Sorry it took me so long to get this out but I've been pretty busy. I wanted to release the detailed version of Arctic Circle all at once but since it has been so long since I released anything, I thought I'd release what I've written so far (the forest part) now and the rest when I'm done.
You now find yourself standing at the end of the aquarium* at the entrance of a bridge. The bridge goes over a large pond that has large, fake chunks of ice floating through it and a half sunken ship with the nose of it sticking out of the water. The ship is designed to make it look like it had been there for years. It was painted to look rusted and some of the red and black paint was peeling. There’s a large hole in the hull and the name reads S.S. Arctic Circle. At the other end of the bridge there’s a large wooden arc that reads Arctic Circle and fake icicles are hanging down from the arc. Immediately, you find yourself in a forest of coniferous trees. The air is thick with the sweet smell of pine needles. You soon come across your first exhibit. It’s a square exhibit with a grassy floor with some bushes and hollow logs inside. Out of a small burrow under a rock hops a snow white rabbit. The sign says this is a Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus). The information says that they turn white for camouflage in the winter but are brown during the warmer months. It is early December so you suppose that’s accurate information. You walk diagonally across the path to a large exhibit. Inside you see a small tree for climbing. There are logs and rocks here and there around the exhibit. You see a large, brown-grey animal jump from the tree and land on a half-buried rock. A second animal bounds over a log and walks right in front of you. They are a breeding pair of Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis). You take out your phone and snap a picture of the one that just past in front of you and is now climbing an angled log. You walk down the path a little and find yourself looking into a very large exhibit with a large pond in the middle. You see what you assume is a large deer but then a huge animal stands from its sitting place right in front of you. You immediately recognize it as an Alaskan Moose (Alces alces gigas). You continue down the path and you go around a corner and see the end of the forest. Before you get there, you see another exhibit with a large, strong netting around it. Inside the exhibit is a large mass of big rocks, trees, and logs. There’s a waterfall coming out of a large rock structure and on top you see a strange animal. It jumps into one of the trees and then down to the ground. The labeling says that this is a Wolverine (Gulo gulo). You think of the X-Men. Directly across from this exhibit is another large exhibit (but smaller than the Wolverine exhibit) that also has netting around it. There’s a small conifer tree with a nest on one of the branches. Inside you see two Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis). One circles the exhibit in flight and then land on the branch directly above the nest. The other is eating a little scrap of meat on the ground. Just before you leave the forest, you see what is supposed to look like a large chunk of ice. Inside you see two small (but specious for the animals) exhibits through glass viewing. You see a sign that says how the animals are always kept warm inside the exhibit and have heated pools. In the first exhibit is a Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica). The animal is sitting in its heated pool. A live cricket that’s the frog’s lunch is sitting at the front of the exhibit. In the next exhibit are two Viviparous Lizards (Zootoca vivipara). One is sitting on a small rock and the other’s head is just peeking out of small, hollow log eating a cricket. The trees end and then you are in a large, open area with lots of rocks, grass, and small shrubs and bushes around. You hear the trickle of a stream just off to your right. Solar powered air conditioners place a steady stream of cool air at you that feels just like wind and makes you a little chillier. You head onto the next exhibit.
*Will post later. Any clever names?
