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Do Monkeys Poop?
Overheard at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
One cold grey February Saturday, I visited the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. On the way from the monkey exhibit to the African plains, a man made his way up a hill ahead, with his small daughter lagging behind.
She was an active little girl, about 4 or 5 years old, with dark hair and Emily the Strange bangs, bouncing along with an oversized waxed soda cup in her hand. As she struggled against the incline, she broke into a run to catch up and fell face first into the asphalt. She stood up without complaint, picked up her half-full cup, the lid and straw of which had fallen off, and with mechanical deliberateness, turned the cup upside down, emptying it onto the walkway. Her father let out an exaggerated sigh
When she reached the fenced enclosure of the elephant exhibit where I stood reading the information placard, she looked into the yard and, without looking at him, asked, “Dad, do monkeys poop?”
Without missing a beat, he took the empty cup from her hand. In the most matter of fact voice ever, exasperation seeping from his clenched teeth, he said, “Yes, monkeys poop. Everything that eats poops. The bigger the thing, the bigger the poop.”
Just then, an elephant lumbered by, and the little girl’s eyes grew wide. This seemed to satisfy her, and she bounced on her way.
