A Few Mammals

9/24/12 Lamy fountain pen, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

On many visits to the zoo, I end up sketching birds – flamingoes, a toucan, a Nicobar pigeon, a southern screamer, cockatiels and several others – not necessarily because they are my favorites, but because their cages are relatively small, so the birds are closer to viewers and therefore easier to see.

 

9/24/12 Lamy fountain pen

But on this sunny autumn afternoon, more mammals seemed to be out and about where I could see them. The porcupines were a special treat because I have rarely seen them on my frequent visits (I encounter them so infrequently, in fact, that I had no idea how bad they smell!). Two were busily and rapidly chewing leaves that they seemed to hold with their hands the way raccoons do. Surprisingly, the tips of their quills were a bright chartreuse.

 

The brown bears were also awake and active, swimming and sunning themselves. The meerkats, my favorites, were as busy and curious as ever. Fortunately, the Woodland Park Zoo has a relatively large mob (yes, that’s what a group is called) of meerkats, so when one I was sketching skittered away, another easily took its place in a similar pose.

9/24/12 Lamy fountain pen, water-soluble ink, Stillman & Birn sketchbook

9/24/12 Lamy fountain pen, water-soluble ink