yesterday, we met
a prehensile-tailed porcupine
named Bruce Quillis
a hog island boa
named Wilbur
a common raven
named Waggles
a binturong
named Kevin
and an african giant pouched rat
named Hemlock

and when asked which animal was my favorite
i talked about getting emotional when in the same room as a raven
and how cool it was that i got to meet an animal
from a species i hadn’t even heard of
until that moment
and that i have a special place in my heart
for all snakes
especially ones i get to pet
and that the porcupine was so adorable and clingy
with its owner, and i couldn’t get over that
and that, of course, i thought that rat
was so darn cute
and so darn smart

and then i took a moment
and noted that i had just talked about
every single one of the animals we had met

because of course i did

because i love all animals

and i can never pick just one favorite

even in a wild encounter.