The entrance to the underground passage is on the side of the marmot exhibit.
The exhibit panel next to it is titled "The Burrows of Marmots" and depicts a cross-sectional view of a marmot burrow in cartoon form, with scenes for both winter and sumr.
When visitors walk to this area, they can't help but stop and take a look.
The description reads, "The life of a marmot mainly involves eating and digging. Typically, a burrow stretches 5-10 ters in length and 2-3 ters in depth, with five to six exits above ground connecting to the interior of the burrow.
Burrows not only serve as a place for birthing young, resting, and hiding, but also for hibernating and avoiding harsh weather conditions."
In the winter scene, a vicious-looking fox is seen chasing a rabbit across the snowy ground, only to stop helplessly at the entrance of the burrow; the rabbit looks back cheerily before darting down.
Aside from a woodchuck curled up in a ball at the bottom, snoozing away, skunks, snakes, and other animals inhabit the burrow.
This indicates that they take advantage of the marmot's burrow, with additional text explanations on the side.
For instance, next to the rabbit: "A rabbit, in order to escape a fox, rushes into the burrow of a marmot. With the snow outside heavy and deep, it might hide here for a few days."
Beside the marmot, it reads: "Marmots generally live in cold places and spend the entire winter snuggled up in their comfortable, warm nests. They start hibernating in succession from mid-October. Hibernation ends at the end of March or the beginning of April the following year when they beco active again."
In the sumr scene, grass grows above ground, and inside the burrow, there are several adorable baby marmots with a new set of roommates. The marmot stands at the entrance of the burrow, looking around vigilantly.
"When spring cos, the marmot leaves its burrow to look for a female. If it encounters another male marmot at this ti, the two males will engage in fierce combat.
After mating, the pregnant female marmot starts collecting grass for the nest; a month later, she gives birth to the young, with litters ranging from 1-9. The young can leave the burrow to be active in early June."
Lin Hao's last visit coincided with the recent opening of the plateau exhibition area, and it was crowded with visitors waiting to go down for so fun, which he didn't manage to do.
He was still very curious about the unique scenery of the groundhog exhibit!
Not to ntion the presence of this exhibit panel at the entrance, specifically introducing groundhog burrows and stimulating the visitors' interest, it certainly ignited a desire to go down and play.
Today everyone was off to see the flamingos, so there were hardly any people here and he could go straight down without queuing.
The group followed the passage downward; the underground tunnel was do-shaped with earthy yellow walls, indeed giving the sensation of being shrunk and walking through the burrow tunnels of groundhogs—a truly magical feeling.
At the end of the passage was a pyramid-shaped glass enclosure.
The people in front hadn't finished looking, so they had to wait a bit. Lin Hao took this opportunity to examine the nearby exhibit panel.
This panel featured an illustration of a groundhog standing on alert at the entrance of a burrow: "As social animals, marmots often appoint a sentinel to guard at the entrance or around the activity area during group activities, to prevent sneak attacks from brown bears, Tibetan foxes, wolves, or raptors from the sky.
If danger is detected, the marmot will stand erect and emit sharp, short cries to alert its companions to be vigilant."
Once the visitors in front cleared out, the three of them eagerly stood on the platform, sticking their heads out from the surface.
As soon as they erged, they saw a groundhog less than half a ter away, with its paws on its belly.
Turning its head, it bared its large teeth, gazing at them with its black eyes, looking sowhat dumbfounded.
It puffed out its belly, drew in its chest, and started to chirp, "Chiu—chiu chiu chiu," sounding the alarm.
Initially, when visitors peered out from this spot, a large group of marmots, terrified, would scurry underground, leaving the visitors with nothing to see.
Now, having often seen people peering from here and knowing there was no danger, they gradually beca accustod to it.
At the sound of the alarm, several marmots in the distance glanced over, then continued with their digging and vigilance duties.
Daigo looked around and said, "Hey, don't we seem just like Dugtrio?"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter, admitting it was quite an accurate comparison!
Lin Hao took out his phone to snap a photo, laughing, "This design is really interesting! I truly admire Linhai Zoo for making sothing special out of an exhibit for animals like prairie dogs."
In such an environnt, visitors could feel the animals' vitality and beauty without the need of any introduction.
Combined with carefully paired educational display boards, visitors could naturally and joyfully learn scientific knowledge while touring.
Lili lanted, "Prairie dogs also need to dig burrows, right? Last ti I visited a mall, there was a mini zoo where the prairie dog exhibit just had a layer of bedding on the ground. The animals are kept in such poor conditions, yet you can still feed and touch them. They say marmots are friendly and docile, but aren't they afraid of diseases? And the parrots are chained to a perch, burying their heads in their wings, looking so depressed."
Daigo said, "These mini zoos are crap, just shalessly exploiting the animals."
...
After visiting the prairie dog exhibit, they ca to the Pallas's cat exhibit.
Pallas's cats are now one of the most popular star animals in zoos, as other animals like lions and tigers can be seen in almost every zoo, and bigger ones have elephants too. Pallas's cats are quite rare, currently only housed by Xining Zoo and Linhai Zoo.
And they even co with their own set of emoticons.
Visitors were gathered in front of the glass wall at that mont, holding their breath, focused intently, not knowing what they were looking at!
Lin Hao and his friends hurried over, what was happening? They couldn't miss any exciting scenes.
It turned out that at that mont, Sun Dasheng and Sun Yuanxiao, the two Pallas's cats, were facing off for so reason, looking as if they were about to fight!
Sun Dasheng was perched on a branch, looking unhappy—slightly more than usual, exuding a forbidding aura.
Striding with a feline grace, he closed in on Sun Yuanxiao step by step.
Sun Yuanxiao reacted violently!
Her butt was stuck out to the side, head turned toward Sun Dasheng, mouth wide open, pretending to be fierce.
Don't co any closer, or I'll bite you!
But her body posture, ready to flee, already gave away her insecurity!
Daigo curiously guessed, "There's no food involved, is this about fighting for status in the family? Hey, which ones are these? I want to know which poor sap is being picked on!"
Lin Hao said, "It seems Pallas's cats can be identified by their eyebrows!"
On the exhibit display next to them, there were marks on the foreheads of the Pallas's cats that differed, though ordinary visitors often couldn't tell them apart.
Sun Dasheng took another step forward when suddenly Sun Yuanxiao leaped to the ground!
With a flip, she let out a very fierce "ow" in an attempt to scare off the approaching Sun Dasheng.
Her eyes were round, her body short and flat, and her fur puffed up, making her look both fierce and adorable.
The two Pallas's cats faced off, and after a while, Sun Yuanxiao got up from the ground and dashed back to the back of the exhibit.
Sun Dasheng did not continue the chase but ca to a rock, rubbed his fluffy face against it, squinting his eyes, and shook his ears.
Then he jumped on the rock and sprawled out like a pancake, observing the visitors outside with a serious gaze.
Reviews
All reviews (0)