Wildlife?

It's called the Maine Wildlife Park, but if everyone is behind bars and fences, is it really "wild?" Well, that's as political as I get, but I can't help but feeling sad about seeing birds and animals kept from roaming the forests of Maine as they please.

At the entrance of the Park, where Mike and I got a generous discount for having lived longer than the trees, the various areas of interest are pointed out with exceedingly cute signs.

Mike poses like a real Mainer. He patiently walked slowly as we trudged dozens of yards through the park. One of the benefits of using a cane - no one expects you to hurry along.

Let's start with my favorite stop on the tour - the peacock cage. With dozens of visitors waiting, the egotistical bird strutted around until the crowd grew to a size he deemed worthy of his efforts. 

"Not yet - gather 'round, people - this will be worth the wait."

"Was I right? Ain't I just the best looking thing in the whole wide world?"

"And that's not even my good side - check this out!" If this fancy pheasant started to put down its cage-mates, I'd have to believe he was running for political office.

Not as gaudy, but still impressive, is this White Peacock, which is not albino, but just a different color of the Indian Blue Peacock. (I love the Internet - it can make me seem so well informed and intelligent.)

This mountain lion and the bear below were carved out of dead trees, and rather amazingly so, I must say.

From beauties to the beast. The turkey vulture just doesn't promote cuddling.

Awww - what a cute big kitty cat. It's a lynx, and it's four times the size of my cute little kitty cat, Teddy Ballgame, posing proudly below.

This is sad. What a majestic bird, but it simply doesn't seem right - unless he's injured - to keep him in a cage. Why, not even people can enjoy life in a cage, can they?

There was a second fence keeping visitors from the green inner fence, suggesting perhaps that the Maine Moose isn't as sweet as gentle old Bullwinkle!

Our final stop was the bear cage. As we looked on, a family of four stopped to see the bears. The mother read the sign for her kids: "It says that these are Maine Black Bears."

The little girl, maybe four, pointed out the obvious, proclaiming in a loud voice: "But that one is BROWN!" The weary father led his brood away, no doubt to avoid having the bears question their identity.