My sister used to have the Farrah Fawcett poster on her bedroom door. Her room was across from mine and since her door was usually closed (to keep me out I’m sure) . . . I spent a lot of time looking at that poster.

MJ was a complete shock. I was really hoping he could make some kind of a comeback.  I remember listening to the Off The Wall record (actual vinyl . . . my sister’s of course) and just being blown away. Nevermind the moonwalk! I was about 10 years old trying to do it in my parents’ kitchen on the linoleum! He really did break down barriers if he inspired a skinny little white girl from a small town in NC to do the moonwalk!

First is the mountain gorilla. They are found only in the Virunga Mountains which is bordered by three countries: Rwanda, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Since there are only a little over 700 total left, they are the rarest of the three.

Next is the Western Lowland Gorilla. They live in lowland tropical forests in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, and Nigeria. These are also the only gorillas found in zoos. For some reason, the others don’t survive captivity.

And finally, there is the Eastern Lowland Gorilla.  They are also called Grauer’s gorillas and live in tropical forests from low elevations up to 8,000 feet in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and along the border with Uganda and Rwanda. These are the largest of the three with males weighing around 500 lbs!

I also found this cool picture of the hand of a gorilla.

Zoo Atlanta’s oldest gorilla, Shamba (and the 4th oldest female gorilla in North America), turned 50 years old on May 25. She was given a giant basket of fruit (along with hand made signs).

She moved down the hill pretty fast for a gorilla with sometimes debilitating arthritis, but still she’s not much of a showoff so she basically just sat down with her back to the public and noshed on bananas, honey dew, mangoes, oranges, pears, and grapes! Quite a feast which probably wasn’t a joy for the keepers to clean up the next day (thank God it wasn’t me)!

Shamba isn’t the friendliest looking gorilla, but she’s actually very sweet. She likes to play with sailcloth and put random things on her head. She has periods when her arthritis keeps her from moving around a lot (and even going outside), but she’s on some new medication that seems to be working really well for her right now.

The word “shamba” is Swahili for “shack” or a small house and she is one of only three surviving members of the original group of gorillas brought to ZA in the 80′s.  She has four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He had feline leukemia, which is a terminal illness, so I knew that something like this could come up. I also have heard of other cats who’ve also had it and lived to ripe old ages. Sam was about 3 1/2. I’d only had him for a year and a half. I got him from the Clayton County Animal Shelter (which was a truly abismal place). He was very sweet and extremely mischievous! It took a few months for us to get used to one another! I had to learn that I had to lock down EVERYTHING that I didn’t want destroyed. No one loved to destroy a roll of paper towels more! He was a good boy and he’ll be missed.

View the video here.

See, what happened is that I was cleaning out one of the “nests” that they sleep in on these metal mesh “shelves” (for lack of a better word). I had to stand on one of their study plastic toys but I still wasn’t tall enough to fully see everything inside. I reached in with the rake, and there was shit on the edge so it smeared all over my arm (and I do mean ALL OVER). Still, there’s no place I’d rather be!

But, that is an interesting fact that I can share. Each night gorillas make nests to sleep in. In the wild they don’t sleep in the same nest twice. They make a new one every night in a different place (because they travel several miles throughout the day). The lighter gorillas can make their nests in trees; however, the heavier ones (the silverback, etc.) make their nests on the ground and it usually involves folding down leaves, etc. Some of the better ones look like bowls. Mothers teach their babies how to make them when they’re old enough.

That’s the lesson for today kids

I got to feed several groups (both by hand and the public feedings)! Plus, I got to give Ozzie, Olympia, Kidogo, Jasiri, and Mbelli their juice! It’s so cute to watch them because we use tall plastic cups and they put their lips up to the mesh and drink it all up! Damn’ I love those animals! Ozzie was making happy grunts when he was brought inside! The older gorillas don’t like it when it’s so hot outside! They’re just like humans . . . they don’t like the extremes.

Hopefully, we didn’t skip Spring! I’d love to see more 75 degree days before it is consistently 90 degrees!