If you dressed up for Halloween as a kid, chances are, along the way, you donned a pair of dog ears or cat whiskers or tiger stripes or a monkey's tail.
Animals and October fit together as snugly as a bug in a rug, or a koala in a eucalyptus tree, or a bear cub in a den. It isn't a stretch to say that beasties play as major a role in our Halloween-themed inspirations as ghosts and monsters do.
But beasties are rather easier to see, on any given day of the week, and definitely at the Los Angeles Zoo. The Griffith Park animal park's annual Boo at the Zoo, a one-weekend happening that paired up kids and spooky 'n educational animal facts, has gone even bigger in 2015.
This doesn't mean that every zoo resident is now getting hourly pumpkins to nosh upon -- we wouldn't eat candy bars every hour of the day, either, though we might want to -- but it does mean Boo at the Zoo is lasting all month long.
As in, the entirety of October. For sure, the weekends will be pumped up a bit, activities-wise, so if you want to make spidery crafts or admire cool pumpkin carving demos or watch some of the animals enjoying squash and such, then be at the LA Zoo on a Saturday or Sunday.
Weekdays, though, will have their frightful fun times, too, during October; you'll have the opportunity to "(e)xplore the Zoo's darkest caves and learn about the 'super natural' powers of animals and how they adapt at night through the use of their senses."
Also, if you make for the Animals & You stations, and stick a hand out, bravely and gently, you'll get to "(t)ouch scaly and crawly creatures..." Do you have a light case of the pre-willies? You'll get over that, as you admire the fascinating skin of the fascinating critter you're getting to know.
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Maybe you'll even choose the critter you pet as inspiration for your Oct. 31 trick-or-treat get-up. You may have been a kitty cat through grade school, but have you ever gone as a regal reptile? Complete with scales and a tail?
Letting beasties be the inspirational engine for our creative costumes is a tradition that stretches back well before pre-packaged costumes lined our store shelves. The zoo is a fine place to start your spooky-creative journey.
