pets on parade

it was one of my favorite days of the year today: the Blessing of the Beasts at St. John the Divine. where else can you see hermit crabs riding in strollers and prairie dogs tucked into purses? i went with my friends kim and heidi and we didn't get in for the service, so we got coffee and strudel from the hungarian pastry shop and ate in the park, then joined the festival which is essentially a show-and-tell of the pets of NYC!
gertie made a new friend, named TiTi. he's a little hottie!



some pets come in carrying cases (those are the aforementioned hermit crabs on the left)...

we saw three of the peacocks that live at st. john's, two blue/green ones and an albino one. if you click on the pic on the right, you'll be able to see them better...


the cockatoo was dyed pink (with Kool Aid) for a commercial. and the golden eagle was one of the rescued birds brought by the raptor project, whose owls i took pics of last year.

the llama really likes to kiss the ladies; he got heidi smack on the lips!

dogs outnumbered all the other pets by far...


...but the most exotic pets we saw, and hands-down our faves, were this pair of prairie dogs!

of course, gertie got blessed.


kimmy bonded with this dwarf bunny; he was eating carrots from her hand. and i loved how these lovebirds rode around on their friend's shoulder as he wandered all over the grounds!