Five Happy Things

Animal Videos from the Oregon Zoo

Since pretty much all I design these days are animal patterns, I suspect if you’re here it’s because you also love animals!

Every time I design a new animal pattern, I study a lot of photos of the animal - of course - but I also study a lot of videos. Videos give me a better idea of personality, and they also help me decide which details I can trim away to simplify a design without taking away what makes that particular animal distinctive and special.

That means I follow a lot of nature and animal feeds on social media, and one of my favorites is the Oregon Zoo - where I’m a brand new volunteer! My first regular shift was just last week. 🥰

For this week’s dose of happiness, I’m sharing some of my favorite animal videos from the Oregon Zoo.

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1. Sharpie the Crested Porcupine from Africa - Sharpie is one of the animals in my territory. He’s 18 years old! I don’t see him very often because he likes to stay indoors unless it’s really warm out, and we’ve had a nice, cool summer until this last weekend. We have several senior animals at the zoo, and Sharpie gets lots of special care, including a heated bed, cold laser therapy to help his joints, and daily walks around the zoo to keep him limber. I love the different kinds of quills he has - especially that swirl of finer quilts around his face. They’re not sharp, but if he’s threatened they’ll all stand up and make him look a LOT bigger. I’d really like to make a porcupine pattern - but I still haven’t figured out an easy way to applique those quills.

2. Juno and Sushi the Sea Otters - The zoo does a lot of enrichment to make sure the animals stay healthy and happy. I love the basketball “net” they put up for the sea otters! They’re not in my territory, but I always detour to see them when I’m at the zoo. They have so many toys in their enclosure, and it’s so much fun to watch them play.

3. Tula-Tu the Asian Elephant - Baby Tula is probably the biggest draw at the zoo right now. She’s just a few months old and she’s adorable! When baby elephants are born, they have to learn to control their trunks - kind of similar to how human babies can’t hold their own heads up yet. Right after she was born her trunk was very floppy, but in the video you can see her now using her trunk like a champ to scoop up and eat roses!

4. Tamu the Black Rhino - This is an old video of baby Tamu. He’s 18 months old now - but still doing occasional zoomies with his mom. I shared this video because it’s before his horns came in. So cute!!! Did you know baby rhinos are born without horns? The rhinos are in my territory, and I’m learning a lot more about them, so be prepared for me to nerd out with a lot of facts when I release the new rhino applique pattern soon. 🥰 They’re one of the most critically endangered species in the world and it’s so wonderful that the Oregon Zoo is part of the species survival program for them!

5. Ring-Tailed Lemurs - These silly critters are in my territory too, but I haven’t learned their names yet. I do know that they share an enclosure with the Red Ruffed Lemurs (both species are endangered) and the Red Ruffed Lemurs rule the place. If they decide to sit somewhere, the ring-tailed lemurs all move somewhere else. 😂 It’s ok. It’s a very large enclosure and there are lots of good places for everyone to hang out and play

What are your favorite zoo animals?

Enjoy!

Best,
Wendi
❤️

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