dino-sore

The Metro Toronto Zoo has this dino exhibit going on right now, I didn't know about it, as things like that sort of miss my radar...
"Dinosaurs Alive" is it's title, and ... well.. it was really cool.
The exhibit is set up in a large tent-like building, near the kid's area with the petting zoo and water pad, there's a spot to line up (assuming you actually go to the zoo during prime time and have to line up? Who does that?). There are signs as you're going in, "warning, dinosaurs are life like and the movement and noise may scare young children". I laughed at the signs..... but..
Heck.. I was a little unnerved at one point!
So, the building/tent thingy is set up so you walk into it blind to the rest of the room, there's one Dino, then a small hallway that leads straight to an exit, or, you round the bend and enter into the main room.
SMART thinking! Of the four families that entered with us, three had to walk straight to the exit, their children, who on the way in had been chattering about the Dino's and how much they loved them and yadda yadda yadda- were screaming and crying in fear.
It took me probably 3 to 4 minutes to convince the guys I'd brought that the dinosaurs weren't real.. and that... no, they weren't trying to eat them, no they weren't alive, no they don't have to feed them anything, yes, they were robots, NO they didn't need cages, No, they weren't going to be chased, no, they really were safe.... NO... they aren't REALLY alive.. honestly, that was the conversation, over and over... It was hard for them to grasp it.
After all, a zoo is filled with live animals, and the sign said "dinosaurs ALIVE"...

So, a room filled with true to life sized latex? motorized dinosaurs... growling, screeching, dipping, clawing, tail swinging... I was ok till I noticed the T-Rex high above me, leaning in, about to bite my body in half...