Parrots, Flamingos and the Owl of the Abyss - Kakegawa Bird Park

So, a couple of weeks ago (October 30th, to be precise) a few of us decided to check out Kakegawa Bird Park. Kakegawa is a town just 25 minutes from Hamamatsu (on the JR train it costs 480円) where a couple of my friends live. It has some fun things to do there - a castle, shopping, food, the usual. The bird park gives you the opportunity to do what you always dreamed of doing - run away from flamingos, have parrot sit on your head and stare into the terrifying eyes of an owl. There's a map here - I'm not totally sure how to get there, as we just got into Saba's car! Entry for adults is around 1000円.



How freaky is this owl? As you walk in, there are a lot of owls looming behind glass panels. Owls have always held a strange fascination for me - they are beautiful and incredibly creepy at the same time. Some rotate their heads, while some fly angrily towards the glass. Others, however... they take your soul.


Before I show you the next picture, be warned. The Owl of the Abyss will devour your soul. I stared into its eyes and I saw my own death. I saw the end of time, the end of the universe. In those black, soulless eyes I saw the bleak, meaninglessness of existence. I felt as if that evil owl could see right into me... into the furthest corners of my soul... and that it judged me, measured me and found me wanting. Then, I felt as if it HATED me, with more pure, chilling hate than I have ever felt from anybody. Behold:


Do you think I'm crazy? Some say this is "cute", but I think that it must have already taken their souls. Wait until it looks into the lens of the camera.


You can observe the owl's effect on me, here.


Luckily, Jeff's eyes saved my soul from withering. I definitely wouldn't recommend visiting the owl alone.

After the owls, we found PENGUINS! For only 100円, you can hold a penguin and have your friends take photos. There are very strict instructions about how to hold the penguin. They are surprisingly soft.


A little further on, and we entered the Parrot room. Have you ever wanted parrots on your shoulders and head? Clawing your hand, shrieking into your ears? It's surprisingly fun...


Here I am with my first parrot. However, if you think that this looks like fun... just wait and see what happened next.






Yep!

After the parrot room (which we spent about an hour in) we went to the flamingo room of doom. I didn't realise quite how tall these pink beasts could be when they stand at their full height! Without anything to separate them from us it was pretty scary... they circled us, tried to peck up... I started getting quite scared! There was also some freaky, massive black and white THING with a red lump where his heart might have been...




There was a small, outdoor place with emus and swans. Saba and I were the only ones cool enough to brave the rain! Here we have Saba chasing a swan.


Emus are evil.


So, that's the bird park. It's quite a fun way to spend a few hours!