Zoo Freaks

The other night I returned to the zoo featured in Eccentric Exhibits with my whole family. The zoo turned out to be in Japan and I had a fuller sense of its layout and attractions this time round. We began our tour by entering the same zone as the previous dream, only the chimps had been moved on and replaced with a large pangolin exhibit. I remember somebody commenting, "What the hell is a pangolin?" They sat curled into tight balls on the branches with their backs to us, fine white hairs jutting out from the cracks between their armour scales. Nearby was a terrarium holding frilled lizards from Australia only these curious specimens had a mantle of peacock feathers around their necks as opposed to the customary skin ruff. When they opened their frills, the feathers vibrated and rattled in a menacing manner like the Dilophosaurus from Jurassic Park. Other oddities in this revamped section were pale axolotls lying slumped on the floor of their tank with glazed expressions.

Eager to experience more of the zoo before I woke up, I left the building to see some outside exhibitions, accompanied by my eldest sister. Peafowl roamed loose about the grounds, but the overall park was far from scenic, being something of a drab concrete place with artificial waterways in dugout canals. Boat tours operated around the zoo, carrying passengers from one area to the next. Normally I'm not a fan of these sort of things, preferring to explore zoos on foot, but this one looked quite fun, chugging through flocks of waterfowl and penguins. Hoping to take a ride later, I went over to the 'Apple Zone' and saw a spacious cage holding what appeared to be two domestic tabbies. They lay alongside one another, giving each other head massages with their paws. Paradoxically, an albino ligeress was cramped in a tiny holding cell nearby. I tried not to get too close because it looked like she could easily escape should the notion take her. I noticed that her eyes did not match, one being green, the other lilac. Next to the liger was a sleeping normal tiger. I use normal to denote species, because this creature was far from regular. The information panel called it the Sega tiger, and sure enough, the cat's forelimb had been tattooed with the Sega symbol. More electronic brand advertising had been applied to its other leg. I remarked to my sister on how 'chavvy' the tiger looked.

The next part of the zoo promised real life dragons, and not Komodos either. A long runway fenced on one side with wooden panels with spy holes set into them was crowded with Japanese visitors angling for a glance of the legendary beasts. Whilst there were in fact real baby dragons on the other side, they were something of a disappointment. Squinting through the hole, I saw one of the plastic looking creature's waddling along clutching a large egg to its chest. The animal had stunted wings folded across its back, a dull bronzen glint to its scales, and a stance resembling a cheap garden ornament. A big furore concerning the arrival of some new dragon eggs was in operation and the guests seemed more interested in taking photos of these than the actual dragon juveniles guarding them. I decided that dragons were boring and woke up before seeing more.