Sightings

As the weather in Hoth improves (read that, "is above freezing"), outdoor sightings of local wildlife and their young are increasingly frequent.

Behold, a rare sighting of a prepubescent Wookiee, or juvenile Badmoodius Growlandmopealot:

Be careful, he'll rip your arm off if he loses.  Or if you ask him to comb his hair.  I love how blatantly he turned and ran when he realized I was pointing the camera at him.  He's like a Sasquatch.  You'll note that he isn't wearing glasses...he broke his second pair in a month, which was all we kept on hand.  We took him to get new glasses...and he actually tried to pick frames based on what he thought would drive his mother crazy.  Nice.  It's going to be a fun decade.

Next, we have a unique glimpse of a young spider monkey trying out his budding climbing skills.

He's better at drawing.  Also, baiting juvenile Wookiees.  He's pretty good at that, too...and juvenile Wookiees REALLY rise to the occasion (this is how we know about the arm-ripping-off thing).

Last but not least, we have a charming encounter with a baby llama on wobbly legs.  Thank heavens he wasn't in a "mad at mama" mood:

Here he is seen on a lucky day in between flareups of croup.  Apparently, a grownup-sized cold has the potential of going croupy on toddler-sized throats, and liquid steroids taste nasty, causing young patients to lose all trust in formerly trusted clinic nurses.  Now I know.  I also realize how blessed I have been with his overall healthiness:  in 18 months, this is only his second cold and he's only had one ear infection.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Jon, whose amazing good luck in the door prize raffle at the Graduate Symposium brought home a Flip camera phone thingey, allowing us to document these encounters.  Also:  way to go, Jon, for placing second in the aforementioned Graduate Symposium.  That had nothing to do with luck.