Aquarium of the Pacific

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Halloween Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific by Hugh

Hugh Ryono

Tito the porcupine checks out a pumpkin.

On Halloween day the husbandry staff shared Jack-o-Lanterns with some of the critters of the Aquarium.

For the birds of Lorikeet Forest, the pumpkins introduced to their exhibit were welcomed new playthings for the colorful and curious avian. At first they would land near the smiling faces of the jack-o-lanterns checking out the potential play value. Little did the unsuspecting pumpkin know that it would be soon be involved in a scene right out of the movie “Halloween” with little feathered “Jasons” hopping all over it. The lorikeets would tear “Jack” apart in a frenzy of claws and beaks. It seemed appropriate that this scene of pumpkin desecration and mayhem occurred on Halloween day. All that would be left of poor Jack would be the tattered remains of skeletal rinds in a pool of pumpkin innards.

Tito the prehensile tailed porcupine had a different approach to the pumpkin he encountered. Tito first took a look around the Jack-o-Lantern noting what each part of the face was made of. Using his ridiculously cute bulbous nose, Tito then sniffed out the one part of the jack-o-lantern that he was interested in. Ignoring the veggie eyes, nose and mouth Tito daintily pick off the sweet apricot ears. Tito received his “candies” for the day. Of course with a back full of sharp quills you really wouldn’t want to find out what kind of “tricks” Tito would have had if he had not gotten his Halloween treats.

It was a fun Halloween day at the Aquarium of the Pacific for both critters and people.