Everyone needs a kiss from a Walrus

Yesterday I cashed in on the "Free behind the scences tour of the walrus exhibit at the Indy Zoo" that I won a couple of months ago.  I took along my parents, my friends Sue, Greg and Joe.  We got to met all 3 walruses up close:  Aurora, Nereus (star of Animal Planet's "Growing Up Walrus") and Brutus.  We spent most of our time with Brutus....all 2700 pounds of him.  We each got to feed him fish through a tube.  This was just so you could feel his suction power as he sucked the fish out of your hand, through the tube and into his mouth.

Then we got to hand feed him even more fish.

We were each given the chance to receive a kiss on our hand from the big guy.

We got to give him a little back rub as well.

Finally, we each got our picture taken with Brutus - he even smiled for the camera!

Little Nereus was so jealous of all the attention that Brutus was getting from us.  He was constantly trying to steal the show - he kept making noises and funny sounds ...and just kept looking so darn cute.  Aurora was a perfect lady and just chilled out sucking on her flipper.


Getting to see them so close was amazing - who knew that walruses actually have toenails!!!  They also have hairy backs.  I expected them to feel like wet elephants, but I was wrong.  They feel very, very smooth.  you don't feel the hair at all.  Something very interesting that we learned is that the natural sounds made by walruses are often used in movies like Jurassic Park as dinosaur sounds.  

This was a real treat and a great experience.  I am so glad to have been able to share it with my family and friends.  Pictured below:  my dad Glenn, my mom Jo and my friends Greg, Joe and Sue.

 

Check out these 2007 videos with the Indy Zoo Walruses