AggieDave 6 #1 January 16, 2003 Once again, I couldn't make this stuff up...funny, though. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=816&ncid=816&e=1&u=/ap/20030116/ap_on_re_us/swimming_penguins QuoteCalif. Zookeepers Perplexed by Penguins 2 hours, 1 minute ago Add Strange News - AP to My Yahoo! SAN FRANCISCO - A few penguins swimming leisurely at the San Francisco Zoo is nothing new. But dozens of them doing laps in unison for hours has zookeepers perplexed. "We've lost complete control," said Jane Tollini, the zoos penguin keeper. "It's a free-for-all in here. After 18 years of doing this job, these birds are making mincemeat of me." It all started in November when six newcomer Magellannic penguins, formerly of Sea World in Aurora, Ohio, were brought in. Since then the penguin pool at the San Francisco Zoo has been a daily frenzy of circle swimming by all of the 52 birds at once. The penguins start swimming in circles early in the day and rarely stop until they stagger out of the pool at dusk. The six penguins from Ohio started it all, Tollini said, apparently convincing the others to join them for the watery daily circuit. "I can't figure out how the Aurora penguins communicated and changed the minds of the other 46," Tollini said. Some penguin experts point to the highly social animals as being open to new ideas fostered by newcomers in to the zoo's so-called Penguin Island. "Penguins are extraordinarily social birds," said Christina Slager, associate curator at Monterey Bay Aquarium. She has studied Magellanics in the wild in Patagonia and Chile. "And they're very, very inquisitive. If you combine those facts and put in a new stimulus, like the six new penguins, they have to check it out." Aquatic biologist Pam Schaller of the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco described it in more matter-of-fact terms. "Genetically, they're designed to swim," Schaller said. "I'd be more amazed if the six had learned to do something not in penguin nature and showed the other 46 how to do it — like if the birds were trained to jump through a hoop." --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casch 0 #2 January 16, 2003 Quote If you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide. Get away as fast as possible LOL... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #3 January 16, 2003 Quote Since then the penguin pool at the San Francisco Zoo has been a daily frenzy of circle swimming by all of the 52 birds at once. I had this happen one time. I was driving home and my blinker got stuck. I circled the block 8 times before I got it fixed. Maybe one of the penguins just has a cramp in one flipper and so he swims in a circle. Probably went swimming too soon after eating (see Mom was right). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Push 0 #4 January 16, 2003 Quote"We've lost complete control," said Jane Tollini, the zoos penguin keeper. "It's a free-for-all in here. After 18 years of doing this job, these birds are making mincemeat of me." It's a warzone out there. I'm surprised they didn't get SWAT teams to surround those penguins yet. "Come out of the pool with your flippers over your head!" -- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebazz1 2 #5 January 16, 2003 Yet another reason to avoid moving to California. By the way I also heard that all those penguins are pot smokin tree huggin liberal hippies...Well I am off to support a new law allowing only homosexual couples to adopt children and cutting out hetero couples from the loop. Kind of like a affirmative action in adoption... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #6 January 16, 2003 Quote Quote "We've lost complete control," said Jane Tollini, the zoos penguin keeper. "It's a free-for-all in here. After 18 years of doing this job, these birds are making mincemeat of me." It's a warzone out there. I'm surprised they didn't get SWAT teams to surround those penguins yet. "Come out of the pool with your flippers over your head!" I've been to the SF zoo. There is a pool where the Grizzly Bears play around. Hope they don't get the two mixed up. "ok, ok, I'll admit it, I'm a penguin..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skeletor 0 #7 January 16, 2003 Yeah, it's amazing what some animals will do when you enslave them in cages. They probably have a few birds working on an escape tunnel and the swimming in circles thing is just a decoy so the keepers don't catch on. rich. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Push 0 #8 January 16, 2003 Quote "ok, ok, I'll admit it, I'm a penguin..." BWAHAHA!!! I love that joke -- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BoobieCootie 0 #9 January 16, 2003 What do you expect? SF is so close to Berkeley... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #10 January 16, 2003 Quote Yeah, it's amazing what some animals will do when you enslave them in cages. They probably have a few birds working on an escape tunnel and the swimming in circles thing is just a decoy so the keepers don't catch on. rich. exactly. they are working on their endurance for the big jail break..... jaiilllbreak..gonna be a jailllbreak...____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BoobieCootie 0 #11 January 17, 2003 AggieDave sure ain't making things up. Here's them in training. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #12 January 17, 2003 Quote The six penguins from Ohio started it all, Tollini said, apparently convincing the others to join them for the watery daily circuit. And they say teenagers these day have a problem with peer pressure!ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyThomas 0 #13 January 17, 2003 goes back to the theory: Ï'll do it if YOU do it." Thomas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newshooter12 0 #14 January 17, 2003 Maybe they think its time to migrate... >>> Do penguins migrate???? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VivaHeadDown 0 #15 January 17, 2003 Now THAT's comedy! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #16 January 17, 2003 >Do penguins migrate???? Yes, every winter they migrate to the warm parts of the Antarctica. BULLSHIT! Or maybe they do, I have no idea. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pammi 0 #17 January 17, 2003 Quote Maybe one of the penguins just has a cramp in one flipper and so he swims in a circle. Probably went swimming too soon after eating (see Mom was right). Bwahahaha!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
