 

      

Transitional Image

I'm finished with the series about the Ice Carnival (such ice as we got in this ever warming city) and about to start another about an event held on Sunday. Got a lot of editing to do for that so I needed a transitional image. This was actually the very end of the event. All will be explained.                    

Snow Monsters

Keep St. Louis Weird Department: in the southeast corner of Forest Park, tucked behind the planetarium, not visible from any road, a tyrannosaurus and a triceratops face off. They never get past a staredown and stick to the same bit of turf. Hardly anyone knows they exist.

Maybe when they thaw out (they are cold-blooded, I presume) we will see some action.                 

Landscape With Dinosaurs

.
A bug's eye view of a fiberglass triceratops and tyrannosaurus rex outside the St. Louis Science Center in Forest Park. Just fooling around. At least they existed in the same geologic era so I suppose they could have bumped into one another. (I didn't bother to look up the land range in which each of them lived). I'd prefer to be small enough to hide in the grass if they were passing by.

Gratuitous Cuteness

We return to our occasional Gratuitous Cuteness series. While poking around Forest Park a few weeks ago I met the Burton family near the fiberglass dinosaurs. The father, William Burton, Jr., is an artist and craftsman. He helped make the dinosaurs. Check out his web site for the things he creates. He, his wife and his three kids were enjoying the park. The children were irresistible subjects. You meet the most interesting people by walking around with a DSLR and saying hello.

TOMORROW: The Thursday Arch Series returns.