A Thirsty Parrot and a Rex Guinea Pig

I went to the Oregon Zoo for the second time this last week. It is a really nice zoo, not only do they have an interesting variety of animals but the zoo itself is very pleasant and full of greenery. It's quite different from the LA Zoo, which is small, hot and dusty. Here am I feeding a lorikeet, which I simply must do each time I go. For those of you who who are unfamiliar, they are colorful parrots from Australia and south-eastern Asia who have specialized tufted tongues that are used to collect nectar from flowers. At the zoo you can purchase a little paper cup full of nectar, and when you enter the enclosure the lorikeets will fly over and perch on your hand to drink up the nectar. The little guy who took up my offer of this sweet flowery beverage had some spots of sparse greyish feathers and he was shaking, I got the impresion he was picked on by the other birds. Poor guy. I took a lot of nice clear photos that make excellent reference material for drawings, especially of the otter, the beautiful fluffy wolf, the zebras, and the eagles. The tiger wasn't out due to construction. :(


I'm currently working on a skinny pig plushie (a skinny pig is a hairless guinea pig). I'm ironing out some details and should have it done and have some pics up pretty soon, but in the meantime check out this red and white rex baby guinea pig.







He's available in both my Artfire and Etsy shops.