Crocodylus Niloticus

I took LMJ to the zoo today because it’s exercise, it’s educational, it’s free (prepaid anyway), and most of all it’s fun. Today was more about the fun and exercise than the educational. I let LMJ run wherever she wanted to, which was mostly up and down a boardwalk that runs through the Africa exhibit. I don’t think she’s ever as happy as she is when she’s running. It made it easier for me because we weren’t stopping to see animals she didn’t care about. However, we did have an interesting moment at the Nile crocodile exhibit. It wasn’t Peter Pan interesting; it was just a reality check for me. I thought the exhibit was closed. All I saw was film covered water and an empty little grass covered island. I assumed that the cold temperatures had forced it inside. Then my baby girl says, “Look there’s the crocodile, Daddy.” We’re not going to get into the fact that she didn’t call it an alligator right now. I didn’t see it until I shifted my focus, and there it was, a twelve foot long, thousand pound, satanic demon lizard staring at me less than ten feet away. I always have one of these moments when I go to the zoo. A moment where I know I wouldn’t last ten minutes in the jungle. Usually, it’s with the jaguars. I’ll be looking at one and the other will creep up seemingly out of nowhere. I would have been doubly dead after LMJ shocked the hell out of me by correctly identifying the reptile. There’s an alligator exhibit on the other side of the park that we always go to, and she knows they’re alligators. I don’t remember ever going to the crocodile exhibit with her. How the hell did she know the thing was a crocodile and not an alligator? Yes, I know they’re different sizes and their teeth are different, but they’re the same damn thing, AND SHE'S TWO! I think crocodile is the Greek word for run it’s a giant lizard and alligator is the Algonquin word for run it’s a giant lizard. LMJ also does this with the leopards and jaguars as well as the siamangs and colobus monkeys. I chalk it up to her knowing where they are in the zoo as opposed to any hyper-taxonomy skills. But I’m going to start testing her. Freak.