Happy Halloween!

In keeping with the spirit of the day, I thought I would post the pic I've been using this week in lieu of my usual avatar, the happy frog.

This is a Surinam horned frog. A quote from the article I read: "Surinam horned frogs are also known as pac-man frogs, due to their large mouths which are 1.6 times wider than the length of their body. They are mostly nocturnal and live among the leaf litter in the rain forest area of the Amazon Basin of South America. This species are avid feeders, employing a sit-and-wait ambush on their prey."

This one is doing a good job in the "sit-and-wait" category.

I guess the reason this particular article caught my attention when I saw the picture posted on Yahoo the other day was that they said the Bronx Zoo gives pumpkins to animals every year "as a form of behavioral enrichment to stimulate animals both mentally and physically".

Now, I'm all about loving critters, but I can honestly say I would have NEVER thought about giving a pumpkin to an animal to "stimulate" them either mentally or physically. This led me to do a little research. I googled "zoo pumpkins to animals" and was surprised to find a number of zoos that give pumpkins to their animals every year, particularly to elephants, chimps, gorillas, bears and such. They even have an annual "Pumpkin Bash" event at one zoo in Washington.

I've read about several other zoos that have assorted pumpkin smashing events and the animals seem to get into it.

I love the hippo!

The bear seems to be getting into it as well.

And you have to admit, this does look like a mentally and physically stimulated frog.

Someone out there decided "Hey, you know what? I'll bet if we give pumpkins to the animals, they will be mentally and physically stimulated!"

Or, it was the result of one of those studies the government spends a gazillion dollars on.

Either way, all over the world right at this moment, there are a lot of behaviorilly enriched, mentally and physically stimulated animals!

Happy Halloween!