On Animal Husbandry

A few years ago I took Daniel to the Houston Zoo. Daniel's favorite animals are wolves and gorillas and so I thought that he would respond the most to those exhibits, particularly if they featured any babies. At that point, Daniel would more than likely begin to gush at the top of his lungs and then launch into one of his favorite topics:

DANIEL: I cannot have a (insert wild animal here) as a house pet, can I, Big Brother?
ME: No. You cannot.
DANIEL: Why not?
ME: Well, it would -
DANIEL: He would make a mess?
ME: He would make a mess, yes.
DANIEL: And he would eat the dog?
ME: Maybe.
DANIEL: Yeah, he would eat our dog.

At which point Daniel gets the same grin on his face as Calvin when he's taking a piss on the Chevrolet logo.
We get to the wolf exhibit and Daniel is strangely quiet. I thought for sure he would flip out at the gorillas, but we stood there for ten minutes and not once did he gush, ask zoo staff about adoption procedures, or tap on the glass and try to sign a message to the silverback. I actually thought that we might get through the entire trip without having one of our customary talks about appropriate public behavior. And now, imagine my surprise when we make a final stop by the rhino pit and The D shouts, at motivational speaker volume:
"Woah! John-Ross, look at the size of those Rhinoceros' testicles!"