Mystery Monday Winner Revealed and New March Mysterys

I apologize fellow readers, it's been such a weekend, a holiday weekend for me at that! And I couldn't find the time to get back in the swing of blogging until now!

So since you all have been waiting I am going to announce the winner of last weeks Mystery Monday Photo.

These were the photos you were shown to guess from. The one on the left is a closeup and the one on the right is a step back so you can get some perspective. As I told you we finally got up to the zoo last Sunday to see if we could see Cosmo. The lake was mostly frozen so I guess we will have to wait a bit longer. But the other animals were out enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the 40 degree temperatures. Some just laying around sunning themselves and others very active. So I think you all knew this was some kind of animal (especially since I'd been to the zoo) and this animal was very active. It was in the same enclosure as the Zebras, and I was so happy to see on this visit that there are now two Zebras again. They started with two about a year and a half ago and the male died. When we finally got to go see them, it was just one and she looked so unhappy and sad and lonely. So now I am glad that there are two of them. Here they are nuzzling one another.


I love Black and White as many of you know and Zebras are one of my favorites. It was still a cold day and I wore my Zebra neck wrap but it didn't seem to impress them any. I tried to snap as many photos of them as I could, feeling a bit inadequate standing next to a woman who had a telephoto lens on her camera almost the length of my arm, but still I think I got some good pics!

But the animal in the Mystery photo was one of two that kept pacing up and down, back and forth right in front of the area and blocking the photo shoot I was trying to have with the Zebras. So I gave in and shot some of them. This one happened to be on the side that has a chain link fence but there is an area with an observation deck that they can't get over.



So what animal was it? Check out this video I shot of the Zebras (the male is the smaller and more flighty of the two) and you will see the camera hog pass by. Also that weird sound you hear is it pacing back and forth.

Now hold on to your seat, not the prettiest thing in the world but interesting nonetheless. Here is a full shot of the beast. You can see where the Mystery pictures came from.

I was surprised myself when I looked at these pics after returning from the zoo. I've seen Ostriches many times and up close too. I only took these three photos because he seemed to be insulted that I wasn't photographing him but instead concentrating on his pen companions ( I shot over 40 pics and videos of the Zebras! :) ) So I took these to pacify him but he wouldn't stand still, always pacing, so these aren't that great but interesting close up. The feathers on his neck do look like a sheeps fleece, even the color is similar. Did you know they have the largest eyes of any land animal?

When most people think of Ostrich feathers, they think of feather dusters or Feather Boas (which many are raised commercially for) because of the loose feathers they have, different from birds of flight, but most don't notice the fuzzy looking feathers on the neck. I'll bet the next time you look at an Ostrich you'll take notice of it's interesting neck! :) ( In many places Ostrich neck stew is a favorite dish! ).

So It seems I've stumped you all again so I am making a drawing from all the guesses. I want to thank those who have joined my blog, and the new players and also thank those who have come by faithfully each week to make a guess, I love and appreciate you all!

In case you were wondering what some of the guesses were we had almost a whole Zoo full! Most of these are at my Zoo but there's a couple more they need to add! :)

The biggest guesses were of Sheep, Llama's and Alpaca's (remember you can guess more than once) We also had Elephant, Camel, Kangaroo and Koala! It really makes you think about these animals and how similar they are when viewed up close, especially since the photo was of a bird but up close could look like all these other animals!

So from the Entries I received, I drew a random number and that number was held by Shirley!

Congratulations Shirley! Please email me your snail mail address and tell me about your favorite art/craft interest and I will get your Surprise package out to you ASAP! I think I could supply you with some nice Fat quarters if you'd like! :)

Now for this weeks' Photo

Title: Zoomed In or Out?
The rules are simple, even more so now.

1. View the Mystery Photo
2. Leave a comment on this post saying you are participating
3. Email me with your guess (I allow up to three) before next Monday, but Please DO NOT post your guess in the comments! :)
4. Next Monday I will draw a name from all the guesses and they will win a mystery surprise from me!


Happy Guessing!

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