Friday's Hunt v 2.26

Well, here it is, the final Friday's Hunt post for this round of the alphabet.  I am really pleased to have made it through the entire round, and I had a lot of fun doing my posts.  I'm looking forward to the next round!

Our host, Eden Hills, has given us these prompts for this week:  Starts with Z, Week's Favourite, and Holiday.

Starts with Z
This letter can be tricky, but I'm sharing a picture from a special guest blog photographer - my Dad! The first photograph for the letter Z is from the Metro Toronto Zoo.  It's a picture my Dad took in the late 1970s when we lived in Scarborough, Ontario.  Visiting the zoo was a favourite event for me in those days, and these adorable fennec foxes were always a treat to see!  This picture has a lovely composition, with the matching ear positions of the two front foxes, and the inquisitive little face of the one in the back.

Now that I'm older, I still adore animals, but I have mixed feelings about zoos.  The Metro Toronto Zoo is one of the ones that, in my opinion, does a really good job of providing proper enclosures for animals.  There are a lot of really awful zoos in the world these days, where animals are neglected and in very small enclosures with poor care.  I am strongly opposed to any kind of zoo that cannot properly care for and house the animals, and I'm not a big fan of "petting zoos" either, because those animals are often very stressed by all the handling and are subject to tremendous pressure on their immune systems from the constant moving around and the handling by hundreds of people every day. I believe that some well-run zoos provide a very valuable role in educating the public about animals and also do excellent work helping with the breeding and renewal of endangered species.  Biologists and other animal scientists have an excellent opportunity in zoos to study and learn more about animals, their habitats, their needs, and their illnesses.  It can help us to help them, and I believe that is ultimately a benefit to the animals and the human race as well.

Week's Favourite
It was a busy week, so I didn't take a lot of pictures this week.  My favourite of those that I did take is this one of a black-capped chickadee taking off from its perch on my bird feeder.  Wheeeee!

Holiday
It's been very busy for work and with a variety of projects around here, so I didn't do any holiday decorating.  The one thing I did was get out one of my favourite holiday decor items, which is this metal reindeer.  It is supposed to have little round candles in its antler "cups" but I can't find any the right size at the moment.  One of these days!  Wishing everybody a happy holiday!