Yes, those are monkeys that you're hearing especially if it's 9:00 a.m. or noon at 330 Lynn Drive! Our neighborhood backs up to the southern perimeter of the Nashville Zoo. There is a back entrance to the Zoo that is in walking distance from our house! (Too bad it's an Employees Only entrance!). We have THOROUGHLY enjoyed living 2 minutes from the Nashville Zoo. We've gotten a Zoo membership every year (thank you, Grandparents!), and it's been WELL worth it! We love to go in the late afternoon about an hour before closing and let our kids have free reign of their MASSIVE playground or go right when they open in the mornings as the animals are first waking up. We love going at odd times to beat the crowds. It's a great zoo, and it's improved by leaps and bounds in the 4 1/2 years since we moved here! My kids love the farm animals, meerkats, flamingos (which just arrived this month!!), and the monkeys!!
Speaking of MONKEYS (Gibbons to be exact!)...the Nashville Zoo has a very cool habitat for Gibbons. The Gibbon Island is one of the first animal exhibits that you'll see when you visit the Zoo. If you've been to the Nashville Zoo, you'll know that these Gibbons yell, hoop, and scream at different times during the day. They do this as a form of communication with each other. It's hilarious (and quite loud) when they get their windpipes going! My kiddos always love it!The funny thing about these Gibbons is that you can hear their yells at our house! We don't hear them every day and it is a faint noise, but you CAN hear them! My kids love it! They start yelling (almost as loud as the monkeys themselves!), "Monkeys, Mommy! It's the monkeys!" So, not only do we have lots of wildlife in our yard--squirrels, chipmunks, and the occasional duck visiting our creek--we have the occasional monkey communicating to us! :) I'm sure that I could ask one of the Zookeepers to find out the reason for this, but we only hear the monkeys at 9:00 am and at Noon. Maybe they're singing for their breakfast and lunch!
I still remember our first week in our house. I went outside one morning to get the newspaper, and I heard this faint yell. I immediately panicked! I thought someone was in danger, and I immediately began brainstorming how I could find out where they were in order to help them! Once I stopped and listened more closely, I realized that it wasn't a woman yelling for help, it was one of the Gibbons from the Nashville Zoo! ha! So, when you move in and get settled at 330 Lynn Drive, don't panic when you hear a scream, it's probably Bahari or Muppet singing for their breakfast!
